Why the moon!
In answer to the post by Rich, the moon represents a key strategic point to get to Mars.
Not too many people are aware that there is a new space race between China and the US to land on Mars by 2040. Obviously a journey on that scale is going to require a ship to carry a lot of fuel, food and water. The amount of supplies required can be significantly reduced if there is no requirement for the ship to break earths gravitational pull. Thus the moon with a much lower gravitational field offers an excellent take off point.
Also it is believed that there is an abundance of Helium 3 on the moon, an excellent fuel source. This would further reduce the need to send fuel from earth to space to start the mission. Also it is planned that Helium 3 will at one point be transported from the Moon to Earth to meet Earth's energy requirement, as it is a highly efficient fuel that produces very low emissions.
Currently there is a race between China and the US to colonise the Moon by 2024. This is to keep in line with the 2040 deadline to hit Mars. Once Mars has been properly explored and colonised it would be expected that this will also become a mining colony. However I don't expect this will be in our lifetime.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
