Space
Governance
The Journal of United Societies in Space, Inc.
d/b/a International Space Development Authority Corporation
and Affiliates including: Lunar Economic Development Authority, Inc.
World Space Bar Association, Space Orbital Development Authority, Inc.
and a Special Interest Chapter of the National Space Society & the Mars Society
$20
Vol. 11
Space is a Place
2005
NASA image JSC2006-E-43519 (Oct. 2006)
Computer-generated artist’s rendering of the completed International Space Station
IN THIS ISSUE: ■ Buzz Aldrin ■ Ray Arvidson ■ Jim Benson ■ Doug Cooke ■ Shana Dale ■ Steve Durst ■ Marianne Dyson ■ Edward Mike Finke ■ Jose Hernandez ■ Scott Horowitz ■ John Hovde ■ Brooks Jenkins ■ Stephen Hawking ■ Jack Lynne ■ Robert McCall ■ Ved Nanda ■ Dayton O’Donnell ■ Declan J. O’Donnell, J.D.
■ Gerard K. O’Neill ■ Thomas Reiter ■ Jesus Raygoza B. ■ William Henry Siegfried, PhD. ■ Steven Squyres ■ Konstantin Tsiolkovsky ■ Werner Von Braun ■ Asia Wakabayashi ■ Peggy Whitson
United Societies in Space and Affiliates
Board of Directorsfor
United Societies In Space and/or its Affiliates:
Oleg Alifanov Greg H Allison Pahlaj Bajaj Greg Bennett Brad Blair Henry Cheung, PhD Bruce Cordell, PhD Ned Dodds Steve Durst William A Gaubatz William A Good, PhD Stewart Johnson, PhD Deepak Kapadia Ronnie M Lajoie Alex Lightman David Livingston Declan J. O’Donnell, JD Omar Pensado D Raphael Ponce John Reynolds, JD Gary “Rod” Rodriguez
Carol Rosin, PhD David G Shrunk, MD John S Spencer Dennis Wakabayashi Kathleen Woody, JD Director Emeritus: Philip R Harris, PhD Regents, Advisors, Observers, and Committee Members: Josh Abend Buzz Aldrin, PhD Iqrar Ali Robert E Becker Larry Bell Jim Benson Ryan Bird Karl "Bo" Bobka Kathy P Bonham Michael Cerney Dennis Chamberlain
Ned Chapin Dingchang Cheng
David Larry Clark Mark Cohen Karen Cramer James A Cunningham Susan Dage-Ruby John Davidson Frank P Davidson Dennis M Davidson Pablo de Leon Vladimir Doroshin Kerrie Dougherty Michael Duke, PhD Brad Edwards Eric Epstein Bryan F Erickson Jonathan Ericson, PhD Judith Fielder Gary C Fisher Marsha Freeman Michael Fulda, PhD Dra Marta Gaggero Montaner
Joseph Gillin Peter Glaser, PhD J Henry Glazer, JD Richard Godwin Nathan Goldman, PhD, JD Patricio Gonzalez-Quintanilla Andrew Good Yvonne Goolsby-Spencer, MSN, RN Paul Graham Allen K Grant Michael P Groff, JD Robert Grossman, JD Philip R Harris, PhD Barbara Harris, MD Albert A Harrison, PhD
Brian Harvey, HDE John Helmick Arthur Hingerty Tanya D Holland Alex Howerton Diana Hoyt Nandasiri Jasentuliyana Alan Jones, JD John J Karch Darla Kerkhoff Grigori Khozin Deyong Kong Olivier Koslowski, JD Sergey Krichevsky, PhD Beatrice Lacoste Charles J Lauer Jeffrey G Liss Scott March, JD Thomas L Matula Kevin McGee John Carter McKnight
David McLennan Luis Miranda G George Morgenthaler Michael Murphy Ved Nanda Michael Newbrough, PhD Elizabeth O'Donnell Declan J O'Donnell II James M Otto Ivan Pavlovets Miguel Perez T Dimitry Pieson Linda Plush, MSN John Powell Ignacio Quesada Jesus Raygoza B John B Regnell, PhD, MLS Suzzette A Roachette Justin Rodriguez Eligar Sadeh Marshall Savage George Schuh, CPA
Paul R Seitz Milton "Skip" Smith
Michael D Smith Guillermo Sohnlein Madhu Thangavelu, PhD Bill Trowbridge Elizabeth J Verdisco Don Wade Mary Lou Walen G Toe Washington Richard Westfall Harold White, JD Stewart B Whitney, PhD Harvey Wichman, PhD Dale R Winke Simon P Worden Robert Wyckoff Robert Zubrin, PhD
Mission Statement
United Societies In Space, Inc. (USIS) is dedicated to the proposition that space beyond the Earth is the common heritage of mankind. It is to be settled, populated and enjoyed as the interplanetary commons of the human species, the new frontier of its reachable universe.
USIS was created to encourage, foster and promote governance, legal, financial and industrialization systems for the high frontier of space. USIS aims to provide a global forum to represent, in freedom, the interests of worldwide organizations and private individuals concerned and interested with space, united for the common good of the human species.
USIS communicates its message through its journal, Space Governance. To carry out the above objectives, USIS seeks to establish the International Space Development Authority Corporation, (ISDAC), and to create lunar authorities to promote development and settlement on the Moon. Under the auspices of its Council of Regents, USIS convenes national and international space governance conferences, having inaugurated the Regency for Space Governance.
USIS promotes common law estates for private ownership in space and on space resources. It has extended the common law to space effective October 2000; tendered a model governance structure for space; and called for a new financing institution to pay for the development phase in space, all embodied in the ISDAC.
SPACE GOVERNANCE JOURNAL
Table of Contents
VOLUME 11
EDITORIAL: “Great People Contributed” By Declan J. O’Donnell ... 1
USIS 2005 Space Humanitarian Award to William Siegfried ... 3
Lunar Economic Development Authority: Ten Year Report... 4
Fly Me to the Moon and Much, Much Farther ... 11
Living in Outer-Space Time: NASA’s Projected Timetable ... 18
What On Earth is Space Money? ... 19
The International Space Station By Marianne Dyson (with pictures courtesy of NASA)... 21
Astro Law as Common Law Extended Into the Outer Space Territory ... 28
The First Wonder of the Off-World Contest and Follow On ... 36
International Lunar Observatory Envisioned... 37
USIS Report 2005 ... 38
VOLUME 12/13
EDITORIAL: “Just Do It” By Declan J. O'Donnell ... 1USIS Space Humanitarian Award to Maggie Zubrin ... 2
Finally, a Moon Base: A Report from NASA and National Space Society ... 3
The United Nations Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space... 4
What Way Forward? By Cynda Collins Arsenault, Secure World Foundation ... 5
The Committee for a Positive Future By Barbara Marx Hubbard... 10
The International Space Station (Continued from Vol. 11) By Marianne Dyson (with pictures courtesy of NASA) ... 12
A Space Policy Proposal Regulating Martian Water Resources By Dr. J.J. Hurtak, AFFS Corporation & Dr. Matthew Egan, UC, Berkeley ... 16
First Wonder of the Off-World: First Follow-On Design Contest ... 22
USIS Report 2006 ... 23
Volume 13 EDITORIAL: “Space Colonization and Commercialization – An Alternative to the Moon and Mars” By Richard M. Westfall ... 26
The Heinlein Model for Lunar Habitats, Modified and Updated... 27
Life Support Systems in the Mars Cycler Orbiter ... 33
Space Barter Bank – Groundbreaking Developments By Declan J. O’Donnell ... 38
Russia Started the Space Age ... 40
JOURNAL CREDITS
Publisher. ... Declan Joseph O’Donnell, PC
Editor ... Declan J. O’Donnell, JD
Managing Editor ...Renee Gorman
Assistant Editor ... Gary Rodriguez, Brad Blair & Richard Westfall
Website Master ... Richard Westfall
Founding Editor Emeritus ... Philip R. Harris, Ph.D.
