Expanding on the Society's Vision Statement

In stating the Moon Society's vision of  "communities on the Moon involving large-scale industrialization and private enterprise" we expect that the "anchor products exported, not to Earth's surface, but to Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (LEO), will be building materials forged from the elements in moondust, with which to construct a world-girdling system of solar power satellites, supplying Earth's growing population with abundant clean energy at minimal impact to Earth's environment. In short, we are going to the Moon because Earth's problems are our primary concern and driving force.

The result will be an Earth-Moon "Econosphere" in which all the resources of our Earth-Moon twin planet system are put to the service of mankind in a way that promises the best of futures.

To work towards the realization of this vision, the Society is promoting a major acceleration in research as to how lunar materials could be produced that would perform well enough that they could be used to construct the majority of the component mass of a network of Solar Power Satellites at a significant cost advantage over Earth-sourcing.  [ The paper linked to above was published on pages 10-11, in MMM #214, April 2008, in the Moon Society Journal section. ]

We are further working to determine what sort of capital investment would be needed to set up production facilities on the Moon for each candidate building material. The results of this research could point to one direction or another as the most promising avenue for further development. It would also provide one component of the overall cost of lunar sourcing."

The Moon Society is also endeavoring to launch a series of Mother Earth - Father Moon conferences, possibly under the name Planet Earth and Space" Conferences, to begin a serious conversation between the environmental constituencies who tend to take near-term individual and community approaches and Space-interests groups, who share the same core concern for the future of our Home World, with space solar power proponents taking the long-term global view. Both visions are complementary. We need individual and local action now to slow the growth of the problem, and then longer-term global approaches to finally tame the problem.

To Read:

• Moon Society Joins new thirteen member Space Solar Alliance for Future Energy (SSAFE)
• USAF National Security Space Office findings on Space Based Solar Power (pdf)
• National Space Society's Space Solar Power Library Page

To Watch:

• Dr. Peter j. Schubert's presentation on "Using Moon Rocks to Save the Earth"

Supporting Projects:


If you want to work towards these goals, consider joining our Lunar Materials for SPS Team