Scientists are divided about the use of the Moon as a base to develop ways to travel to Mars, according to reports given to the US government.
Some have said the possibility of water-ice existing at the lunar poles would allow a moonbase to use the ice as rocket fuel for a Mars mission.
Others contend that it would be too difficult to extract.
And there is disagreement about whether the moon is a good alternative to space as a base for advanced telescopes.
In January, President Bush redirected the US space effort sending astronauts back to the Moon and then onto Mars.
Dirt and gravity
As the US prepares for its new direction in space a series of testimonies presented to it at a hearing entitled "Lunar Science and Resources," shows how opinion is divided when it comes to using water-ice discovered at the lunar poles as rocket fuel, and even in the value of the Moon as a base for scientific research.
"The discovery of accessible deposits of water on the Moon would profoundly affect the economics and viability of a lunar base," said Cornell University astronomer Donald Campbell.
But he added that recovering water deposits will not be an easy task, since they are likely to exist in the bottoms of very cold, permanently dark craters at the Moon's poles.
Meanwhile, Daniel Lester of the McDonald Observatory, University of Texas was not keen on using the Moon as a base for advanced astronomical telescopes. He believes space telescopes are better.
"In comparison to zero-g sites in free space the Moon, as a telescope platform, offers mainly dirt and gravity," he said.
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