United Societies in Space, Inc.
777 Fifth Street
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104 USA
Telephone: (800) 632-2828 or (303) 688-1193
Fax: (303) 663-8595
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.angelfire.com/space/usis and www.space-law.org
Subscription Rates: $20/yr and USIS membership is $120/yr which includes this
journal and all mailings and conferences and co-membership in the National Space
Society of which USIS is a Special Interest Chapter. Library Edition available for $50.
10th International Mars Society Convention
The 2007 convention was held 30 Aug - 2 Sep 2007 at the University
of California, Los Angeles. The International Mars Society convention
presented a unique opportunity for those interested in Mars to come
together and discuss the technology, science, social implications.
Visit their Website at www.marssociety.org for details.
Plenary Speakers included an exceptional line-up: Loretta Hidalgo discussing theSpaceward Bound Program and other outreach endeavors
Dr. Penelope Boston on Earth Analogs for Martian Microbes Dr. Fuk Li on the Jet Propulsion Lab Mars Exploration Program
Carolyn Porco presenting the latest Cassini discoveries with striking images returned form
the most capable scientific probe ever sent to the outer solar system.
Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, an entrepreneurial rocket development company
that just made history by reaching an altitude of 200 miles with its privately developed Falcon 1 launch vehicle.
Dr. Scott Horowitz, Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems at NASA.
And of course, we will have a full report on the four month mission currently underway at FMARS, including Crewmember First Person accounts and a report on the results of the
1
E D I T O R I A L
Great People Contributed Freely
By Declan J. O’Donnell
The common thread among truly great people in space activist circles is open contribution. Our organization has hosted many such exemplary guests, members, and observers. It is richer for the dialogue, better off than before, and more confident about the future.
Philip R. Harris, Ph.D.,
discovered a bar association article I wrote in 1992: “A Basis for Government in Outer Space.” He circulated it, sponsored me at the Inter-national Astronautical Congress in Washington, DC, and partnered with me to create United Societies in Space that year. He was the first Editor in Chief of this Space Governance
Journal. Phil is an outspoken
advocate of humans in space.
Board members Brad Blair and Rashmi Mayur promoted our young organization internationally and at the United Nations. Rashmi liked our philosophy of advocating one rule of law and policy
internationally during the upcoming space development phase. Part of his legacy was to sponsor me for the Indira Ghandi Award of India. We did that in Mumbai, India, in October, 1998. Rashmi suffered a stroke in 2004 in Africa at the UN Summit on Environmentalism and passed away in New York, New York, USA, in 2005. He began his space advocacy with the legendary Gerard K. O’Neill of Princeton, remained on the Board of the Space Studies Institute, and ended with our group.
Henry Cheung, Ph.D., of
Lawrence Livermore Labor-atories followed, editing my first book, “Cosmic Man Coming.” He seemed to know everything and was quick to let me know. His critique was so good that I held up publication.
Next came David Schrunk, M.D., Greg Allison, Ronnie
Lajoie, and Kathleen Woody,
Esq. My contemporaries were way ahead of me, but they slowed down to help United Societies in Space. Dr. Schrunk pitched in on LEDA to provide most of its advanced thinking for creating a permanent base on the Moon. Greg Allison and Ronnie Lajoie, both members of the Board of Directors of the National Space Society, joined our group, contributed openly, and were elected to the USIS Board of Directors.
R
onnie
L
ajoie &
Kathleen Woody
Phil
ip R. H
arris
Kathleen Woody, Esq.,found us by reading a copy of this journal in her dentist’s office in 1995. She called to say “here I am.” Kate recently left the teaching faculty of Harvard Law School and an assignment in Kazakhstan, Russia for our U.S. State Department. She also taught at other law schools such as Columbia and Georgetown. She pitched in with free and open debate, organized LEDA with Brad Blair, consulted to our World Space Bar Association as a member, and has now assumed the appointed position of Chief Judge of the Supreme Court of the USIS Regency component of its International Space Development Authority Corporation, ISDAC.
Brad Bl
air &
Rashmi
Mayur
Buzz Aldrin, Robert Zubrin, and Maggie Zubrin,
(pictured above), called on me to assist as a lawyer in forming the Mars Society in 1997. I remain on its Board of Directors and USIS has become a chapter. I was totally surprised to learn from Buzz that Mars is his preferred destination in space and that he promotes the concept of a large Mars cycler orbiter space vessel. Robert Zubrin, of course, created the “Mars Direct” program while working at Martin Marrietta and is well known as a leading authority on Mars. Maggie won our space Humanitarian Award for 2006.
Perhaps our most important event was the International Space Governance Convention
of 2000 A.D., ending one year later in 2001 Professor Ved
Nanda, Esq., head of the
University of Denver Inter-national Legal Studies Program sponsored us at the University of Denver Law School. All Nations were appropriately invited, as well as all then known space industry relevant offices. The 100++ delegates created and adopted a regency style constitution for our space authorities. Fifty Ph.D. level regents were then appointed. Significantly, this convention extended the common law into outer space, defined it as the Black Letter Rules asserted in
Corpus Juris Secundum, and
tendered a space court with a dozen qualified jurists on board.
Gary “Rod” Rodriguez, Rafael Ponce, William Good, Yvonne Goolsby-Spencer, Brad Blair, Alex Lightman,
and Renee Gorman provided leadership, energy, and acumen. The event is cited now as important by way of defining how astro law should develop. In 1850 the U.S. Congress extended American common law to all extra territorial courts. This convention by USIS has amended that to include “astro law” in space courts as the extension of common law at the year 2000 A.D.
Cycler Orbiter Design Winners
More recently, in 2004 and 2005, this journal sponsored a Mars Cycler Orbiter design contest. Let me introduce the winning team:
Asia Wakabayashi of Virgina Beach, Virginia, chairperson of the committee, now a freshman in college, an award winning debater, and an A-plus student.
Dayton O’Donnell of Castle
Rock, Colorado, is now a freshman in high school, a basketball team natural, a President’s Award Scholar, a member of the Colorado Honor Band, and youngest son of Declan J. O'Donnell’s family.
