The text discusses the concept of establishing a moon base as a stepping stone towards colonizing the solar system. It emphasizes that while humans have dreamed of leaving Earth and traveling through the galaxy, we were born too early to be part of this journey. However, the author suggests that we could start our dream by building a moon base today, as we have the technology and current estimates from NASA and the private sector suggest it could be done for 20 to 40 billion dollars spread out over about a decade.
The author outlines the phases of colonization, which are similar to the phases of exploration, settlement, and colony formation. The first phase involves explorers proving that a new world can be reached, which started 60 years ago with the Apollo missions. The second phase involves astronauts building the first moon base, which could begin today and be completed in a decade. The third phase involves the base becoming self-sufficient, supporting itself via exports to Earth.
The author also discusses the potential for private contractors to get rich off lunar resources and support services. The moon base could potentially extract precious metals, helium-3 for nuclear fusion reactors, and asteroids. The author suggests that the moon base could become a hub for economic activity on a scale that's hard to imagine.
The author ends by suggesting that the moon is a perfect sandbox to learn how to colonize the solar system, the perfect project to unify nations, and the only way to guarantee our survival as a species.
1. Humans have a dream of leaving Earth and traveling through the galaxy.
2. The reality is that we could begin this dream by building a moon base today.
3. We have the technology to do this, with current estimates from NASA and the private sector suggesting it could be done for 20 to 40 billion dollars spread out over about a decade.
4. The price is comparable to the international space station or the budget surplus of Germany in 2017.
5. The payoff would be immeasurable, with the moon serving as a sandbox to develop new technologies and exploit unlimited resources.
6. This would start a new space race and lay the foundation for us to spread out into the solar system and beyond.
7. The moon is not a welcoming place for living things, with a moon day lasting 29 Earth days, a difference of nearly 300 degrees Celsius between sunlight and shade, and no atmosphere to shield us from meteorites or cosmic radiation.
8. The lunar surface is covered in a layer of nasty, jagged dust.
9. The first phase of lunar colonization started 60 years ago with the Apollo missions.
10. In the second phase, astronauts will build the first moon base, which could be completed in a decade.
11. The first nation to establish this base will be akin to the first nations building outposts in the new world 500 years ago.
12. The habitat will be light and more than inflatable habitats for crews of no more than 12.
13. The habitat will be deployed somewhere with natural shelter options, including caves like underground lava tubes, tunnels, or craters near the poles where the days are six months long.
14. The first crew will consist of scientists and engineers who will study the composition of the moon and whose experiments will explore ways of using the available lunar material.
15. The moon base will supply an orbital depot where scientific missions to Mars and the outer solar system can refuel.
16. Compared to Earth, it's much easier and cheaper to get things off the moon into orbit.
17. Colonizing Mars may mean starting from the moon, but this isn't a true colony yet.
18. The base will be abandoned if funding stops.
19. If we want our base to grow into the third phase into a true colony, it must become self-sufficient, supporting itself via exports to Earth.
20. Private contractors are looking to get rich off lunar resources and support services.
21. They could extract precious metals, abundant in impact craters and other raw materials from the lunar regolith.
22. One promising possibility is the mining of helium-3, an isotope that could one day be used in nuclear fusion reactors.
23. Future colonists may export helium-3 back to Earth, providing us with cheap and clean fusion energy.
24. Asteroids could be pulled into the moon's orbit and mined with commercial exports to Earth.
25. The colony is fully in its third phase, self-sufficient and economically productive.
26. Our base will begin using lunar material in its construction projects if it's to continue growing.
27. Fortunately, lunasol has all the necessary ingredients to make concrete.
28. Robotic mining rigs can sift the lunar dust for organic molecules and could be used to build huge structures way too massive to be brought from Earth.
29. Advances in 3D printing will make it possible to produce almost everything else the crews need.
30. As our colony grows, all kinds of new technologies will be invented to sustain it.
31. They might develop crops that efficiently recycle carbon dioxide or that grow with very little water.
32. They might find ways to recycle and reuse 100% of their waste.
33. They could even build the first space elevator in the solar system.
34. The moon may become a hub for economic activity on a scale that's hard to imagine right now.
35. It's hard to say who will own the colony at this point.
36. The first person born on the moon will take the national identity of their parents or a new generation will meld together into a new lunar society.
37. When existing treaties that bar any nation from ow