I see no viable reason to have a base on the Moon, or even go there. I have not heard of resources that could be mined and shipped to Earth. There has been talk of a Moon base as a staging area for a Mars Expedition. Why would we spend the energy to land Mars-bound stuff on the Moon and lift it off again?

I am also against a manned Mars expedition. It is not the place to put our resources. Given our current space technology, we should focus on learning how to have people in an Earth-orbit space station. Farther exploration can be done with robot probes. They have been very successful so far. It would be good to have an American space vehicle, but I believe the decision was made that the private sector can provide this.

From an AP article: "Gingrich wants to offer the private sector special prizes. He says that such incentives, as opposed to a government spending, would help Americans go back to the moon, explore Mars, and develop extraterrestrial space exploration. Gingrich says the prizes could create a romantic and exciting future for the space program." Maybe the private sector will want to know how they are going to make a profit.

I suspect the private sector will be much more interested in finding out how to live and manufacture in space. Space has zero gravity and an awesome vacuum. This are more likely to attract business investment than romance and excitement.

Finally, for all those gadgets that came out of the space program - they are wonderful. But wonderful gadgets could come out of a similar national effort on energy ... and on near-earth orbit space research. I'm not against going to space, but you have to do something worthwhile. And I don't think a Moon-base is worthwhile.

Let's just fly Newt to the moon. Oh wait, maybe he can jet up with all that gas coming from you-know-where.

Been trying to figure out how he can finance this - then it hit me: just like Queen Isabella and Columbus, Callista can hock the jewelry Newt bought at Tiffany's!!

Oh, wait, he still owes money on that doesn't he?

I figure Newt will be on his 13,000th wife by 2020 and the moon would be a great place to ditch all

that old baggage.

I just hope that Newt and his helmet headed frosty bride are the first to go. Then go and take Fatty Limburger, Prick Perry, Bat---t Crazy Bachmann and her sausage on a stick loving husband, Mittens, Rectorum, and the whole crew from Faux Noise.

What would they call the planet...sorry, Uranus is already taken...but they can create their own dystopia of The Way They Think Things Oughtta Be.

I guess he's going to get the government he so reviles to pay for his space cadet dream...

Now I've heard everything. I thought Newt was a moron before this, he just took it to another level. Who the f'ck would want to live on the moon anyways?

Maybe it's the best thing he can think of as a place to hide all of his future mistresses and/or exile his current and futue ex-wives.

"New-it Gitin-rich" is a "Stellar Black Hole", one that will try to suck anyone and anything into his DELUSIONAL

SELF SERVING world......

By 2020, so... 8 years? LOL yeah right! If NASA had funding the way they wanted to then we could've had men on Mars back in the 90s. But right now, or by 2020, we wouldn't have the resources or the funding to put buildings on the moon in eight years.

But I guess the helium 3 on the moon would be a good reason to set up there. Though I'm not gonna lie, it'd be REAL nice to see a lunar colony. But if by some miracle he gets elected and actually does what he says he'll do, then hundreds of thousands of jobs will be created. Helium 3 extraction and burning might be possible. H3 is an energy source, a space shuttle full of it could supply the energy needs of the US for one year.

But developing the technology to build a spaceship large enough for passenger & freight travel, building it, testing it, making sure the thing has a place to land, would probably take a decade alone. And planning and building a colony on.. which side of the moon? Buildings resistant to solar radiance and PRACTICAL space suits that don't make you feel like an overstuffed teddy bear. You have to get up there, build a spaceport, build something of a domed city, and keep the people there. Not to mention upkeep, and supplying the place, trash disposal, water recycling, food supply... list goes on. Don't forget a facility on Earth for conducting electricity from H3.

If the US were to actually do this, it would be the first awesome thing we'd done in decades.

But somehow... I just can't see the US pioneering the technology and engineering required for something like this. But I bet Japan could do it. Seriously, if any nation held the power of helium 3 then their economic and national financial woes would be a thing of the past. Better get up there fast folks. A shuttle full of H3 could supply Japan's power needs for two years. Imagine how happy they would be without nuclear power. FOREVER. Or if we had it, we could eliminate coal and nuclear fission FOREVER.