John Hovde, now a freshman
in High School in Castle Rock, Colorado, a member of its freshman football team, a member of the Colorado Honor Band, and active with Habitats for Humanity.
Brooks Jenkins, also a
freshman in Castle Rock, is a basketball team regular starter, and a true space activist.
Their work and its results are set forth later in this journal. Space artist David Robinson is credited with portraying this teams ideas into a viable space vessel. Saucer image. (See, the cover of volume 12.) Buzz Aldrin sat on the advisory committee as chaired by Gary Rodriguez.
Dayton O’Donnell
A
sia Wa
ka
bayash
i
Brooks Jenkins
Thank you all for
these memories. Thanks
for being open,
contributory, and great,
each one of you.
S P A C E H U M A N I T A R I A N A W A R D
A
WARD FOR
2005
A.D.
P
RESENTED TO
W
ILLIAM
H
ENRY
S
IEGFRIED
,
P
H
D
By Declan J. O’Donnell
This gentle giant of the aerospace industry has a dedicated career of 55 years in leadership. His retirement as head of the Humans in Space program at Boeing in 2004 gave him even more time to volunteer. His pet projects are publishing and speaking at the International Astronautical Congresses, AIAA meetings, and almost anywhere space activists congregate
worldwide.
In 1952 he earned both a bachelor and masters of science degrees from Ohio State University. He also played tackle on the University’s legendary football team. From there he spent three years in the US Navy at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, (somehow assigned to its aeronautical engineering activities). During his spare time he attended the University of Pennsylvania business school.
Later he matriculated to the University of California-Los Angeles. Again he concentrated in the field of aeronautical engineering. From this educational platform he dove into the industry with early work on NASA projects such as the crew transfer vehicles, the crew return vehicles, space and defense projects, space systems, and lectured at the Armed Forces Management School. By 1992 he was program manager and director of the McDonnell Douglas Space Exploration Initiative group that involved a seven-company team and all NASA centers.
Then to Boeing. By 1998 he served as chief project engineer for Space Platforms and Exploration in Advanced Engineering in the Boeing Space & Communications Group. By 2002 he contributed to that company’s Phantom Works as an advanced designer. Dr. Siegfried also worked on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mars Sample Return Mission. His volunteer work continued, also, as he assumed chairmanship of the International Academy of Astronautics, (IAA), Human Exploration and Development of the Moon and Earth’s neighborhood. Following that he assumed chairmanship of the IAA study on Development for Infrastructure for the International Human Exploration of Space. His run with the UN affiliated International Astronautical Federation matured during these years. He became the perennial chair of its sessions on Strategies for Lunar and Mars Colonization and Infrastructure for Human Exploration of Space.
Positions of responsibility include member of the NASA RASC-AL steering committee for the USRA; IAA committee chair; AIAA co-chair for Space Colonization Committee; Board of Directors of the Lunar Economic Development Authority, per NASA; and a member of United Societies in Space, Inc. ab initio.
What a career! What a guy!
Local Chapters Needed
Both National Space Society, NSS, (www.nss.org) and the MARS SOCIETY, (www.marssociety.org), welcome and encourage space enthusiasts to form local chapters nationally and internationally. Each have international chapters and wish to grow both venues.
LUNAR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY: TEN YEAR REPORT
BY DECLAN J. O'DONNELL, J.D.;BUZZ ALRDIN, PH.D.; BRAD BLAIR, M.E.; GARY
RODRIGUEZ, P.E.; DAVID SCHRUNK, M.D.
ABSTRACT
The establishment of an interim municipal government for the Moon is proposed. The task of planning and sponsoring resource utilization and utility development on the Moon for the use of all developers, visitors, and settlers, for a fee, should be accomplished before these activities commence. This is the province of the Lunar Economic Development Authority, Inc., (LEDA). Its 10-year history will be disclosed. Municipal projects that would come under the jurisdiction of LEDA include water treatment and delivery; waste disposal; a building code; a railroad; certain monument areas for preservation; a telescope park; and electric power grids. Fees are earned to repay bond holders who provide funds for these facilities. There are plenty of investors for such basic space development projects worldwide. If LEDA is successful on the Moon, then its form of interim governance may be transported to Mars.
Because all of its principal projects are non profit and designed for the use and benefit of all countries and humankind, it is clearly treaty compliant and not subject to the benefit sharing burden of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.
ESTABLISHMENT
By United Societies in Space, Inc.
Ten years ago the Lunar Economic Development Authority, Inc., (LEDA), a proposed interim government for the Moon was established and filed. The organic charter was issued by the Secretary of State of Colorado in August 1996. The plan was seminared at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference in June 1996 in San Diego, California. The authors were the protagonists and many well known space activists supported it over that decade. See, View Graph No. 1.
The concept was to prepare an overall municipal development plan for the Moon, opine on the likely sources of economic
support, and test out the plan for feasibility and consensus. The industry has been supportive of the general concept of an authority for transition purposes. However, most leaders worldwide wished to await some detailed plan. This may be the first public statement by the LEDA staff and it will await leadership comment.
View Graph 1
United Societies in Space, Inc., (USIS), was started in 1992, International Space Year, with Declan O’Donnell, Esq., George S. Robinson III, Esq., and Philip R. Harris, Ph.D., in Washington, D.C. It was incorporated as a non-profit Colorado corporation in 1993. The World Bar Association designed and sponsored it as a space governance entity and co-sponsored with USIS the Space
Governance Journal in 1993. It then reformed
into the World Space Bar Association in 1994 and filed as a Colorado non-profit corporation affiliated with USIS.
LEDA
The Lunar Economic Development Authority, Inc, was the first substantial
expression of USIS space governance philosophy. Apollo astronauts Edgar Mitchell and Buzz Aldrin lent support as board of director members and leading participants of the LEDA advisory committee, respectively. The first principle it announced was that it was a 100-year maximum and clearly temporary governance unit. The mission was to assist with the transition to space habitats for humans, opine on economic development of the Moon, and, as soon as practicable within that 100 year span, sponsor a political convention for a more permanent lunar governance model.
5
Professor Ved Nanda, University of Denver, College of Law Buzz Aldrin as NBC News commentatorfollowing the Columbia shuttle tragedy
Because of Buzz Aldrin’s early work on cycler orbiters and likely orbits for such very large and important vessels, USIS then formed the Space Orbital Development Authority, Inc. (SODA). This was filed as a Colorado non-profit corporation during 1995. It asserts authority over likely orbits for cycler orbiters, has sponsored four international design contests for the orbiter, has opined on a winning design as likely, and plans to push for its construction on the Moon. To that end, it has delegated to LEDA the leading role in preparing the Moon for such a large project and governing its ultimate creation at a lunar base.
Management
The original LEDA management structure was published in 1998. It featured a strong executive branch, a modest court system, and a consortia legislative branch that sat delegates from governments, industry, and space activist organizations. See, View Graph
No. 2.
View Graph 2
Emphasis was placed on the need for venue-wide standards for development, construction, and building maintenance on the Moon, and property rights issues.
