The Case for Going to the Moon

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been mildly obsessed with space. It really took off when, around the age of seven, my parents bought me several science books and encyclopedias containing stunning photos of galaxies and nebulae and planets. Those books inculcated in me a deep love of all the weird, cool, and mind-blowing things there are to learn about the cosmos. The history of Saturn’s rings. Theories of the Big Bang and the Big Crunch. Dark Matter and Dark Energy. What the universe was like when it was half a second old. The (then yet to be launched) James Webb Space Telescope. The “golden record” aboard the Voyager 1 probe which, if they ever discover it, will allow aliens to listen to humanity’s most iconic musical recordings, from Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” to Mozart’s “Magic Flute,” as well as samples of the various languages of Earth.