Almost 30 years after the first human being walked out onto the moon, a new little spacecraft called the Lunar Prospector is winging its way towards the moon. There is little fanfare attending this mission yet ambitions are high among many scientists and lunar enthusiasts that the Lunar Prospector could lead, once again, to a new and prominent position for the moon in the imaginations of humanity. PNS associate editor Walter Truett Anderson is author of numerous books on science, the environment and politics, most recently "Evolution Isn't What It Used To Be" (W.H. Freeman).

The little spacecraft called the Lunar Prospector carries no heroic astronauts on its current mission to orbit and study the moon. But it does carry the high hopes of scientists, entrepreneurs, futurists and space travel enthusiasts who want to revive humanity's long-faltering lunar exploration project -- and perhaps revive the exuberant spirit of confidence and optimism that earlier lunar missions inspired.

Again there is talk of people on the moon, and of great deeds they might do there -- send solar energy or mineral resources back to Earth, perhaps create a staging-ground for new explorations of outer space. And on a somewhat less science-fictionish plane, there is also serious talk about creating an international legal framework for future lunar expeditions.

Less than 30 years have passed since the first human being walked out onto the moon, and sent back his stirring message of a giant step for mankind. We tend to forget how powerful a part the moon played for a time in the human imagination, how awed people were by the enormous complexity of the Apollo expedition -- and the fact that it worked. In recent years we have become more polarized about science and technology, with deep divisions between those who still admire such accomplishments and those who have grown cynical and distrustful of them and are more inclined to cheer for the Luddites, the technology-bashers, even for the technophobic violence of the Unabomber.

The Lunar Prospector is not likely to bring back the euphoria that followed the Apollo expedition, but if the mission is successful it could bring the moon into the center of our attention in much more practical ways. The spacecraft's main job is to find out if there is water frozen in a deep crater in the south lunar pole. If there is, the prospects of establishing permanent settlements on the moon will improve tremendously. The ice could not only yield air and water for human use, but could also provide hydrogen and oxygen for rocket propellant -- to fuel return trips to Earth, to carry back loads of minerals from lunar mines, or even to send new expeditions roving outward to the planets and the stars. Since the moon's gravity is only one-fifth that of Earth, it would take correspondingly less power to launch a rocket from there than from Earth.

Realistically, the first manned lunar stations would probably be for scientific purposes -- learning more about the moon, perhaps establishing observatories to study outer space. But the interest in economic development is high, and several nations beside the U.S. are thinking about exploring these possibilities:

*The Republic of China has drawn up a plan for space exploration, calling for launch of a lunar satellite within the next few years.

*Some Japanese business and government leaders think one way to revive their country's economic vitality would be to move vigorously into space, building a moon station constructed entirely by robotics and then proceeding to various economic developments including solar energy generation and even -- at some future point -- lunar tourism.

*The European Space Agency convened a group of experts in an International Lunar Workshop, which concluded that it is both practical and sensible to regard the moon as a "natural, long-term space station" and the "test bed for any plans of human expansion into the solar system" as well as a likely site for future economic development.

*Energy experts in the Russian Academy of Sciences have been particularly interested in the possibility of beaming solar energy to the Earth, either from the moon or from orbiting lunar satellites.

It's not surprising that people and organizations are already thinking about what might be sensible international legal framework for future explorations and exploitations. Although there are international space treaties that deal in general terms with such issues, some experts are calling for establishment of a Lunar Economic Development Authority (LEDA), based on existing models such as the Antarctic Treaty. Such an authority might issue bonds to underwrite lunar enterprises, lease surface rights, and encourage investments in lunar resource utilization.

Some of the future scenarios proposed by enthusiasts -- such as author M.T. Savage's projection of a moon with billions of people on it, wealthier and more powerful than Earth -- sound, well, loony. But if the Lunar Prospector sends back encouraging news, and further manned expeditions follow, the moon will rise again into public view, possibly beaming us into the 21st century.