I read something somewhere sometime about propellants for the engines of the time being source able on the moon. have we advanced past that already?
A base, perhaps. There may be some value in that for repeat missions or something. But I think the first habitat we create will be on Mars. There's nothing on the moon worth inhabiting it for.
Mining? Maybe they'll find a portal to the red planet, Some Ghosts of Mars shit. It will also be a Refueling station for space shuttles going to mars. Eventually it will lead to the Enterprise being built. Right? It has to.
I'm not sure about that. I do know current spaceshuttles burn most of their fuel to reach escape velocity and enter space. They will need to refuel once out of Earths orbit in order to reach mars.
and solar sails on a somewhat similar vein. i'm not smart or current enough to talk about ion drives though the early talks showed promise.
this is likely already dated from 2015 but talks about the design of ion drives becoming more efficient."to mars and http://newatlas.com/neumann-ion-drive-nasa-hipep-engine/39490/ back on one tank of fuel"
I read about one of the military designs staying aloft for over a year ,dipping/skimming the atmosphere for fuel
On the moon. Some rich dudes are trying to finance an operation to get a base up therecon the moon to look for Gold, Silver, Helium 3, and other precious materials. There probably isn't any new materials on the moon that we haven't foubd on Earth, but its possible.
just found this tidbit on a concept production facility for zero gee's http://www.spaceislandgroup.com/manufacturing.html
they envision it dovetailing nicely and efficiently to cut both time and projected costs of the original mars mission. good/interesting in the menu