I believe that we realized that there is no need to return to the Moon because it is not profitable (?).
Well...sort of. NASA isn't really a capitalistic-friendly venture. Disregarding all alien theories about the moon (which I personally believe may have some truth in it!
) the reason NASA hasn't gone back is because they receive a limited amount of funding from the government a year. They must divvy up the money then--and sadly, they must give it to the areas that are most likely to generate life-altering/science-changing news-making results--something like the discovery of water on Mars. This is so they can continue to get funding. The government already has cut most of NASA's funding, so year after year of saying "yup, we went back to the moon--lots of dusty grey rocks up there" isn't going to continue to get them the kind of funding they need.
There has been talk about building a base on the moon--we need one, so we can launch rockets off the low-gravity moon much cheaper & easier than on earth. It would make it easier to make a base on the mars in the future.
That said, aliens on the moon? Completely possible. But what the hell would they be doing on the moon, other than just...watching us. Like creepy stalkers. Maybe they're doing a scientific survey.
And hey, Culpepper...are you from VA, by any chance?
Also, didn't the Soviet Union cancel their manned space program because the entire USSR collapse? Or was there another reason?
And I still want to know how the Earth would affect someone on the Moon, much like the moon affects those on Earth....