It’s a reason, I didn’t say it was a great one. Just something I remember reading about
I didn’t name it, just remember reading something about it
Yeah, hence the space station orbiting the moon, instead of just replacing the ISS in earth’s orbit
Yeah, hence the space station orbiting the moon
Ok, this makes sense. The whole flipping lot is moving at that speed. The universe is moving into more of the universe.
It’s a big bugger our home, isn’t it.
A lot of experts, former astronauts etc, say the Lunar Gateway is a bad idea. I haven’t read about it in a while but remember that I agree.
NASA is pretty shit at doing things. SLS is such a waste of time and money.
Apparently they spent $400M+ trying to design a new spacesuit, couldn’t do it, and finally hired a private company to do it.
SLS supposedly stands for senate launch system. The program is designed to buy votes by creating or keeping jobs. Hence the outdated technology and bloated budget.
I’d have to do a lot of reading to make an educated judgement on this either way. I’m sure there are pros and cons, but not sure which weighs heavier.
I didn’t also mention the economic and political reasons. @Taiwan_Luthiers pointed out one economic reason. Politically, for example, it might be too expensive to take a Mars shot, not to mention Elon is already working on it. Also politically, Mars is more dangerous and NASA doesn’t want dead astronauts. After so many years of the ISS another earth orbit station would not excite the public into paying for it, even if the same experience and experiments could be gained and done. China has plans for a lunar base, does the US really want to let them 9 dash line the entire satellite?
Again, this is just off the top of my head. Not saying these reasons are infallible or that they outweigh the cons and alternatives.
But there are reasons to put a space station in orbit around the moon
And because we can should be enough of a reason.
And to catch up with China. They have a very advanced space program.
Do they? It rarely registers in my news feed, except when their rockets blow up in civillian neighborhoods. 
Whelp… I vaguely think they do. I just did a quick Google. They have a space station. They have a Mars mission. I also remember they have been to the dark side of the moon. So yeah, I think they are doing pretty well out there.
Or maybe I saw it on an episode of Space Force?
Well, not to catch up, but to stay in front of. So far, China hasn’t really done anything new.
Like, the concept for their new rockets
But if the Chinese set up a manned lunar base, as they plan to, that would be a first. I think an orbital station makes more sense. Safer and less resource intensive.
They do not. But they have gone far and fast. But they have also just been following trails blazed by others. How about their manned moon missions so far (zero), helicopters on mars (zero), extra solar space explorers (zero).
They do have an earth orbiting space station, new and shiny, but that’s been done.
Time for a moon shot. Cold war, bitches.
That’s pretty much what they do. Period. Not breaking much ground.
Facial recognition AI, and other tools to monitor and control their own population, might be more advanced. Still technically building on western inventions, but more developed in some niche areas. I guess
Some smartass started a thread
For some reason I find this is a much more interesting topic of discussion than going back to the moon. 
I’ve never thought about it, but maybe it’s because the space ship is still being pulled towards the Earth by its gravitational force. If the moon stays around the Earth, there’s no reason a space ship wouldn’t, unless it goes super far away past the moon.
You guys need to play Kerbal Space Program. It isn’t perfect, but it’s an extremely oversimplified way to demonstrate orbital mechanics than have you read reams of textbooks about it.
Already took the physics course, still pretty sure I had the right answer with relative velocity 
That seems to be the answer. The spaceship never leaves the ‘system.’ The whole ruddy lot is moving together and is pulled and pushed in unison without any kind of air resistance. As one part moves, so do all the others.
We aren’t just inside the train, we are the train.
I’m all for diversity, but this time NASA has gone too far… A Canadian!?
Are they sending astronauts to uranus?
I’d prefer Klingons than Canadians