It costs billions to go to the moon. Is it worth it? Tell us. | Opinion

For casual observers like me, the latest moon mission can seem a bit puzzling. I mean, we already did this, right?

On multiple trips from 1969 through 1972, we sent astronauts near, around and onto the moon, where they collected rocks, drove a rover and set up scientific measuring equipment. Then, the space race with the Soviet Union ebbed and we lost interest in flying to our natural satellite.

So what's the big push now? Why did we send three Americans and a Canadian to loop around that big reflective rock in what we're calling the Artemis II mission, which launched April 1?

Well, one thing I recently learned is that we are in another, though less well-known, space race. This one is with China, which wants to land people on the moon by 2030 and build a lunar base. We want to build a lunar base first. This mission is a preparation for that.

There are also precious things on the moon: like rare earth elements that are important for modern electronics. There's also water in the form of ice, which is needed to live in a lunar base and could be converted into rocket fuel. And there is helium-3, a rare isotope that could be the key to cleaner nuclear energy.

Oh, and helium-3 is estimated to be worth about $2,500 per liter. In fact, the NASA-sponsored Jet Propulsion Laboratory estimates there are hundreds of billions of dollars in untapped resources on the moon.

Are NASA moon missions worth the cost?

So there's money to be made, and the lunar base can serve as a jumping-off point to Mars. But what's all this cost, you ask? Well, by the time Artemis IV lands on the moon in 2028, we'll have spent $105 billion, projections say. While that's a fraction of the inflation-adjusted $290 billion spent to get to the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, it's still a chunk of change. There's also another cost: the 17 crewmembers who died in American missions.

That's where you come in, our USA TODAY readers. We want your opinion as to whether we should be using these resources for moon missions when there are plenty of other possible places for public money. Is science, exploration and the possible value of moon materials worth it? Or would health care or tax cuts be a better choice? Maybe one option is to let private industry take over this latest space race; companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin already have their feet in the door.

You can give answers in the form below, leave us a voicemail at (202) 655-3923 or send us an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Forum moon mission.” We’ll publish a collection of the best ones in an upcoming Forum piece.

Joel Burgess is a Voices editor for USA TODAY Opinion.