If they had kept going after reaching the moon, i feel like by now, we would’ve developed the technology to establish a colony on the moon. So why stop?
In: Planetary Science
After landing people on the moon 6 times, [astronauts were literally playing golf there](https://youtu.be/t_jYOubJmfM). We were limited by the technology of the time and there was no real economic nor scientific benefit to establishing a colony there.
We 100% have the technology now to establish a long term colony on the moon. The question is “Why would we?”
There is nothing there to do that will actively promote the current goals of the human race nor solve our current problems.
Politics became so divisive over time that people became less interested in space and/or beating the Russians that now Americans are hyper-focused on beating *the other side*. We’ve kinda been in a civil cold-war / political war since Kennedy. At no point in our history since the moon landings have our politics become *less* divisive.
Next – economics. A moon colony will not be self-sufficient yet. It will rely on shipments and $$$ from Earth. For us to do this, Earthlings must get some sort of benefit from the moon colony. The most likely scenario that a moon colony will play in the future will be a fuel depot / manufacturing center for mars-bound craft if that becomes an important goal to humanity. We probably should figure out how to house and feed our poor before and stop destroying the environment before that shift will begin to happen.
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