Lunar Industry

The moon is an airless rocky body floating in space at a distance from earth between 357,000 km and 407,000 km. It has water, but not in a liquid form. The moon is an inhospitable place. It is a place of silent extremes, hot during the day, freezing at night. Living there will not be easy. Its gravity is one sixth that of the earth. It will take a lot to turn it into a colony. So why would we go there again?

I have been thinking about the moon. Why would we go back there? What would we do there? What would be the first industry to take hold on the moon? I think the first industry that will take hold there, is the same one that is at work in earth orbit—construction. What would be the second industry? There are scientific expeditions in earth orbit at the moment. They orbit the earth on the International Space Station, but there have also been attempts at tourism. That’s the industry that will get to the moon first when we finally set up a base there. Science will lead the way, with a little mining, but the largest force will be tourism.

That’s what I think anyway. I think tourism will be the first industry on the moon — after construction. I could be wrong, of course. The first industry after construction could be mining. I hope not. We do not have a good track record with mining, leaving the terrain the worse for our presence. At least we can’t drive an entire species to extinction — there are no indigenous life forms on the moon. That’s a comfort.

What would draw a tourist to the moon? Prestige, we are fond of going places where others cannot go because they either can’t afford it or are not fit enough to make the trip. I admit that I would love to go to the moon — I don’t even have the money to travel across my own country. I would still like to go to the moon, even though there is nothing there. It’s a thing of wonder — walking on a distant world.

I’m told that on the south pole of the moon there are natural caves and water held in ice. That would be the site of the first mines or the first hotel, whichever gets there first. It would make sense to build there first. We can create more infrastructure later.

Miners might be sent to there to get the aluminum, iron, and titanium. I still think that tourism will the first industry. There’s just something about the moon that intrigues us, even though we know that there is not much there to see. It’s the novelty factor. I doubt that I will go to the moon, but if I were to be offered the chance to visit the moon, I’d go in a heartbeat. What about you? Would you go to the moon if you had the opportunity? Maybe I’ll see you there.

About pebblepup

I am not one who is comfortable talking about myself but here goes. I enjoy writing, family history, and reading. I decided to do this blog because I wanted to try something new. I decided to make it a weekly blog because I wasn't sure that I could keep up with a daily one, and monthly seemed like I was writing a magazine. I think I did ok with my choices. You'll notice that there are not a lot of graphics on my site. That's because there are graphics plastered everywhere on the Internet and those sites sometimes take forever to load. This blog is a place where you can kick back, relax and be ready to be amused. At least I hope I willbamuse you. This blog is on a variety of subjects from my ficitional cat agency, the FFL, which is monthly, to instructional blogs to editorials, which are my opinions only. I admit that I don't know everything and could be wrong -- I frequently am. Now, stop reading about me and read what I have to say!