This
Friday marks the 49th anniversary of when humans first landed on the moon. As someone who supports lunar exploration
(last year I announced my Stephen L. Thompson Lunar Exploration Prize) I wanted
to do something to mark the occasion.
Therefore, from now through Saturday, you will be able to grab my two
books dealing with the moon for free.
Hopefully,
in the not too distant future humans will return to the moon. We will build
bases and colonies, make farms and factories, and live, love and learn. “A Cabin Under a Cloudy Sea and other stories” contains five of my short stories
that are all set upon the moon. They give the tiniest glimpse of the
possibilities awaiting us there.
Over
the last few years a lot of people have caught Mars fever. It seems a week
doesn’t go by without a report of some new group wanting to send people to
Mars, or some big name in the industry talking about why we have to go to Mars,
or articles talking about the glorious future humanity will have on Mars. All
of this worries me. In my opinion, a Mars base is currently not sustainable
because there’s no way for it to make money. A few missions may fly doing
extraordinary science, but if it’s then cancelled for cost the whole Mars
Project may just be seen as an expensive stunt.
Fortunately,
there are other places in the solar system besides Mars. While bases on the
moon and amongst the asteroids won’t be as inspirational as one on Mars, they
will have opportunities for businesses to make goods and services as well as
profits, meaning less chance of them being outright cancelled. This will make
life better on Earth and secure a firm foothold in space for humanity. The
essays in “The Moon Before Mars: Why returning to the moon makes more sense than rushing off to Mars” allow me to describe my ideas on what can be
accomplished on the moon and with the asteroids, and why Mars isn’t the destiny
of humanity its cheerleaders make it out to be.
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