 The decision to establish an American space station in the 1990s has had some exciting consequences. In particular, there is renewed interest in using the space station to help us return to the moon in order to build a permanent lunar base. America's exploration of the moon ended 12 years ago with the flight of Apollo 17. Astronauts Cernan and Schmidt successfully completed a series of three EVAs and brought back 250 pounds of lunar rock samples. During the 12 years following Apollo 17, NASA's goals for long-term space exploration have been redefined. At a recent scientific conference in Washington DC, plans for a manned lunar base were discussed in the post-space station era. The lunar base is one of the more obvious of the bold, exciting goals we can reach through the space station doorway. The goal of a lunar base has long been our vision. The exploration and settlement of the space frontier is going to occupy the creative thoughts and the creative energies of major portions of generations for the indefinite future. With the success of the space shuttle in providing new space capabilities, transportation, scientific facilities, and satellite launch, retrieval, and repair, we are ready for the next step into space, a manned space station. The space station will serve as a staging area for other major space activities on the moon and beyond. All this technology we will have with the space station takes us virtually to the moon. We see the first base, the very first thing to go down will probably be something very much like space station modules which will be carted to the surface and buried. The transportation system will be such that there will be largely unmanned vehicles, derivatives of orbital transfer vehicles that will go from Earth orbit to lunar space, and then a lander which will go between lunar orbit and the surface of the moon. The moon may become an important source of raw materials for use in space. This lunar base concept shows a vehicle mining lunar surface material. Moon rocks are more than half oxygen and could supply this vital component for sustaining a lunar base and a space transportation system. Other important elements, aluminum, titanium, silicon, and iron also exist in quantity on the moon. The lunar base would serve as a springboard for spacecraft to explore our solar system. The moon also provides scientists excellent conditions for astronomy, no atmosphere, frequent periods of total darkness, and low amounts of radio noise. If a commitment is made for a manned lunar base in the 21st century, then it is NASA's hope to make it an international effort for all to benefit.