Sir

Nature usually recognizes emerging areas of scientific importance and adheres to high scientific and journalistic standards, so you are probably embarrassed by your amateurish and out-of-touch Editorial 'Because it's there' (Nature 450, 2; 2007). You remark “Although there are interesting scientific questions about the Moon, few, if any, are of the first order.” This insults planetary scientists who have been working hard to understand the early history of our Solar System.

The Moon is recognized as the best available witness to 4.5 billion years of Solar System history; the early record is clearer and more complete there than on any other planetary body. Its importance is well documented in the recent report published by the National Research Council of the National Academies, The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon (http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11954).