RT: Well, reason suggests that if you can put a lander on the moon, which is large enough to hold life-support systems plus astronauts, you can also put astronauts inside it before you fly it to the moon...
Regarding your reasons
the moon is loaded with valuable mineral resources including large deposits of silicon, iron, aluminum, magnesium, titaniu
Too expensive to transport.
There is a natural barrier. Perhaps the van allen belt of radiation is just too intense for any proposed spacecraft to protect its occupants from
false (google it)
The scientific research that could be conducted is also immense: there is plenty of room up there for particle accelerators much larger, and thus much more productive, than CERN
to expensive to build, see above.
Another issue is the incredible number of errors and inconsistencies that can be found if one combs through the photographic records of the Apollo missions.
these are easily explained by the specifics of the physics on moon & 1960 camera technology. Often these inconsistencies on reaffirm the authenticity of the photos.
Raw materials, even water (in the form of ice; and also hydrogen trapped in carbonaceous chondrites) and oxygen (in the form of oxides) are surprisingly plentiful on the moon.
water is literally falling from the sky on earth. from the moon, it would costs many thousands of dollars per pound in trnasportation alone, nevermind cost to etablish a colony.