Thanks Jonathan!

I was having a really miserable day until now.

I am a Northern Rock shareholder.

I love the prize for being second. That's what it's all about. I was listening to Radio 2 this afternoon while rigging up my computers in my new shed and listening to James May (Top Gear) on about how the Eagle landing in the sea of tranquility may soon pass beyond living memory and lunar exploration will become, like commercial supersonic aviation, history.

Second matters because... Well, what if Columbus had returned from the New World and it had been, "That's nice Chris, we've got that one out of the way now...". Then no one went back.

Back to Jame May. He said all the best ideas come from blokes in a shed (we all know that). "Cheshire, we have lift off!"

Dr. Diamantis said that he estimates the cost for a lunar robot landing would be about $20-60 million. He should know, as he has done research for NASA on this. Still it seems a terribly low figure to me, given the low value of the dollar nowadays.
Or, it's a very low-weight, low capabilities robot, something like a toy remote controlled car.
Can anyone comment on this ?

(for the love of god do we want privite enterprise involved!) Of course, nudge the government out of the way and get on with it!

Of course, nudge the government out of the way and get on with it!

Fortunately we have a lot of governments to choose from. If the US or UK govts are too much of an anti-space-industry burden, maybe Belize or the Aland Islands will be more accommodating...

" Aland Islands "-had to look that up...too far north.
Barbados (yes!)works for me.

Free floating launch platforms is what I was going for.
(anyone got a coupla' billion $'s I might use?)

I am sorry that you are a Northern Rock shareholder Nick M.

My best wishes to you and to your family.

Perhaps if there ever are private space colonies on the Moon (i.e. the "international space treaty" gets ripped up) it will be made clear that lending that is not 100% from real savings (as opposed to book keeping tricks) will be treated as what it is is - fraud.

One must first have money before one can lend it out.

And for every Pound lent out someone must have saved a Pound - i.e. not spent it on anything.

Nor can two or more people spend the same Pound on different things at the same time.

In short the financial system (not just Northern Rock) stinks.

So you were not being stupid by investing in Northern Rock, Nick M.

The other enterprises are not much better.

"How is the above relevant to going into space".

Whilst there is an unstable credit-money expansion boom-bust financial system dependent on government support, (with all the distortions to the capital structure that such malinvestments are) the economy will not be healthy enough for a proper expansion into the universe.