MMM Classics Year 7: MMM #s 61-70

faring when appreciable numbers of people routinely live andwork “in space”. Those who imagine that this milestone issatisfied by the establishment of “working” outposts within thesheltered “breakwater” — and there are many — clearly do notshare the core vision of the co-founding L5 Society. We havecalled for the establishment of communities beyond Earth. It isnow high time to clarify that statement:“Beyond Earth” means beyond geosynchronousorbit. That is, the “coastal space” of the vantagesphereis still an intrinsic part of Planet Earth.In addition to this qualification, we ought to stateexplicitly that we aim at the establishment of an Earth-SpaceEconomy, in which “fishing at space” for energy, and resourcedevelopment in the open “sea” or “on other shores” is begun inearnest and takes on an ever increasing importance. Only thenwill our civilization establish viable off-shore pockets orcolonies, and only then will be doing business, and some of usearning our livelihood, “at space”.This will all happen gradually. We have yet to do realprospecting on even the closest shore, that of the Moon. Once adecision is made to start accessing resources beyond the break-water, our first outposts will be small, and contain only rotatingcrews who have volunteered for limited tours of duty.We will then, and only then, first be on the verge ofbecoming a “spacefaring” species. When the first real settlementcomprised of life-settlers and their families is establishedto pursue non-terrestrial resource development and provesitself viable and capable of providing for the bulk of its ownmaterial needs and able to trade profitably for the rest — thenwe will have crossed the threshold — just.Additional settlements and outposts, some lunar andplanetary, others in free space, will follow. The range of ourresource-gathering and foraging and of our industrial agriculture-basedbiospheres will slowly expand beyond the hinterspaceof the Earth-Moon twin planet system. When our settlingand resource gathering reach to Mars and the asteroids we willgraduate to being System-faring. Whether we will ever developbeyond that to fare the boundless interstellar spaces will be anopen question perhaps for centuries.At any rate, it is clear we have not yet begun. Whilethe current winds are far from favorable, we can still busy ourselveswith make-or-break precursor tasks. Courage! Do! PKHow to best transportwater, electricity, andinformation within andbetween settlements?[PUB lic] u TIL i ty: a business enterprise, such as aprivate or quasi-private public service corporation,chartered to provide an essential commodity or service tothe public, and regulated by government.Lunar Industrialization: Part III by Peter KokhEvery human, civil, or industrial operation, function,or activity that we have examined in MMM promises to betransformed by its transplantation to a lunar or space settlementsetting. What we call “public utilities” will be no different.Some of these transformations will be due to the characteristicallyunique set of economic constraints that will operate inthe early settlement period. Other differences will flow fromthe physical nature of the host environment. Often from both.“MUS/cle” and the Local Productionof Utility System ComponentsSome utility system components are complex andmight not be suitable priorities for settlement self-manufactureuntil the productive population is larger and the local industrialcomplex is well into diversification. Other items — happilyoften those which will account for the greater weight fractionof the total system — might well be locally made early on,helping to keep a lid on imports.For example, supply and drain pipe, and shortly aftermost common fittings for a Water Utility may be producedfrom local iron (if an anticorrosive treatment other than zincbasedgalvanizing can be found) or from Glax, glass/glasscomposites (if not). Valves, meters, and regulators totaling amall mass fraction of the system, could be upported. Drainagepans for planter beds could be made locally of Glax, or sulfurimpregnated fiberglass. Flexible water hoses might have to beforgone unless used only sparingly, in very short lengths — forthey would have to be brought up from Earth.To deliver water over long distances, it will makemore sense to pipe the constituent Hydrogen either by itself, orwith Carbon and Nitrogen, also needed everywhere, i.e. asmethane CH4 and ammonia NH3. At the destination, thesegases could be burned with locally produced oxygen or runthrough electricity- and water-producing fuel cells during thenightspan.For the Electric Utility, the mass-fraction set prioritywill be to locally produce cable and other media of powertransmission, at least initially importing switches, outlets,relays, breakers, and meters etc. Later parts of these can belocally made, following the MUS/cle strategy. For more on thissee “Wiring the MOON” and “Let There Be Light”, below. Forlong distance transmission, if locally made superconductingcable is not feasible, it may make more sense to transportelectricity “virtually” in the chemical equivalent of gases thatcan be oxidized to produce electricity at the user destinations.Rethinking UtilitiesNot only must utility system components be selected,and in some cases even redesigned afresh, to permit localmanufacture of as much of the system mass as possible, inother cases whole new approaches must be adopted (per theexamples above, using gasses to virtually transport water andMoon Miners’ Manifesto Classics - Year 7 - Republished January 2006 - Page 39