Leadership expressed reservation regarding “zoning” on the Moon. The World Space Bar Association and LEDA felt that libertarian values would predominate and LEDA’s program could be hurt by such an assertion as “zoning.” However, some sort of cooperative planning was approved so it was decided to leave the word “zoning” in the chart with the understanding it is not by fiat, but by
consensus.
The management technique for space governance of affiliates was created by USIS in 2000 A.D. by Inter-national Convention. This was co-sponsored by USIS and Professor Ved Nanda of the International Law Department of the University of Denver Law School. The Regency of USIS appointed 50 Ph.D. level and
equivalent space activists and arranged them into executive, legislative, and judicial departments.
In 2004, the USIS board of directors meeting at a Mars Society Convention in Chicago, Illinois, voted to do business as the “International Space Development Authority Corporation” and caused papers to be filed in more detail in 2006. This is viewed as the lead space governance federation with LEDA, SODA, and the Mars Society focused on their respective municipal governance agendas. ISDAC would raise senior capital, issue bonds, coordinate banking and space development efforts, and run the century out by sponsoring a convention for a more permanent space governance unit, hopefully comprised of space settlers on the Moon, at Mars, and in the cycler orbiter space vessel and other orbiting facilities.
Moon Architecture
In order to support this and attendant mining and adjunct activities on the Moon, LEDA proposes to sponsor or otherwise cause a relevant architecture. The centerpiece is predicted to be the large shipyard, catapult, and company town. However, adjunct facilities are contemplated at the lunar poles, in the Sea of Tranquillity, and along the circumference of the Moon as viewed from Earth. The following important lunar architecture support facilities are disclosed in publications by our LEDA leadership. 1
A. Security and Administration.
Title: The Moon. Resources, Future Devel-opment and Colonization,
(May 1999), Authors: David Schrunk, Burton Sharpe, Bonnie Cooper,
Madhu Thangavelu.
LEDA will have the consensus power to create rules, maintain inspections and standards and safety rules for all, and resolve disputes and sanction outlaws in a court system. To assure that the rules serve the best interests of all involved parties, quality standards for the design and follow up evaluation of rules will be observed. 2
B. Coordinate Competing Interests.
LEDA will facilitate or mediate competing interests of international projects on or near the Moon by national space agencies, scientific organizations, universities, and private corporations or consortia.
C. Economic Assistance. LEDA will
control an authority bank that sponsors a fiscal and monetary system on the Moon. It will arrange relevant financing out of bond revenues for developers who care to
participate in construction of these facilities and utilize the Authority’s bank.
D. Property Management. LEDA may
conveniently maintain a property leasing system and site permitting activity as municipalities are constitutionally expected to do. This would serve as a facilitator for those who care to build habitats, mines, ports, factories, and, of course, a large ship, catapult, and company town.
E. Environment. LEDA will oversee
protection of the lunar environment. Venue-wide rules must be tendered before the settlers, developers, tourists, and workers arrive on the Moon.
These lunar activities are viewed as traditional, if not actually classical. 3
PROJECT-DRIVEN
ARCHITECTURE
I. Near Term Projects
A. Circumferential Lunar Railroad and Utilities. Rather than tolerate trespass to all
of the lunar surface needlessly, LEDA endorsed the circumferential lunar
railroad as its first project. The railroad will help restrict travel to pre-selected areas on the Moon. The lunar railroad will play a major role in facilitating global lunar development with
environmental protection for the vast lunar surface. 4
B. Management of Utility Infra-structures. Utility
systems such as electric power, commun-ications, and pipeline networks will be located in the same easements as the circumferential railroad. LEDA will set standards for safety, construction, and right of way, and assume a regulatory-by-consensus role for all. Investor-funded commercial enterprises are expected to be the principal designers, owners, and operators of utility networks. If projections for the growth of the lunar power system are correct, the Moon will become the major
source of clean electric power for the Earth in the mid-decades of the 21st century.
7
Cislunar space
(alternatively, cis-lunar space) is the volume
within the Moon's orbit, or a sphere formed by rotating that orbit. Volumes within that such ...
[Wikapedia]
C. Electronic Catapult. Prior to construction of the large cycler orbiter vessel, LEDA calls for the design and construction of an electronic catapult near the company town and the titanium mine. Capacity must include the ability to place components into cislunar orbit for assembly. It would be managed by LEDA for the benefit of all
countries and humanity. The fee structure is costs plus debt
amortization without profit.
II. Long Term Project
Cycler Orbiter. A major project for LEDA
is predicted to be construction of at least one very large cycler orbiter space vessel, a bevy of support systems, and a fleet of smaller and faster tender vessels for personnel, tourists, and cargo. This may become a ship yard and company town on the far side of the Moon near the solar systems largest proven deposit of titanium. Mining for other metals, such as iron ore, may be conducted elsewhere, perhaps in the Sea of Tranquillity. The cycler orbiter as promoted by astronaut Buzz Aldrin5 has compelling merit, especially as the eventual capital for space governance and headquarters for all space development industries. The likely design of this saucer-shaped vessel measuring a mile in diameter is presented at View Graph No. 3: The first place award design in our three year hunt for the “The First Wonder of the Off-World.”
View Graph No. 3: The First Wonder of the Off-World
It has five levels with three circumferences on each level. It rotates while cruising to and from Mars so each level experiences, g, 2/3g,
and 1/3g, respectively (from the outer edges inward). Ice water is stored deep at the circumference and deep enough for adequate radiation protection elsewhere. The entire center from top to bottom is a cylindrical storage area for cargo and experiments and some industry.
Level one located at the top is command center for managing the vessel. Second level is permanent residents and the ship’s crew. Third level is farming and ranching with hydroponics technology. Fourth level is accommodations for tourists and settlers in transit. Level five is ingress and egress, port of entry, and landing and docking technologies. Throughout the vessel are games, telescopes, and sports facilities galore. International cooperation is expected with condominium-style financing for participating nations and commercial entities.
LEDA proposes to name this vessel the “Buzz Aldrin” cycler orbiter. Buzz has published and promoted this concept for 20 years. He caused several universities to chart out likely orbits and opine on feasibility. These universities include Purdue University and the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado. III. Ancillary Activities
This rendition of lunar development relies on extensive work by many qualified commentators. NASA’s 2006 plan for using the Moon to prepare for development of Mars is central to the theme. Implied in this report are many ancillary and preparatory activities recommended to bring it all together, some of which are expressed as follows;
A. Mars Exploration should be undertaken immediately and not deferred until the cycler orbiter is commissioned. Dr. Robert Zubrin’s, the Mars Society’s, and the Mars Direct program’s principles may be funded for human exploration so there will be a suitable base on Mars to connect with the Buzz Aldrin Mars Cycler Orbiter, the First Wonder of the Off World, when it arrives. 6
B. A ‘Space Governance’ consensus
should be groomed for international cooperation and wide national participation in conjunction with the use of citizen supported authorities. Nations, Corporations and Individuals would participate by contract rather than by treaty. 7
C. Underground Cities, factories, and
public parks with rivers should be built and tested before construction on the Moon and/or on Mars, especially for long term food supply, pollution solutions, and human life enhance-ments. 8
D. Caverns sunk to bedrock below the
regolith may host lunar cities in a developed county dedicated to building the large Buzz Aldrin Cycler Orbiter. Three surrounding cities could be staggered among three consecutive eight hour work cycles, for example. 9
E. An Electronic Catapult suitable for use
on the Moon needs to be designed, constructed, and tested to see if cislunar orbits can be achieved.
