This is a bit long and holed but it's the culmination of my thoughts on the subject of seeding Luna, so give your thoughts on however much you read, thanks.
Follow Flapjack
The Colonization of the Cosmos
At the moment space colonization is neglected. In the fed mind of America the cosmos simply isn't on the radar. Some say focus should be put to world hunger or disunion. Some others simply think it's immoral to go to Luna or Mars. Decades ago the needed fervor was present; Kennedy got us to the Moon when we were more unprepared than we are now. And yet people talk of how we don't have enough to stay there, and that is sickening blasphemy.
An issue is simply getting to the launch pad. In the way stand religious zealots, procrastinators, and many other etceteras. For the zealots, they reason that the Earth is the only place for humanity, that it would be sin to go beyond what the various gods have given humanity as they see it. The only evidence (to my knowledge) they could grasp upon is that in Genesis Adam and Eve couldn't touch the forbidden fruits, the cosmos and immortality if you will. And yet the snake, Lucifer/ Satan/ the Devil/ a Gardner snake, is appraisable in this scenario. In Genesis the Snake told Eve to eat the fruit and she told Adam the same. The result is that they abandoned the double-edged ideal of bliss; they may have had to face hardships but that made them human. So at the moment the Earth could be viewed as an Eden. More importantly, an Eden that must be dropped, praise the Snake that gets us off the Earth.
The procrastinators of the world preach we, the world, don' have the resources to go to another planet? Did Columbus, the vintage Apollonian, have enough to settle America? No. Did he? No. However after Columbus many more in Europe bit into the forbidden fruit and found it delicious. No one person can truly do a thing alone but countries and private companies could. A private or government mission could easily, colonize Luna, Mars, Quaoar and everything else. At the moment, as previously said, we are more prepared to colonize Luna than we were to land there when Kennedy said to make it happen. The resource problem is only existent with moral and money. For moral simply give a biased opinion like those against expansion do. And for money, liquefy the army send some of those funds to the marines and special op's but more importantly, the effort into the cosmos. More funding by rationing some of the funding to other departments, find private investors, don't fund other private efforts unless related, and when all else fails print more money.
The other obstacle, the more logical one, is how to get there and what to do once we get there. Alluding back to Kennedy, they simply were resourceful and made what was needed on the way. In this day and age however, to do anything anywhere near major, the ignorant bureaucrats have to be surpassed before anything can be done. At the moment it is planned for humanity to touch Luna in several decades (Kennedy got to Luna before the close of that decade). The current plan is simply too slow although thought of as fast by many brainwashed people. Ten years just to go back.
Procrastination aside, here's what could and should be done:
2010
Assuming the project begins by 2010 the world (forget the U.S. soloing this, the project should involve all nations) should start by researching better fuels, and better craft to use those fuels. Instead of having a rocket and cargo, cargo and a rocket will be the agenda. The Apollo 11 boosters are still reining champions, bettering a 60's rocket can't be too hard. For the sake of efficiency, the pilot will operate the craft from the highest life pod through a simple laptop interface
The life pod idea is simply something already pioneered to some extent; the object is the simple pods shown on many documentaries housing people on Luna. A pre-existing design will be used, a cylindrical shape and inside a space as small as a submarine but “smart" in the sense of Bill Gate's premiere house.
Giving a further intellectual skeleton, the space ship will abandon the frame of the shuttle and resemble the Apollo rockets. But as previously stated an emphasis will be placed on holding capacity. The fuel will be light but strong (unfound in other words), allowing a larger cargo area then previously given. The atmos clearing stage will be external as seen with the shuttle. Upon breaking the atmosphere and or empty, the external fuel tanks will fall away, and the onboard boosters will take action.
Two to three life pods should be able to fit in, however one of the three will be carrying supplies and not personnel. There will be no emphasis towards having a communal kitchen, lavatory, or a cockpit. As stated, the lead life pod will have a pilot, controlling it as if it was but a video game, all pods will be self sufficient and unconnected, beyond maybe, simple airlocks made to connect them on Luna. In the case of emergency there will be a mechanism that will allow the shuttle to separate into enough pieces that each life pod can eject. Once the life pods are ejected they will release a suitable parachute and if possible the crew could just jump out maybe with their own parachutes. With the grandeur planned here an emergency should be expected
During this time simple workhorse robots will be built in mass for a purpose explained in the next paragraph.
2010-11 but in a different area
Whilst the above is going on the shuttles will go on a fantastic voyage to end their career. The need for direct human control will be replaced with a remote operating system. As much of the shuttle as possible, will be converted into one big cargo hold. In this cargo hold robots and their purpose. The shuttles will go out in flight at the same time if possible. They'll go to a rough landing pad on Luna just big enough for them. Here the remote control robots will be deployed and will construct a landing pad as required. With that done the robots will use the other material taken up with them and build several greenhouses to be sown. Upon completing that task, a relative hibernation of maintaining the runway and making the landscape fit with the life pods.
2011 Earth side again
The new space ship will hopefully be done with the design phase by now so production will begin. Not production as known during shuttle times though. Each country participating in this will build at least one along with all companioning equipment and supplies. These space ships will be cheap and present in numbers unimaginable following this plan. Something near a wartime production capacity should be assumed.
The participating countries could and should be France, England, Spain, Italy, Russia, China, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, India and whoever else wants to be generous. If a nation can not build a space ship in their own country, maybe they just don't have the kind of equipment necessary or other things are on their mind, it would be nice for them to donate to a central fund that will be equally divided among the participating nations. The large effort is because since the beginning of the space race the Earth has been much divided until the International Space Station. Regardless of that, there are many space programs doing the same thing. And that is a waste. The U.S. may be capable of brooding four shuttles but imagine what a united world could do together...
