MMM Classics Year 10: MMM #s 91-100 - Moon Society

Against the Overwhelming
Barrenness of the Moonscape
by Peter Kokh
Relevant Readings from Back Issues of MMM
MMM # 8 SEP ‘87, “Parkway”; “Animal Life”
MMM # 50 NOV ‘91, pp 8-9. “Trees”
MMM # 53 MAR ‘92, p 6 “Xititech III. Cellular Rhythm”
MMM # 54 APR ‘92, pp 5-6 “Xitiplans”
MMM # 76 JUN ‘94, p 1 “Windows, in with a new cliché”
Some of us are house plant nuts, some of us are hobby
gardening enthusiasts. But perhaps most of us don’t give
vegetation, indoors or out, much thought. We don’t have to.
Given the general luxuriant feel of the outdoors, we get enough
of a green-fix automatically without having to concern
ourselves much about it. And that remains generally true, even
in this era in which the health of the host environment is in
question, and living nature under siege from selfishness, greed,
and simple carelessness.
On the Moon life is not a given. There is none of that
comforting green stuff maintaining itself on automatic. The
outdoors is lifeless, barren, sterile - relentlessly so - assertively
so - threateningly so. Greenery within the protected confines of
the mini-biosphere will become a preoccupation of all but the
most soulless personalities.
That a healthy abundance of plants contributes significantly
and noticeably to air quality and freshness will be a
reinforcing motivation. (NASA-funded studies have shown that
the right mix of houseplants can be quite effective in reducing
household airborne pollutants.) But we suspect that for most
Lunans, the real driver will be the need to use plant life as a
security blanket, a psychological filter against the out-vac’s
life-quenching sterility, much as for smokers, a cigarette makes
the world a friendlier place (no, I am not one).
If lunar homes and offices and schools have windows
affording moonscape views, inside window box planters of
houseplants will take the edge off the life=threat of that magnificent
but deadly desolation. But we will find many other
nooks and crannies to put plants. Greenery and foliage will
become the mainstay of interior decoration. Everything else
will play but a supporting role.
A much higher percentage of Lunans are likely to be
home gardeners. They will be aggressive in finding opportunities
to add plants. Quite possibly a solar-lit atrium space will
become the organizing focus of choice in purchaser chosen
home plans. Such a space will afford vegetable and herb
gardens or a mini-orchard to help with the food budget and
menu variety, maybe a tad of entrepreneurial canning. But it
could also be devoted to purely decorative plantings of
variegated foliage and flowering plants, song birds, hummingbirds,
and butterflies. Or it could become a more mystical
place, a Japanese style sand and stone garden. For despite the
general preoccupation with plant life, there will still be a big
range of personal sensitivities, and of lifestyle needs.
Architects in general will look for ways to build-in
planters and other cubbyholes for plants, providing also for
their illumination. Vegetation will be a new design parameter.
Out in the “middoors” too, every opportunity to tuck
in vegetation will be aggressively pursued by architects and
users. Middoor streets and passageways, intersections and
squares, are likely to become as verdant as they are busy. This
can be the concern of the xity administration, or, more healthfully,
of rival neighborhood, and street merchant associations,
or other stretch-”adopting” clubs.
While green will be the dominant color thus inserted
into settlement life (architects and decorators will be motivated
to find ways to introduce ambiently lit sky blue ceilings and
open space sky blue vaults), settlers may rely on plant life to
provide other colors as well. The early lunar art pallet (waterglass-based
metal oxide “paints” and ceramics) will be one of
generally subdued colors. As helpful as such additions will be,
the thirst of the more vivid coloration of flowers (and perhaps
birds and butterflies) will be strong.
It is likely that flowering plants will be staggered so
that at least something is in bloom every sunth (the lunar
dayspan / nightspan cycle). Will flowering plants grow taller
on their own in sixthweight? Or can they be coaxed to grow
taller? If so, Lunans may be able to savor the delight of floral
“forests”. These would provide a must-see tourist draw.
Trees are likely to be of the dwarf variety (many fruitbearing
dwarf hybrids are already marketed), more bush-like in
size, at least until the cost of imported nitrogen makes economically
feasible the construction of higher-vaulted middoor
spaces. In the meantime, to fill the void, individuals and clubs
may take strongly to the cultivation of bonsai trees, even to the
point of growing bonsai forests, again a tourist must see.
The first parks may be interim floral and grassy
meadow refuges within agricultural areas. Even if the farm
units are highly mechanized assemblages of trays and racks
and LED lighting arrays, the sight of so much greenery (and
the freshness of the air) will make any kind of food-producing
area a mecca for those living or working nearby.
In the previous article, we mentioned that mini-biospheres
will guarantee the reintegration of city and farm, the
overdue return to farm village roots and a more nature-harmonious
lifestyle-paradigm. Already in this century here on Earth,
most developed cities have thinned out greatly in density,
giving much more space to greenery (even if still more to
pavement, in homage to the great god Auto).
Also on Earth, we have seen a general increase in
urban and especially suburban wildlife, a welcome turnaround,
led by post-human species, species that have learned to thrive
in human-dominated environments. We can hope that Lunans
will indulge in the luxury (to bean counter eyes) of urban
wildlife. We’ve mentioned birds and butterflies. Surely bees,
ducks, swans, flamingos, squirrels, even deer, and more.
In our cities, pockets of life are seen as a concession
to nature. In the off planet xity, pockets of humanity will be the
concession. Vegetation will play the host. The Xity will be an
exercise in symbiosis, man and Gaia reunited.
Moon Miners’ Manifesto Classics - Year 10 - Republished January 2006 - Page 56