F. An International Citizen Astronaut Corps must be selected, trained, and
maintained to meet the call for the thousands of managers, engineers, and worker families required.
IMPRIMATUR BY CONTRACT
This Authority has not relied upon any treaty or United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution or national mandate. Instead it has proceeded from humble beginnings 10 years ago in reliance on contracts and memberships and bond revenues. Each of these adds up to the only imprimatur currently available, that of popular support in the relevant marketplace.
The only model of UN treaty sponsorship for imprimatur has been supplemented recently. Now developers and industry leaders rely more on contracts for the sign of approval. As we move towards implementing the concepts contained in this 10 year anniversary report, LEDA will ask for proposals and award contracts accordingly. At the end of the day most of the lunar industries in the world may be contracted in some way. That will lead to success and be imprimatur enough.
Many attorneys have encouraged the use of such authority for essentially space governance purposes. Outer space has no senior in situ government. The UN is very helpful but it acts on behalf of its members, was formed a decade prior to the existence of the space age, and does not assert jurisdiction in space, either in rem or in persona.
Nations, corporations, and individuals are free to pool their interests by contract with the Authority. No treaty is necessary. 10
NO BENEFIT SHARING
The principal projects, such as construction of a large cycler orbiter for Moon and Mars attendance by all, are not sponsored for profit taking. Instead they are for the benefit of all countries and all of humanity. A pooling of interests of countries and corporations is managed by contracts. For example, any and all countries may contract for condominium style ownership of quarters in the large cycler orbiter. Periodic homeowner fees would be assessed to cover the actual costs of operation of this vessel. Therefore, no treaty burden of benefit sharing will apply to LEDA’s support activities nor to those relevant activities of its contractor and subcontractors. This applies to all of its projects and activities as described in this report.
CONCLUSION
For these reasons LEDA recommends progressing to formal approval of these concepts by the industry and the space community, with amendments as may be deemed appropriate. Its projects are treaty compliant as non profit and for the benefit of all humankind. 11
ENDNOTES
1
Schrunk, David; Sharpe, Burton; Cooper, Bonnie; and Thangavalu, Madhu, The Moon, Resources, Future Development, copyright 1999, Praxis Publishing, Ltd. See, chapter 5, Mining and Manufacturing; chapter 6, Circumferential Lunar Utilities; chapter 7, Governance of the Moon and the LEDA model; and appendix F: “Facilitating Space Commerce
through a Lunar Economic Development Authority,” by Harris, P.R.; and O’Donnell, D.J.,
World Space Bar Association.
2
Schrunk, David G., THE END OF CHAOS: Quality Laws and the Ascendancy of Democracy. Quality of Laws Press, Poway, CA, 2005
3
Heinlein, Robert A., The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Copyright 1966 by Robert A. Heinlein. Renewed 1994 by Virginia Heinlein. An Orb Edition published by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.
4
Schrunk, David G., et al., Physical Transportation
on the Moon: The Lunar Railroad. Proceedings
’98, pp 347-53, American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA, 1998.
5
Aldrin, Buzz, cycler orbiter, may be found through his website at www.buzzaldrin.com and multiple sites feature the Buzz Aldrin Cycler Orbiter information by searching.
9
6
Zubrin, R., The Case For Mars, Freedom Press, 1998, in passim.
7
O’Donnell, D.J., “ISDAC Imprimatur by
Contract,” 9th Annual Mars Society Convention, University of California, August 30 – September 4, 2007.
8
Rodriguez, G., and Good, Wm., “Silicon Moon;
The Foundation of a Cislunar Economy,” AIAA
2001-4662, Space 2001, August 28-30, 2001, Albuquerque, NM.
9
O’Donnell, D.J., Buzz Aldrin, Brad Blair, Deepak Kapadia, Gary Rodriguez, Richard Westfall, “The Heinlein Model For Lunar Habitats,
Modified and Updated,” IAC.07.C2.1.07, IAF,
Hyderabad, India, 2007.
10
Smith, Milton, “Compliance with International
Space Law of the LEDA Proposal,” Space
Governance Journal, Jan. 1997, p. 16; Goldman, Nathan, “Lawyer’s Perspective on
the USIS Strategies for Meta Nations and LEDA,” Space Governance Journal, July 1996,
p. 16; O’Donnell, D.J., and Harris, P.R.,
“Facilitating a New Space Market Through LEDA,” Space Governance Journal, July 1977,
p. 122; O’Donnell, D.J., “ISDAC: Financing
Capacity for In-Space Projects,” Space
Govern-ance Journal, Vol. 9, 2003, p. 23; and Robinson, G.S. IV, “Do the Space Treaties
Need a Lawsuit,” Space Governance Journal,
July 1997, p. 116.
11
This Ten Year Report includes all of the report delivered to the UN affiliate IAF, 2006, IAC.06.A5.1 in Valencia, Spain by Mr. Declan J. O’Donnell, Esq..
About the Authors
Declan J. O'Donnell is an attorney practicing general trial law in Colorado; President of the World
Space Bar Association; President of United Societies in Space, Inc., and of its Regency of United Societies in Space, Inc. (ROUSIS); Board of Directors, Mars Society; Board of Directors, Lunar Economic Development Authority Corporation, Inc.; Board of Directors, Space Orbital Development Authority Corporation; Publisher, Space Governance Journal; and member, AIAA Subcommittee on Space Colonization and the International Institute of Space Law, American Astronautical Society, and the National Space Society.
Buzz Aldrin, Ph.D. is President of Starcraft Enterprise, Laguna Beach, California. In addition, he
lectures throughout the world on his unique perspective of America's future in space. He authored a book about the Apollo Program titled "Men from Earth". He is a regent of USIS and sits on the LEDA advisory committee.
Brad Blair, M.A., is on the Board of Directors of LEDA.
Gary “RoD” Rodriguez, P.E., is head of the Space Orbital Development Authority, Inc.; President of
sysRAND Corporation; and a member of the LEDA Board of Directors.
David G. Schrunk is an aerospace engineer and medical doctor, and independent investigator. He is a
regent of USIS and the author of two books: THE MOON: Resources, Future Development, and Colonization, 1999, and THE END OF CHAOS: Quality Laws and the Ascendancy of Democracy, 2005.
