E-Report #1 October 5, 2004 To: all Moon Society Members, current and lapsed
(The Moon Society is the successor to Artemis Society International in Membership Services. The Artemis Moonbase Project™ remains the flagship project of the Society.)
From: Moon Society President, Peter Kokh
MOON SOCIETY LAUNCHES TWO NEW PROJECTS
As the newly elected President of the Moon Society, it is my intent to report regularly to all members, current and lapsed, on progressive initiatives undertaken by the Moon Society.
The Moon Society is exploring, and will continue to explore, dynamic projects it can undertake in collaboration with other groups. We kicked off this initiative with a strong presence at the recent Mars Society Convention held in Chicago, August 19-22nd, 2004. For our report on this event, see:
http://www.moonsociety.org/reports/mars_conv2004/
1) MOON-MARS HABITAT PROJECT
The first fruits of this effort are the Moon-Mars Habitat Project, aimed at identifying, and demonstrating the technologies that will be needed to transform a first outpost on Mars, or the Moon, into a permanent settlement. This project was initiated by members of the Mars Society, but we have been invited to participate. This makes sense, for while Mars and the Moon have many obvious differences, it is nonetheless true that many, perhaps most, of the technologies needed to create permanent habitation will be needed on both worlds.
You can visit the (original) Mars Habitat page at
And you can take a look at how we can piggyback on this project at
http://www.moonsociety.org/projects/homestead/
2) RENTING THE MARS DESERT OUTPOST FOR LUNAR OUTPOST SIMULATION EXERCISES.
The second collaboration project is an opportunity that has arisen at the Mars Desert Research Station in south central Utah. The Mars Society is willing to rent out this facility to other groups. While the Moon Society does not have the resources at this time to undertake design and construction of its own analog station at which to learn valuable lessons from simulating operations, we can, for a nominal fee, rent the M.D.R.S. facility for one or more 2-week crew rotations. Crews are composed of six persons each.
To learn what this project entails, and how you can get involved in making it happen, go to:
http://www.moonsociety.org/projects/rent-mdrs/
Phase I will be to brainstorm valid operational exercises that are specific to lunar bases that we can reasonably simulate at the Utah location. If we can design a program with real merit, finding a sponsor to cover the minimal costs should not be a problem. I believe that we can come up with enough "missions" to rent M.D.R.S.. for one or two crew rotations perhaps every other year.
The page above explains how to join in this brainstorming effort. This project is open to all current Moon Society members, so if your membership has lapsed, do consider rejoining the Society. There are new lower registration fees for students and seniors willing to download our Moon Miners' Manifesto newsletter as a PDF file instead of having the hardcopy version delivered to their mailbox. Just go to:
http://www.moonsociety.org/register/
We are on the move!
MOON MINERS' MANIFESTO
MMM has been the official newsletter of the Artemis Society, and of the Moon Society, its successor in membership services,]since issue #90, November 1995. Lapsed members may want to renew their acquaintance with MMM by checking out MMM's new home page:
http://www.MoonMinersManifesto.com (Caps optional)
On that page you will find links to a directory of free access sample issues in PDF format from the past three years, as well as to a directory of MMM Classics, again freely accessed, where we have begun to reedit, reillustrate, reformat, and republish the classic articles from MMM's first ten years (December 1986 through November 1996). The first two volumes, one per year, are now online for you to download.
MOMENTUM IS BUILDING
Things are getting exciting now. We all hope that the new Moon to Mars initiative will be approved by Congress. Meanwhile, Spirit and Opportunity continue to make new discoveries on Mars, long beyond their design lifetimes. The Huygens probe will soon descend into the clouds of Titan to reveal wonders we can only now guess at.
Even more exciting, yesterday the Tourist Space Age began in earnest, forty seven years after Sputnik. Virgin Galactic is taking reservations for suborbital flights on SpaceShipTwo to be built by Rutan's Scaled Composites. Bigelow Aerospace is building inflatable habitats for orbital hotels and has put up $50 million in prize money for the first commercial craft able to take tourists there. Within a few years, it will be possible to purchase a ticket to orbit for much less than Tito paid. Once in orbit, the craft that brought you there need only be refueled and reprovisioned with supplies for seven days to take off for a loop around the Moon, skimming close over farside craters without landing before returning to Earth orbit and home. The first tourists could loop the Moon well before the first astronauts, NASA, Chinese, or Commercial, land on its surface.
The Moon Society can do things to help advance these events, and to help telescope the timetable. By renewing or rejoining, you could play a part in these exciting events.
Sincerely,
Peter Kokh
President of the Moon Society
http://www.moonsociety.org
President@moonsociety.org
kokhmmm@aol.com414-342-0705
