Return to the Moon
Subtitle: Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space
Publisher: Springer; Copernicus Books, in association with Praxis Publishing
Published: October 17, 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 336
ISBN-13: 9780387242859
First sentence: ONE possible view of the future of humankind consists of a positive, expansive continnum - the "Star Trek" vision.
Description: Former NASA Astronaut Harrison Schmitt advocates a private, investor-based approach to returning humans to the Moon—to extract Helium 3 for energy production, to use the Moon as a platform for science and manufacturing, and to establish permanent human colonies there in a kind of stepping stone community on the way to deeper space. With governments playing a supporting role—just as they have in the development of modern commercial aeronautics and agricultural production—Schmitt believes that a fundamentally private enterprise is the only type of organization capable of sustaining such an effort and, eventually, even making it pay off.