During the 1950s into the 1970's America led within the advancement of humanity into space. Since that time we have turned our backs on the advancement of space technologies and exploration. Enough to make us on the same level as China and Russia that are now expected to go to the moon by the late 2010's and early 2020's.
For the good of humanity we must move forward with a base on the moon. Neil Armstrong once said one small step for a man and one big step for man kind. What did that mean? The meaning was that we had done something to advance our species outside of the safety of our planet. Same as the brave men that crossed oceans for us to be lucky enough to be born in the new world...Now that's a big step.
The next big step is a base on the moon.