The Kingdon of Tycho

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In this video Seth Godin talks about how the information society allows people with minority interest connect with other like minded people, no matter where they are in the world.

It’s a very busy time at the Moon these days. Not since the dawn of the space age, with the space race between the USSR and USA have so many probes been sent to the Moon in so short a time. But this time it is not only the USA(LRO, LCROSS) and Russia(Luna-Glob) that are sending probes, but China(Chang’e), Japan(Selene) and India(Chandrayaan), and even Europe(Aurora), have joined the race. Add in the Google Liner X-Prize and there is one busy time in Lunar orbit.

We may have to introduce some form of space traffic control.

Environmentalism is not really about saving the planet. The Earth was here long before mankind came into being and if we wipe ourselves out the planet will continue along just fine without us. There are five mass extinctions in Earth’s fossil record. Mass extinctions that wiped out as many as 90% of living species. So even if mankind were to take most of the species now living with us in some environmental disaster the Earth will survive and life will recover and get along just fine without us. So when I talk about environmentalism and “green issues” I am not talking about saving the planet, I am talking about saving ourselves. The planet does not need us to save it.

I believe space development and settlement is the only way forward for mankind. The Earth is too small. There are not enough resources for us here and there are an infinite amount of resources waiting for us to exploit in outer space. If we are to continue to grow and develop then we have no choice but to expand into space. If we stay on Earth we won’t kill the planet, but we will kill ourselves.

Having said that environmentalism and “green issues” will play an important part of our future in space. In small enclosed ecosystems we will have no option but to reduce, reuse and recycle almost everything. The green technology developed on earth will find practical application off planet and the technology developed for space settlement will find good use back on Earth. An example of this is my post on Bioplastics and Desktop Manufacturing, where technology not specifically developed for space can be extremely useful to us.

I consider myself an environmentalist not because I want to save the Earth but because I want to save mankind. I believe in a future where all heavy manufacturing will be moved off Earth and into space, leaving the Earth as a type of natural park. A greener, cleaner Earth is only possible by settling space. The development and utilization of space resources is the only way to satisfy the legitimate desire of the developing world for the affluent lifestyles of western countries. And giving the developing world the same material success as western countries enjoy is the only way to prevent World War III.

So I urge you all to join with The Kingdon of Tycho in opening the last frontier, that of space, and give mankind the room it needs to grow and develop. Don’t do it for the good of the planet, do it to save your own arse and to make a brighter future for your children and grandchildren.

The use of Bioplastic and Desktop Manufacturing will allow our Moon base to become self sufficient in spare parts at a relatively early stage.

Bioplastics are plastics made from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable starch or microbes, rather than petroleum as traditional plastics are made from. Obviously we don’t expect to find petroleum on the Moon but by growing crops to produce plastic we will be able to produce our own plastic.

When combined with Desk Top Manufacturing bioplastics will allow us to manufacture a large number of different items, from spare parts for equipment to every day objects such as cups and plates, and so reduce the amount of items we will need to import from Earth. Importing stuff from Earth will be very expensive and in the initial phases of our Moon base we expect our budgets tom be exceedingly tight.

Bioplastic is also biodegradable and so used parts, and items such as broken plates, can be added to our composting system and used to grow new plants. Thus we can completely recycle components and items from everyday use. This also means that if items imported from Earth are also made from biodegradable bioplastic we can use them to increase the biomass of the Moon base.

All in all bioplastics are good for the long term success of our Moon base and all plastic items used in all stages of the Moon base development, right from day one, should be made from bioplastic so that used and broken equipment can be recycled and added to the amount of Biomass on the Moon.

It is important to maximize the amount of biomass added to the Moon base in order to create as big an ecosystem as possible for our CELSS. The bigger the ecosystem the more robust it will be, and remember our ultimate goal is not an “arctic research station on the Moon”, but a city and an entire country, so we will need really big ecosystems to support tens of thousands, if not millions, of people.

By maximizing our use of bioplastic in our designs even for the first mission we will help our long term goal of building a new country by firstly reducing the amount of mass that has to be expensively imported from Earth, and secondly “dual purposing” that mass as biodegradable plastic that can be added to our CELSS.