Uhm, how about concentrating on jobs? My guess is that any private company that wants to compete on a space colony will outsource everything anyway. Isn't jobs what the repubs ran on in 2010? What happened to those promises? Jeez, these guys are better distracters than anyone else out there.

Dude the cancer thing's a little over the top. The hypocrisy that comes out of the right wing is unbelievable. If Obama had said something like this those dimwits would be blasting him for his free spending way's and asking how he plans to pay for it. What a jacka$$. OBAMA 2012

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

This made my night! Let's hope Newt is the first up there. He can pretend that he is ruler of his own planet. And somehow, he'll still find a way to lose an election to himself.

something like that would have to take time. Maybe a whole generation devoted to the goal. Where the parents are building the equipment needed for the children that are in training. They would have to live on what they can make themselves up there so they would have to have a wide knowledge base. It would be a marvel when we as the human race band togethor to expand ourselves past our birth rock. but 7 years?

The Moon Colony Prison would be a good place for all the corrupt polititians , police , pedos murderers etc. In reality the moon is a very dangerous place because of solar flares . If any of you are old enough to remember the first moon mission , they were worried flares would be a threat to astonauts back then .

Why wait till 2020 - he should leave for the moon today!

If Newt went to the moon he will probably go pooded in his space suit pants.

Lunatic.

Newt clearly has an affinity for outer space.

Seems strange Newt's supporters aren't defending him on this topic. They defend him on everyting else.

While I would be glad about such an initiative, Mr. Gingrich should do some background checking on current capabilities before flapping his gums. At the moment, the USA can't put a man in low earth orbit. NASA's manned space program has been destroyed by Clinton, Bush 43 and Obama. Charles Bolden, Obama appointee, has totally politicized NASA. Not that he is the first one to do that, but he has effectively drained the belief in accomplishing great things out of NASA. The current manned space program "plans" by Obama and Bolden are a hollow joke. Don't make it worse, Newt, with more empty rhetoric.

Somebody gonna have to raise taxes on the rich to pay for it all.

Some still don't believe we got to the moon the first time. Who's crazier? Them or Newt?

"But I guess helium 3 would be a good reason to set up there (on the Moon)"

From Wikipedia: Helium-3 (He-3, sometimes called tralphium^[1]) is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It is rare on Earth, and is sought for use in nuclear fusion research. The abundance of helium-3 is thought to be greater on the Moon (embedded in the upper layer of regolith by the solar wind over billions of years)^{[citation needed]} and the solar system's gas giants (left over from the original solar nebula), though still low in quantity (28 ppm of lunar regolith is helium-4 and from 1 ppb to 50 ppb is helium-3).^[2

So, helium-3 is present at up to 50 parts per billion in the lunar regolith (the fine dust layer). You will have to lift the energy from Earth to the Moon to move and process many tons of lunar regolity to obtain the helium-3. Better do some financial analyses before deciding helium-3 is a reason to set up on the Moon.

I have yet to hear one good, practical reason to set up a Moon base. And "practical" includes good reasons to do basic research that requires lowering and lifting things into the Moons gravity well instead of just doing it in near-Earth orbit.

It is funny how republicans are so hypocritical. They claim all the time that the PREZ is spending however their plans for when they will be presidents are, not limited to, creating a colony in the moon and spending billions, launching wars against Cuba, Iran and others and spending trillions more, and how they will pay for all that? cutting all that Americans work hard for Medicare, unemployment benefits, SS. Nice bunch!!!!!

Just what we need Newt; a $100T investment in a getaway for people like you, Neal Boortz and everyone like you who can afford the trip (most I suspect). Let's start taking a poll right now; I vote NO.

What's the ultimate goal once this colony is built? I don't get it. Ok, you built a space station and spend billions of taxpayer dollars, now what?

I feel like he's a bad guy in a James Bond movie who wants to start a new human race - all of them white, rich, republican, racist, and homophobic.