Using the Moon as Grad School for Exploration

Trudy Bell has an article on how NASA is using the Moon as a "test bed" for honing their exploration skills and tools.

I think that is best argument for the current plan over a Mars Direct approach, like Robert Zubrin would promote. Being three days out is much better than being 6 or more months out when something needs to be refined.

There is really no good analog for being off planet on Earth. So I am happy with the gradual expansion of human controlled areas.