Moon, Mars & Beyond?

At www.foxnews.com I read that Ray Bradbury (author of "The Martian Chronicles" and hundreds of other heavy sci-fi literature) told a NASA Commission that Bush's pronouncement of getting mankind back to the moon and out to Mars met with his approval. He said it was "practical" and would help decrease the motivations for terrorism and war.

So how does that actually work?

Many "classic" sci-fi writers (including Gene "Star Trek" Roddenberry and my all-time fave, Robert Heinlein) believe that war, crime and terrorism are mainly (but not exclusively) caused by poverty and lack. People who are busy and prosperous don't have time to "start shit" with other people. People who have too much time on their hands ... or don't have enough food, income, land, etc. ... commit violence and crime to GET what they lack.

In order for mankind to really, REALLY get "out there" for serious, a major group of work needs to be done. At first, the work will be in developing the stuff we need to GET out there. Then will come the phase of actually getting out there (and still making the stuff needed to get out there even more). Then comes the phase of developing what is already out there and getting it back to earth in valuable form.

There are thousands of ways that a permanent, 24/7/365 presence off the planet can benefit the planet with materials and services. A major reason to move off planet is to find and develop resources that don't scar the planet. Mining and energy production, if moved successfully off the earth, can replace our needed stuff without digging up and burning down our home.

At first the push to get out and find energy and resources and life and simple "elbow room" will demand hundreds of thousands of people, from the janitors who sweep up in the design labs, to the hot-rods zooming off into the unknown. More jobs means more income, less "free/freak" time. And as the move to "conquer/explore" the solar system builds, more and more people will go out to live (or at least spend long periods of time visiting) away from earth, making room for the people who stay behind.

Unless there is a major breakthrough in medical science, I won't live to see the day when mankind colonizes off-world (such as in a permanent settlement on the moon or a huge orbital station, and where people live there full-time as residents). But my niece might.

Heinlein said (paraphrasing from memory), one of the best things about space colonization is room for expansion where the adventurous apes can take their aggressions and curiosities out on other worlds rather than our own. He said another good thing was getting all of mankind's eggs out of one basket. If a "dinosaur-killer" event hammers earth, a lunar colony and a Martian colony might survive to rescue/replenish the earth.

So, Bradbury (whom I had always considered to be a liberal) supports the Bush initiative in space. Cool.

Is Bush serious and committed? Don't know. Is it just a political chess move? Might be. Doesn't matter. Bush's motivation is irrelevant if the people of earth decide to stop crapping in their own bed, roll up their sleeves and "go West."

(Bradbury countered the notion that it is too expensive. He noted that the U.S. spends $1 Billion per DAY on military defense. Bush's proposal is for a $1 Billion a YEAR space budget. Bradbury says we can just take one day "off" from war per year and cover it. Smart dude. Are the rest of us smart enough to make it happen ... or at least to ALLOW it to?)

I would SO retire on the moon. One-sixth gravity would be SO nice for older bones and hearts to deal with. Could actually go jogging for funsies, and no fear of falling and breaking hips and stuff. I keep seeing "villages" that are like earthly shopping malls, but the center lanes are wider and the rooves are windows to see the stars and the earth, and there are apartment "wings" surrounding the central mall area. Parks also inside for jogging and playing chess. And half the people "retired" there work at some of the shops, etc.

Osteo is a danger for almost ALL older people even in earth's gravity well. And I'm talking about RETIRING on the moon. One-way ticket. Supposedly, after living at one-sixth (or less) gravity for more than a year or so, only athletes could return to full gravity without HUGE risks of heart failure and long, long recovery periods. So, you move there to STAY there.

Now there would have to be a large population of younger people there to work the Sonic and the cinema, the Dippin Dots kiosk, etc. I figure these would be outstanding employee of the month from various franchises and chains who would get to work on the moon-based location of Foot Locker, etc., for maybe 2 months. The "moon duty" would be a reward for distinguished service ... and a stepping stone for a career with that company up the managerial chain, maybe. Big companies who provide janitorial service, security, etc., would also send people up in 2-month rotations as rewards for service.

There would also be tourists ALL the time (although somewhat limited, perhaps), especially the family of the retirees who would come up to visit for short periods. Even network news-heads would go to the moon to report from there for a while.

There would also have to be research and industrial facilities with rotating work force.

Still, many of the retirees would want to have some sort of occupation for "fun" and would provide much of the workforce.

This would also be a place for people with physical disabilities that would be better-healed in low gravity ... or which might be incurable, but more manageable in low gravity.

My grandfather fell and broke his hip(s) one too many times and got stranded in a wheelchair for years before he died. He was unable to fend for himself much at all, so he became very deeply depressed and his last few years were miserable. His marbles were all intact, but he couldn't get around and do and had to be waited on all the time. No dignity. In one-sixth gravity even his 90-year-old arms could support him well enough to get around with a walker, etc.

I've been pondering this for close to 20 years now. When my great-gramma fell out of her bed in the nursing home back inna 80's and was TIED into her bed at night so she wouldn't fall out again, it dawned on me that gravity is a major cause of death and injury to old people who might otherwise be able to stay active and spry, mentally.

Sadly, only an outfit with bucks like Disney would be able to make the keystone investment to launch a project so large. It would take mega-bucks and time to send up needed stuff to establish underground hydroponics farms for food and air, etc. Plus would have to find or up-ship water in massive amounts. If we WANTED to it could be done within a generation or so, but the want-to is not there. There are still corners of our world here that we haven't shat upon. Even more sadly, the move upstairs will probably only happen after this place is almost beyond repair. I'm no eco-doomist. Earth is far from being as ruint as Chicken Littles squawk about. But eventually we will have to look for outer sources of resources and energy, and as a lazy species we are likely to wait far longer than necessary.