Practical Planning Commences: Next Steps in the Settlement of Earth’s Moon

Abstract

The Editors welcome readers with a perspective on human off-world existence that will be useful in the following decades of early settlement of Earth’s Moon, Mars, the asteroids, and the moons of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. They emphasize the unity of the Earth and its Moon—as an astronomical reality, a research dimension, and a collective focus for environmental stewardship. The overarching goal of this book is to inject a sense of realism into the identification of human problems and the crafting of solutions over the coming decades of adaptation to an initially inhospitable, airless, and dusty location at one-sixth of Earth’s gravity. The Editors identify five themes that emerged spontaneously, from the twenty chapters: (1) expansion of research models; (2) the multi-disciplinary and pragmatic nature of space research; (3) siting moon bases according to human requirements; (4) the unexpected emergence of the importance of religious expression in off-world settlement; and (5) the critical role of environmental protection in cis-lunar space, and on the Moon, as on the Earth.