"It is conceivable that some great unexpected mass of matter should presently
rush upon us out of space, whirl sun and planets aside like dead leaves before
the breeze, and collide with and utterly destroy every spark of life upon this
earth... It is conceivable, too, that some pestilence may presently appear, some
new disease, that will destroy not 10 or 15 or 20 per cent of the earth's
inhabitants as pestilences have done in the past, but 100 per cent, and so end
our race... And finally there is the reasonable certainty that this sun of ours must
some day radiate itself toward extinction... There surely man must end. That of all
such nightmares is the most insistently convincing. And yet one doesn't believe
it. At least I do not. And I do not believe in these things because I have come to
believe in certain other things--in the coherency and purpose in the world and in
the greatness of human destiny. Worlds may freeze and suns may perish, but
there stirs something within us now that can never die again."
PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
for the day when we can live and work in space by SUBSCRIBING to
SPACE GOVERNANCE: A journal on space governance and related topics.
We hope you have enjoyed our journal in the past. WITH YOUR PAID
SUBSCRIPTION of only $20 each, you can continue to enjoy this informative
journal. You will also be eligible to publish your work in the journal.
Space Governance
Journal
SUBSCRIPTION FORM
YES, please subscribe me to the SPACE GOVERNANCE JOURNAL at $20 per year.
NAME: ADDRESS: CITY –STATE- ZIP PHONE- E-MAIL
SPACE GOVERNANCE JOURNAL is the oldest continuously published journal on space
law and policy of international character and distribution. It is sponsored by United Societies
in Space: Our mission is to advance the day when we are a space-faring society. SPACE
GOVERNANCE JOURNAL is affiliated with the Lunar Economic Development Authority
and the Space Orbital Development Authority. The web site is www.angelfire.com/space/usis.
The publisher is Declan Joseph O’Donnell, P.C. of Colorado, Attorneys at Law.
TOTAL NUMBER JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONS _______ X $20 USD = _______ PER YEAR
*
ALSO, I will contact you for an article to be published in the Journal, subject to approval of the
journal editor.
PAYMENT: Check No.Enclosed ______________ Card Type _____________________
Name on Card___________________________ Card No ________________________
EXPIRATION ____/____ Zip Code____Signature_______________________________
Fly Me to the Moon and Much, Much Farther
NASA AIMING FOR PERMANENT
MOON, MARS BASES
It's NASA's most ambitious move ever. But how will the outer-space future evolve in business-centric areas like profit-making, site selection and infrastructure? A long-time advocate of lunar economic development weighs in. From Earth ... really.
by JACK LYNE,
Site Selection
Executive Editor of Interactive Publishing
[email protected]"This article was first published on SiteSelection.com, the official website of Site
Selection magazine, in January 2007. SiteSelection.com is a property of Conway Data
Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia."The U.S. is opening up a brand-
new permanent location that
will have eager job applicants lining up. But there could be one substantial
disincentive: the commute. It's going to be a real bear, almost 240,000 miles (384,000
km.) – one way.
Yep, NASA's going back to the moon for the first time since 1972 – and it's planning to stay. What's more, the agency plans to expand well beyond its lunar base, setting up another permanent operation on Mars (see accompanying "Living in Outer- Space Time" chart).
That marks a major shift. NASA's six Apollo moon missions between 1969 and 1972 were there-and-back ventures.
"A base on the moon doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is a very, very big decision," NASA Deputy Administrator for Space Exploration Scott Horowitz said at the project's Dec. 4th announcement in Houston.
NASA weighed a permanent operation against the option of flying a series of individual sorties. A fixed outer- space presence, it decided, offers compelling advantages.
"A lunar outpost," explained NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale, "results in a much quicker path in terms of future exploration, allows for maturation of in situ resource utilization, accomplishes many science objectives, and enables global partnerships."
Literally, it's a very far- out project. But Declan O'Donnell, founder of the nonprofit Lunar Economic Development Authority (LEDA), is thinking beyond that. Way beyond.
"The mission is NASA's next logical step – just for this decade, to establish a base on the moon," O'Donnell told The SiteNet Dispatch.
But the long-time supporter of outer-space development says there's a veritable Milky Way's worth of thorny lunar issues looming. O'Donnell, for example, foresees "the need for venue- wide lunar standards for development, construction, building maintenance and property rights." A moon economy will also need a "space bank" with "space money," he added. (See accompanying "What on Earth Is Space Money?")
Notions like that may prompt some observers to dismiss O'Donnell's ideas as science-fiction fantasy. But, then, it hasn't been all that long since the notion of a permanent moon base was considered fanciful fiction. And O'Donnell provides a point of view that, however unconventional, illuminates some major questions that may – and quite possibly will – emerge in outer-space development. Corporate site selection is one of them.
Searching for a Site on the Moon
For the moment, though, NASA is the only Earth entity that's looking for a lunar site.
The agency is now concentrating on two areas in which humankind has never set foot. While the Apollo missions all landed on the moon's equator, the current site search is centered on the polar regions.
"We know very little about the moon's poles," said Dale. "In fact, we know more about Mars than the poles."
Even so, one south pole area is the strong early frontrunner for the base site.
The current frontrunner as the moon- base site is the satellite's south pole, pictured in this mosaic composed of 1,500 images taken by NASA's Clementine lunar orbiter.
Choosing to establish a moon base was "a very, very big decision" for NASA, said Scott Horowitz, the agency's deputy administrator for space exploration
"There is an area on the edge of Shackleton Crater that is almost permanently sunlit a very high percentage of the time, 75 to 80 percent," NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Doug Cooke explained. Nearby, he continued, sits a 300-acre (120-hectare) flat tract that could serve as a natural landing pad. "There could even be cometary ices that have lain there for billions of years," Cooke added. That area, he noted, could hold helium- 3, a rare element that could be suitable for producing nuclear fuel to power return moon missions. The south pole locale may also contain volatile gases that could prove useful in commercial ventures, NASA believes. In contrast, the LEDA envisions an altogether different base site.
"What LEDA has been proposing to sponsor or otherwise cause is a permanent base on the far side of the moon (that's always turned away from Earth), not at the poles," O'Donnell explained. "That location is near the solar system's largest proven deposit of titanium, as NASA knows."
That lode would be the LEDA site's principal economic driver.
"The titanium would be mined and used to build spaceships to go to Mars," said O'Donnell, a Denver-metro attorney who specializes in tax and securities law, with a strong interest in space law. "The lunar architecture's predicted centerpiece would be a large shipyard, a company town and an electronic catapult to propel materials into cislunar orbit" (where the moon and Earth's gravitational pulls balance). The LEDA's idea for a moon base, he added, includes operations at the lunar poles, but only as "adjunct facilities."
While strikingly dissimilar, those two moon-base visions may not be mutually exclusive. O'Donnell thinks that Earth's satellite over time could conceivably be home to both a "NASA town" and a "company town" dedicated to private-sector ventures.
The current frontrunner as the moon- base site is the satellite's south pole, pictured in this mosaic composed of 1,500 images taken by NASA's Clementine lunar orbiter
Funding Issues Could Cloud Mission's
Future
NASA’s lunar base location is still far from being a done deal.
"That's not to say that [the south pole site] is the final choice or anything," said Cooke. "But it
is one that we probably know most about at this point until we fly a lunar robotic orbiter."