Also, as the space ships are being manufactured a large launch pad will be constructed in Western Texas; here there will be wide spaces with little in the way of building the launch pads. The rockets will be sent in the same fashion as the Shuttles are moved around, that will be at the expense of each country. The placement is because a disproportionate amount of spaceships will probably come from the U.S., and in the U.S. this is a large flat space in the South.
2012
With construction complete the space ships will be sent to Texas as previously stated in whatever fashion is convenient. If land acquisition is impossible through money it should simply be seized as few people are out there…, and after the launch the people can have their land back for free and if they want to sell their plot, a historic event occurred there so that’s some money. By October all space ships should be in the area and waiting to be set up.
As this all goes on, there should be a local tax raise accompanied by endorsements to make the area a temporary competitor to Disney, or better yet, Disney and the like could set up their own stands. At the end of the day however, private investors who sold merchandise, food, or whatever go home fat, and a good deal of tax money goes to the government helping to pay some expenses. To further this effort commercials advertising the area should flood networks. The effect is people going to see it and a sense of pride on being born on Earth, not any particular country.
Through October an army of internationally based workers will check the space ships for any and all faults, fixing such errors on the spot. At this time the life pods frequently alluded to will be placed into the space ships. By November the space ships will be raised by cranes into the arms of towers like the variety that have held the Shuttles for years. Once in that position engineers will inspect them again. The day before Winter Solstice the fuel tanks will be pumped with whatever miracle fuel has been found.
2012 Winter Solstice
With a crowd of millions, from every corner of the Earth watching the astronauts will go into their respective life pods. Just imagine this though, maybe fifty space ships standing up in salute to Uranus. Spreading over the plains of Texas half a mile (or however much is safe) apart. At a safe distance, onlookers do what they’re best at.
In a flash of light and boom of sound a third of the spaceships go up simultaneously. They shoot through the sky, shaking the Earth in their quantified might. The exhaust begins to grow smaller as they pierce the exosphere and then the external boosters fall away. For a second just a fractioned caused pinpoint of light. And then, the Primary Boosters fire up pushing the space ship a bit faster than previously as it gravity is losing and there is less mass to push anyways.
Five minutes after that a second countdown from thirty. Five minutes, another countdown, and the third wave follows.
The first wave, now in space, maneuvers to go to Luna. Nearing it, retro-rockets in the nose fire up slowing the space ships. Upon being over Luna the most spectacular part if ever witnessed. The space crafts breaks up into three more pieces. The life pods fall down by way of meager gravity. Once near the surface stabilizing rockets on the life pods engage in the life pods (and supply pods) float down to their predestinated points. As a bit of a footnote, each life pod also has their own pilot that operates the individual pods.
The other two waves follow up in the same manner.
Through a live feed and cameras on the hull the world sees the journey through the eyes of the leading space ship in each wave, or if decided by any other ship.
Upon landing, the inactive but present robots that had built the landing pad, use materials from their own landing and create a system of tubes that connect the life pods.
After landing the occupants of the life pods settle into a life on Luna for at least one year (at the most life). Already growing in the greenhouse that are at center of each huddle of life pods, are plants ready to be rationed and cooked as needed. Operations will continue but the hope is, is that the base can now be self sufficient with a strong system that recycles air, water, and everything else.
Although previously unsaid, the Moon Base will be in the facing Southern Hemisphere as this area receives sunlight three quarters of the year. Specifically the Shackleton Crater is ideal as it is sunlit 80% of the time, and may have reserves of water nearby.
2012 on
From this point on, the Lunar Base will receive regular resupply missions that will double in the sense of moving personal back and forth. If possible, another mass transit but such a use of resources should be rejected, as the Lunar Base detailed above is temporary. There should be a large scale tunneling system that would mirror the underground housing system known to Coober Pedy. Living underground would give protection from radiation without the need to specially design life pods for the purpose. Above ground, greenhouses of a type to filter the good rays from the bad rays of sunlight and allow crops to grow within.
In a dream scenario the Lunar Base would evolve into what was envisioned by Ben Bova in Mars Life. In his book the Lunar Base was mentioned and detailed a few times. After a revolutionary war, Selene (as the colony is called) broke away from the Earth and gained independence. In time Selene became a successful country that made a good deal of profit from nanotechnology (that was illegal on Earth) but had to put up with refugees from an Earth being treated by Nemesis. For those unfamiliar with this book, and to reinforce this already said many times, on the surface greenhouses growing crops, whatever communications desired, and a landing pad. What will be below the surface will be something like a series of tunnels opening to a series of compact homes. Maybe even a nice skylight mall with grass
To conclude the fold on Luna, this entire plan is something like any other human push, to be specific but not implicative; this is comparable to the Nazi Blitzkrieg. Sadly however the Poles are powerful politicians and there are no Vulcans to play Russia. Regardless with some willpower applied and a short sighted leader this is eagerly possible.
At any the rate the string has been released, the guillotine has fallen so in another level this script will squawk from ashes and be resumed. With or without Ares, Ceres, or Penelope behind the curtain it is prudent to summarize; although any possible progress is procrastinativly spoken of, cosmic exploration is possible now. All that is needed is a little funding. To get to Luna and stay there a concerted effort won’t be required, but ignorance will be showcased if the world doesn’t work together. After Luna, humanity could go on to Mars or maybe a satellitive colony next.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Bris Vatne
