Return to the Moon

by Rick N. Tumlinson (Editor), Erin Medlicott (Editor)

Overview

In this volume of essays, the top experts and major players behind the United States's recently renewed push to the moon fuel a growing debate over lunar exploration. The announcement in 2004 that the U.S. would be revamping its moon program inspired both excitement about the possibilities and concern over cost and safety issues. This book takes the controversy out of the realm of pure science and into the mainstream of national debate. Lunar experts Alan Binder, Andy Chaikin, Yoji Kondo, Courtney Stadd, Frank White, and many others weigh in on the case for a return, point out the best way to do it, and speculate on what could be done with this newly obtained real estate. The essays are accompanied by illustrations of what life on the moon might look like. Contributions come from different perspectives and styles, offering a broad take on the very real possibility that humans will again walk—and work, live, and play—on the lunar landscape. From telescopes and tourism, to training for Mars, to building a new branch of humanity and saving the Earth, this compendium makes the case for sending people back to the moon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781894959322
Publisher:	Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/2005
Series:	Apogee Books Space Series , #57
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Rick N. Tumlinson has been named one of the top 100 most influential people in the space field by Space News. He is the cofounder of the Space Frontier Foundation and was a key player in starting the lunar prospector project, which discovered hints of water on the moon. He is the executive director and cofounder of the Foundation for the International Nongovernmental Development of Space and has appeared in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Popular Science, and dozens of other publications around the world. He has also been seen on Politically Incorrect, World News Tonight, and on CNN as a commentator on astronomy and space. He lives in North Hollywood, California. Erin Medlicott was one of the first female applicants to NASA's mission specialist program when NASA began recruiting women. She has worked at NASA editing various newsletters and has written for OMNI magazine. She lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

	The Moon	5
	The Next Age of Lunar Exploration	13
	Marketplace of Competing Ideas Will Determine Alternate Futures	17
	The Moon: A New Destination in Space for America	23
	Manned and Robotic Explorations of Space	31
	History and Frontiers-What Works, What Doesn't	35
	Returning to the Moon Will Transform NASA	43
	Making a Business Case for a Return to the Moon	53
	The Extraterrestrial Enterprise	63
	Brave New World?	75
	LunaMars - The Challenge	85
	Transporting A Legal System From The Earth To The Moonby Rosanna Sattler	93
	The Space Settlement Initiative	105
	Lunar Prospector: Lessons Learned	113
	A Real Return to the Moon	121
	The New Space Revolution and Return to the Moon	127
	Access to Luna	137
	Lunar High-Risk Manufacture	145
	The Future of Lunar Tourism	151
	Asteroidal Resources and the Cis-lunar Industrial Economy	161
	Astronomy from the Moon	173
	The Overview Effect from the Moon	177
	The Conscious Evolutionary Choice	181
	The Social and Spiritual Significance of Lunar Settlement	187
	Moon Age Daydreams	193
	The Lunar Declaration	199
	Moon Facts	201
	Moon Statistics	206