NASA isn't projecting that it will land at the base site until 2018. In the interim, the agency will fly a series of unmanned moon intelligence missions. The first is the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which is scheduled to launch next year. The LRO will circle the poles searching for natural resources that could support the moon base. The robotic craft will also carry a smaller satellite that will be deliberately crash-landed in the Shackleton Crater in 2009. Onboard sensing equipment will analyze dust from the crash's impact for evidence of water.
This painting by NASA artist Robert McCall pictures what a lunar mining operation might look like.
Critics of recurrent cost overruns on space- related projects often cite the International Space Station as a prime example.
Funding issues, however, could crash the entire moon- base mission. NASA hasn't yet provided a price tag. President George H. W. Bush, however, led a 1989 study that estimated that establishing a permanent moon presence would cost at least $500 billion. That outlay was so sizable that the study was largely ignored and soon faded from view.
NASA hopes to learn much more about the lunar poles through the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (pictured above in a NASA rendering) which has a planned launch date of 2008.
Many of the NASA ventures that have successfully secured funding have been roundly criticized for recurrent cost overruns and delays. The International Space Station (ISS) is often cited as Exhibit A. Initially projected as a $17-billion project, the ISS has already cost almost $50 billion.
Such exponential inflation has drawn considerable criticism from the likes of Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS), a watchdog group that targets wasteful U.S. government spending. TCS advocates major cutbacks in NASA's budget.
"While the space program yielded many successes in years past, taxpayers are no longer getting their money's worth from a program that focuses on repeating the deeds of
yesterday," the group asserts. Much of that funding, TCS contends, should be redirected into "high- priority scientific research such as astrophysics, Earth remote sensing and aeronautics." As for NASA, TCS says that it "should use new technologies to build a better space program at less cost."
yesterday," the group asserts. Much of that funding, TCS contends, should be redirected into
"high-"Without a price [on the moon-base mission], you'll end up wasting money," said TCS Vice President Steve Ellis.
"Without a price [on the
moon-NASA: No Additional Funding Needed
NASA: No Additional Funding Needed
NASA, though, insists that the moon- Mars outposts that President Bush first championed in 2004 will be pay- as-you-go projects.
NASA, though, insists that the
moon-"The Vision for "The
priority scientific research such as astrophysics, Earth remote sensing and aeronautics." As for NASA, TCS says that it "should use new technologies to build a better space program at less cost."
base mission], you'll end up wasting money," said TCS Vice President Steve Ellis.
Mars outposts that President Bush first championed in 2004 will be pay- as-you-go projects.
Government watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense is backing major cutbacks in NASA's budget. (Pictured: NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.) Vision for Space Exploration laid out a program that is supposed to be sustainable and affordable," Dale said in Houston. "It is not an increase above our baseline budget." NASA's current annual allocation is $16.8 billion. The agency anticipates significant additional revenues for the moon-base program from international project participation, and from the 2010 completion of the ISS and the subsequent retirement of the space shuttle.
But what if NASA finds at some point that it doesn't have sufficient funds for the moon-base mission?
NASA's new plan for space exploration "is not an increase above our baseline budget," said Deputy Director Shana Dale.
"We go as we can afford to pay," said Dale. Until funds are in place, the project timetable will
"Funding could end up being problematic," O'Donnell observed. "But if they make it an international project, it would have a chance."
NASA seems to be counting heavily on other nations' involvement – and private industry's as well.
"It is critical that we have international participation and commercial participation along the way," Dale noted. The project's "open architecture," she added, "welcomes the participation of other countries around the world as well as commercial entities."
The ISS experience, however, could dim some nations' eagerness to take part in the moon- base mission. A number of the space station's 14 partner countries have complained that U.S. priorities have dominated the project. The U.S. conceived and designed the ISS.
But NASA has involved other nations much earlier in the moon-base project. The agency has already met with the European Space Agency, as well as space agencies from Australia, Great Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the Ukraine. NASA says that it has also solicited input from experts, non-governmental organizations and commercial interests in many other countries.
"I think one of the points that has really resonated when we have talked to other countries is bringing them in so early in the process," Dale noted. "They really were here in terms of the ground floor in the development of the themes and objectives."
“We have all learned through our past experiences," added Cooke. "[The moon-base mission] is not one integral vehicle like the space station. So there are a lot more options to work with, we feel [including] parallel developments."
Current Treaty Could Curtail
Profit-
Making in the Cosmos
The moon- base initiative faces a very different problem when it comes to securing long-term private-sector involvement: Existing laws, O'Donnell says, could end up taking a very big bite out of space-made profits.
1967, widely regarded as the legal structure governing outer space: "The exploration and use of outer space," the treaty states, "should be carried on for the benefit of all peoples, irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development."
NASA says that other nations have been involved in depth much earlier in the moon- base project than in the often criticized International Space Station. (Pictured: A NASA rendering of a lunar outpost.)
"That's the riddle," explained O'Donnell, who's also president of the World Space Bar Association. "In international treaties, that clause means profit-sharing. Any profit you make you'd have to divide in some fashion with the 200-odd nations and territories on Earth."
Individual countries could unilaterally skirt that provision by opting out of the Outer Space Treaty. The pact provides that any of the accord's 124 signatory nations can withdraw by giving notice. A withdrawal would become official a year after notification. But bailing out isn't a realistic alternative, O'Donnell feels. "A permanent outer-space base isn't going to become part of America," he contended. "There are too many people who have an interest. And if you divide the moon between nations, you're just looking at more wars, only now in space. It's got to be an international thing."
The Outer Space Treaty echoes that point. Space, it states, "including the moon and other celestial bodies is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty."
"Redefining the treaty's definition of benefit-sharing would be a better solution than withdrawing," O'Donnell continued. "It needs to be defined as something other than a handcuff on anyone who would go to space to make a profit. If that's changed so that people can make a decent profit, it will significantly help with moon mission funding."
Work on redesigning the Outer Space Treaty should've already begun, O'Donnell contends.
"The treaty calls for a new government as soon as space development becomes feasible – which is now," he noted. "But nobody's come up with a new government."
Building a Railroad and a ‘Cycler Orbiter’
NASA has said little about what might be built on the moon.Characteristi cally, the LEDA already has several initial developments in mind. "You've got to create an infrastructure so the people who come later don't trample the hell out of the lunar surface," O'Donnell said. "The first project should be a circumferential lunar railroad, which will limit needless trespass. Much of the railroad would be underground to protect it from asteroids."
The signing of the 1967 Lunar Space Treaty (pictured left) came six years after Alan Shepard became the first NASA astronaut to blast off for outer space (below).
Treaty- signing photo: Saskatoon Public School Division
NASA's plan calls for a "mature transportation infrastructure" to be in place on the moon by 2025.
The LEDA is supporting another major construction project that wouldn't really be on the moon. It would be a "cycler orbiter," originally championed by Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, a member of the LEDA board of advisers and the Apollo 11 astronaut who joined Neil Armstrong in 1969 in first setting foot on the moon.
