Powering the Lunar Base
Apparently McMurdo Station needs 7000 tons of assorted supplies each year. Assuming Moon Base runs on a similar scale, that's an initial annual budget of $7bn <i>just for the shipping.</i><p>This assumes air and water are solved problems and don't need to be shipped.<p>Note that oxygen != air. 100% oxygen atmospheres are not a good idea for extended stays.<p>Nitrogen is not common on the Moon. Nor is carbon (for filtering or other organic applications.)<p>It's not easy to imagine a lunar base generating >$7bn of returns every year. Apart from space tourism, there isn't a whole lot you can do/build/sell on a moon base that has more value on Earth than it would cost to transport back here.<p>Of course you could argue Science, and that's fair enough. But literally all the commercial arguments I've seen have been "Something will no doubt appear" - which is possibly not going to win over rational investors.