The movie The Mouse on the Moon inspired me as a boy and as a man I followed the two aspects of micronationality and Space Travel in Founding The Kingdom of Tycho.

In another cosmic coincidence Leonard Wibberley, who wrote the novel the movie is baised on, and I also share the same birth place of Dublin, Ireland.

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

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.

On behalf of The Kingdom of Tycho I would like to extend my congratulations to Bigelow Aerospace and wish them every continued sucess.

The Salvage 1 team had two main things working for them:

• Firstly they had a brilliant new fuel that was so powerful it could fly a small rocket to the moon (think of the rocket ship from the 1930’s Flash Gorden serials) so they wouldn’t have to build a huge Saturn 5 or space shuttle.
• And secondly they were prepared to take more risks, rather having backups to backups with more backups added for safety like NASA, they designed a simpler and cheaper system.

At the time I thought it was great fun, but we didn’t need to build our own rockets out of scrap/surplus because the Space Shuttle was just around the corner and was going to give us regularly scheduled flights into orbit ever two weeks, or maybe even more frequently!

Around the same time I saw a documentary on TV about a guy who had a similar plan. He was going to fly himself into space using surplus  rocket parts. I didn’t remember his name or know what became of him. Obviously he didn’t succeed in building his rocket - but the Space Shuttle is not going to fly me to the Moon so maybe I will have to search for some rocket scientists to build me my own rocket.

In the meantime here is a YouTube video of some Salvage 1 clips set to “Space Cowboy” by NSYNC.

Don’t you just love those cheap 1970’s TV special effects

And for me taking that first step is the easiest thing in the world to. It is taking the second step, and the third step and the fourth step, step after step, day after day, even year after year, that is the hard part.
I have taken so many first steps that I’ve probably completed 1,000 “1,000 mile journeys”. But because they have all been first steps I have completed relatively little. I have just walked 1,000 little steps around and around in a circle. An uneven staggered circle as a burst of enthusiasm propels me in one direction, and then the next big idea propels me in the opposite.
And so at the start of each journey I resolve to myself that this time I will complete my journey. I will make a map, a plan of what I want to archive. I will list my goals. I will do a to-do list. I will take all the necessary steps needed to complete my journey.
But even then I don’t want to take all those little steps. I want efficiency. I want speed. I want instant gratification.
I don’t want 1,000 little steps. I want one great leap forward. One giant step to take me right to the end. One lotto win that will make my life perfect.
I have started so many journeys not looking at all the little steps, but looking only at the result. “I am looking at the big picture,” I tell myself. I visualise myself standing on the summit of the mountain, not bothering with all the rivers and gullies that stand in my way.
I look for one burst of enthusiasm, one big jump that will take me over all those little rivers and gullies. And then I will magically find myself at the rainbow’s end.
But all those big giant steps look so big. Each one is such a big leap. Each one such a irrevocable commitment. Each one so momentous that I just can’t make myself take the plunge. I just stand, tethering on the edge, until my next brilliant idea takes me back in the opposite direction.
But now I have realised that they are all the same journey. All those false starts are my journey. I have only one life, there is only one journey and each day I take another step, regardless of whether or not I wish it. Each day I am one step closer to the end. I get no choice in whether or not to take each step. But I do get a choice of what direction I take. Each day I get a choice of doing what I want with that day.
Now I no longer look for that great leap forward. I no longer want to suddenly be transported to the end. I want to take one little step forward: write one post on my blog, write one page on my novel, help my children discover one new, exciting thing about the wonderful life they are leading.
And that is all I need to do. Just take one little step in the direction I want to go in. And enjoy each and every moment of this wonderful life that I am privileged to live.
And in due time I will reach the end of my journey, as all journeys must come to an end. But in the meantime I intend to enjoy as many of those little steps as I can possibly squeeze in to my life.

While children’s TV shows and movies, especially those featuring superheros and supervillains, are primarily aimed at entertainment, they do have some educational qualities to redeem them.
For instance take the good role model that the evil villain gives to young impressionable children.
Week after week the evil villain tries to take over the world. He (occasionally she) thinks up some evil scheme, invests lots of time and money building advanced machines and working out to the last detailed how to neutralise the superhero, who is the only person who stands between them and total world domination.
Week after week the supervillain gets off to a great start. Catching the superhero by surprise he defeats him once, twice, even three times. The evil villain believes that this time he has got it right, he has left no stone unturned, he has thought of every angle, there is no loophole for the superhero to escape.
But week after week just as the evil villain is about to achieve his victory, just as total power is within his grasp, the superhero bounces back and in one unexpected, cataclysmic plot twist, the superhero defeats the villain at the eleventh hour.
On the surface this might seem to be a simplistic, even stereotypical, story of good versus evil.
But from the evil villain’s point of view it is a story, week after week, encouraging him to never give up on his dream. The evil villain pursues his dream of total world power week after week with dogged persistence.
Remember the “hero” has to win every week, the evil villain only has to win once. By that I do not mean to imply some prophecy of doom. What I mean is while you might fail 99 times, as long as you have worked hard, followed your dream and given it your best shot you are not a failure.
In the end you only have to succeed once to be a success.
So take a leaf from Dr. Evil’s super-villain’s handbook and never give up. As long as you can see your goal you can reach it.

Believe it. Achieve it.

The main obstacle to owning land on the Moon, or indeed any other celestial body, used to be that there was no legal system of property law, or indeed any law, on the Moon and thus no rights of ownership could be created. No right of ownership can be established without a legal system of property ownership in place. And for such a legal system to be put in place you need a properly functioning government.

The Kingdom of Tycho(TKoT) solves this problem, at least for the Moon, by establishing a legal system of land ownership under the government of the Sovereign of The Kingdom of Tycho. You can now legally buy, sell, claim and register your Lunar real estate.

However when most people ask “Can I Legally Own Land on the Moon?” they mean will the legal system of their country of residence recognize their ownership of land on the Moon and the short answer to that is “No”. But this is not really much different from the situation that exists with established, recognized countries. If you wish to own land in France, for instance, you go through the French legal system to buy that land. You don’t ask the government of one country for a title deed to land in the territory of another country. And similarly if you want to sell or mortgage your land, or if there is a dispute over ownership etc., you go through the legal system of the country where the land is, not the legal system of the country where you happen to live. Different countries have different laws regarding the ownership of land and the rights and obligations about what you can and can not do with your land.

What can happen is that the courts of one country can acknowledge the ownership of property in another country as part of a legal settlement between parties, say in apportioning assets under a divorce settlement. However this is not legally giving title to the property merely acknowledging that it exists.

The Kingdom of Tycho has no recognition from any existing Earth based country so the legal titles given by The Kingdom of Tycho are unlikely to be upheld by any other country’s legal system. So at the moment obtaining a title deed from The Kingdom of Tycho is no guarantee that the legal system of your country will recognize your ownership of your Lunar real estate. Owning or claiming land on the Moon is very much a speculative activity. And as with all gambling do not gamble more than you can afford to lose, no matter how much you might support our goal of space settlement.