"The orbiter would be a saucer- shaped vessel, a mile (1.6 km.) in diameter and three miles (4.8 km.) in circumference," O'Donnell explained.
“All of the nations participating in moon development would have operations there. Eventually, it might become the capital for space governance and the headquarters for all space
development industries." Orbiter- based operations, he contended, "can escape benefit-sharing."
The LEDA's orbiter design features five different levels. Separate planes would be dedicated to the ship's managerial operations; living quarters for permanent residents and crew members; farming and ranching operations (using hydroponic technology); and tourists and traveling moon "settlers." The fifth level would include ingress and egress operations, as well as landing fields.
For the private sector, some of the most promising lunar locations could lie beneath the satellite's surface. Underground moon areas could provide quality sites for industrial operations and housing, O'Donnell contends. Those human settlements could receive oxygen seeping up from plants growing immediately below them, he explained.
Are the moon's most promising sites located beneath its pockmarked surface?
"Most of the safe living will be underground," said O'Donnell. "If you go down six feet (1.8 meters) into the moon's surface, it's 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) 24 hours a day. And it's 70 degrees for a long way down.
"From a site selection perspective," he continued, "businesses are going to have to plan on digging a lot deeper than normal to access sufficient space for below-ground operations."
O'Donnell contends that current outer-space treaties would allow businesses to lease their lunar sites.
"Leasing property on the moon shouldn't be a legal problem," he said. "A lease wouldn't violate the treaty's sovereignty provision and operations on leased land wouldn't use up the moon's resources."
Packing for Mars
All of this information, of course, boggles the human mind – at least at this point in Earth's knowledge of space.
Although NASA hasn't said what it might build on the moon, one of the agency's concepts is the inflatable dome pictured in the rendering above. Spanning a diameter of about 53 feet (16 meters), the habitat could house as many as 12 people, with facilities for exercise, operations control, clean up, lab work, hydroponic gardening, private crew quarters, dust- removing devices for lunar surface work, an airlock, and lunar rover and lander vehicles.
On the other hand, humans' cosmos-related IQ could grow substantially over the next few decades, given NASA's ambitious strategy.
The agency plans to make its first Mars launch from the permanent moon base. When, though, no one is sure. The earliest estimates are 2030.
"This is a living document," Horowitz said of the open-endedness of NASA's moon and Mars blueprint. "We are going to learn a lot from these [unmanned robotic] missions . . . that will advise and be fed into decisions."
NASA currently has two rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, that have been exploring Mars' surface for almost four years (initially, they were expected to survive for only 90 days). The agency is also getting substantial Martian
information from the Mars Global Surveyor that's circling the planet.
information from the Mars Global Surveyor that's circling the planet.
Prominent scientist Stephen Hawking equates successful space exploration with the continued existence of the human race.
Photo: British Council United States
The Surveyor craft sent back images in mid-December that suggested that liquid water was present on the planet's surface. That, in turn, intimated that Mars at some point possibly accommodated some sort of life form.
The Surveyor craft sent back images in
mid-That information reinforced some scientists' contention that Mars offers a bigger payoff than the moon.
That information reinforced some scientists' contention that Mars offers a bigger payoff than the moon.
"You have to realize we haven't left low Earth orbit in the last 30 years," said Steven Squyres, a Cornell University professor and NASA researcher. "We need some place to flex our deep- space muscles again before we go zooming off to Mars."
"You have to realize we haven't left low Earth orbit in the last 30 years," said Steven Squyres, a Cornell University professor and NASA researcher. "We need some place to flex our
deep-"It would just be unfortunate to lose momentum with all these very exciting Mars discoveries toward the middle part of the next decade," said Ray Arvidson, a Washington University professor and the deputy principal investigator for the Mars rovers program. "Those become very difficult to do in the constrained financial environment because of the restraints noted at the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) conference in San Francisco on Dec. 15th.
"It would just be unfortunate to lose momentum with all these very exciting Mars discoveries toward the middle part of the next decade," said Ray Arvidson, a Washington University professor and the deputy principal investigator for the Mars rovers program. "Those become very difficult to do in the constrained financial environment because of the restraints noted at the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) conference in San Francisco on Dec. 15
In contrast, Steven Squyres, a Cornell University professor and the principal scientific investigator for the Mars rovers, continues to support the lunar base.
In contrast, Steven Squyres, a Cornell University professor and the principal scientific investigator for the Mars rovers, continues to support the lunar base.
"I'm a big fan of sending robots to Mars," Squyres said during an AGU conference panel discussion that also included Arvidson. "But I firmly believe that the best way to explore Mars is going to be with humans.
"I'm a big fan of sending robots to Mars," Squyres said during an AGU conference panel discussion that also included Arvidson. "But I firmly believe that the best way to explore Mars is going to be with humans.
"You have to realize we haven't left low Earth orbit in the last 30 years," he continued. "We need some place to flex our deep-space muscles again before we go zooming off to Mars, and the moon is the obvious choice to do that."
"You have to realize we haven't left low Earth orbit in the last 30 years," he continued. "We need some place to flex our
deep-Is Outer-
Space
Living Essential
for Human
Survival?
Is
O'Donnell also favors that moon-first, Mars- second progression. But the bigger issue, he feels, lies in exploring much farther afield. In that, O'Donnell concurs with renowed scientist Stephen Hawking's contention that space exploration is imperative for humanities continued existence.O'Donnell also favors that
moon-"It is important . . . to spread out into space for the survival of the species," Hawking said at a Hong Kong lecture in June of 2006. "Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war,
a genetically ngineered virus or
ther dangers we
of."
"It is important . . . to spread out into space for the survival of the species," Hawking said at a Hong Kong lecture in June of 2006. "Life on Earth is at the
ever-e o
have not yet thought
Finding a suitable living site, however, may require an astonishing number of frequent flyer miles, he added.
Finding a suitable living site, however, may require an astonishing number of frequent flyer miles, he added.
"We won't find anywhere as nice as Earth unless we go to another star system," said Hawking.
"We won't find anywhere as nice as Earth unless we go to another star system," said Hawking.
"The ultimate thinking," O'Donnell said, "is to set up a base on Mars for the singular purpose of building a fleet of tough ships to get beyond "The ultimate thinking," O'Donnell said, "is to set up a base on Mars for the singular purpose of building a fleet of tough ships to get beyond December that suggested that liquid water was
present on the planet's surface. That, in turn, intimated that Mars at some point possibly accommodated some sort of life form.
space muscles again before we go zooming off to Mars." th. space muscles again before we go zooming off to Mars, and the moon is the obvious choice to do that."
Space
Living Essential
for Human
Survival?
first, Mars- second progression. But the bigger issue, he feels, lies in exploring much farther afield. In that, O'Donnell concurs with renowed scientist Stephen Hawking's contention that space exploration is imperative for humanities continued existence.
increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war,
a genetically engineered virus or
other dangers we have not yet thought of."
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor sent back images like the one above that suggested the presence of liquid water on the planet's surface.