To answer your questions.
1) nuclear thermionic generation, with the added advantage that shielding can be significantly reduced.
2) The total mass of each Manned Lunar landers was about 32,400 lbs, or 16.2 short tons. I truly doubt that weight would be a huge issue.
3) The conveyor belt would only have to transport rubble that weighed 1/6th of its weight on Earth.
4) In March 2010 NASA reported Mini-SAR radar aboard the Chandrayaan-1 detected what appear to be ice deposits at the lunar north pole, at least 600 million tonnes in sheets of relatively pure ice at least 2 meters thick.
5) 120 feet is one third the length of a football field. This is quite roomy compared to the Spacelab sized area in a prefab habitation. Ever run a 40 yard dash? That is a big tunnel.
6) The dust on the surface of the Moon has a large amount of Helium-3 (sometimes called tralphium), which is exceedingly rare on Earth, and has powerful potential for use in fusion reactors and other purposes. If you take Lunar dust and heat it somewhat, the Helium-3 vaporizes and can be collected. Estimated value, $40,000 per ounce.
7) Another important idea is that much of the technology created by developing a Lunar base can later be applied to a Mars base.
I should add that the economic consideration of “opportunity cost” applies, that if the money is not spent on exploration and discovery, it will be spent as largess to individuals who have voted themselves the treasury.
rtg requires Pu239 as a fuel. This is a manmade isotope a byproduct of nuclear weapons production. None is being manufactured any more anywhere in the world. There are only a few kg left. Not even enough for all of ASA's planned missions No fuel
Manned Lunar landers was about 32,400 lbs, or 16.2 short tons. I truly doubt that weight would...
Lander mass irrelevant. What counts is the lander PAYLOAD mass. The Apollo program cost $24,000,000,000 in 1970 dollars. Brought back 841 lb of rocks and dirt. This works out to $1,783,000 per OUNCE to bring material back,
The conveyor belt ...
I was referring to the mass of the belt AND whatever machinery was necessary to set it up robotically, or were you intending people to go and set it up?
relatively pure ice at least 2 meters thick
Ithought That this result was a POSSIBLE interpretation of the data, but I'll let that go for now
120 ft -
What diameter?. I was envisioning about a meter and a half
He3
There are no fusion power stations. There are no fusion power stations being built. There are no fusion power stations being planned. There are no practical designs for fusion power stations. This one is pure science fiction, and ... in 2020 dollars I suspect the cost to bring an ounce af material back from the moon will be in the order of $5,000,000 an ounce. There isn't ANY material worth that. plus you would have to transport the processing machinery to the moon at great expense adding still further to the cost.
Mars. I don't have any data on the cost of returning anything from Msrs because it hasn't been done. But considering the average flight distance to Mars is about 80 million miles and the cost of returning something from the moon is "astronomical" A Mars base makes about 1/320 the economic sense of a moon base. Also Mars consists of very cold rocks and dirt. Antartica is a better source for these
Opportunity cost.
this subject I'd like to address later. It's complex, and you've made a huge assumption, but if you haven't read Bastiat's What is seen and what is not seen
I suggest you do so. .