January 22, 2019
The French Luniara? Europe Plans a Moon Colony
Timothy Birdnow
The European Union wants to go to the Moon and mine it. According to the U.K. Daily Mail:
I say - good luck with that!
The U.S. could do it (but probably won't because we are too interested in quasi-socialist schemes and not in actually making or doing anything tangible) and the Russians maybe and possibly the Chinese, but Europe is a decadent, moribund society incapable of taking any sort of initiative. This is a project that requires hard work, dedication, and fortitude as well as technical expertise. Europe is constitutionally incapable of most of that. Socialist dreams have turned Europe into a wine-sipping garden party without any grit or determination. They have never launched their own space station, nor done any of the real astronautical work. At best they can put up a few satellites and whatnot, but actually putting people in harm's way is another matter. Europe is too lazy and pleasure-minded to do such a thing. Here's more from the article:
The use of space resources could be a key to sustainable lunar exploration and this study is part of ESA's comprehensive plan to make Europe a partner in global exploration in the next decade - a plan we will put to our Ministers for decision later this year at the Space19+ Conference.' added Dr. David Parker; Director, Human and Robotic Exploration at ESA.
The mission will pit Europe against the US, Russia and China, all of whom are developing moon missions.
End excerpt.
Sustainable is right; the Europeans will probably face a backlash from Environmentalists, who will argue we have no right to go to the Moon and mess up her "pristine" environment. They will call it unsustainable. And the general public in Germany or France will probably not like "wasting money" in space when they can use it to fund three day work weeks and the like. And accidents happen; what will Europe do if a rocket explodes, or some other tragedy strikes? These people are risk-averse. They have been since America became their nanny after the Second World War. A death or two will probably see them scurry back to the safety of their cafe's and beergartens.
They have a grand vision:
The concept is a base for lunar exploration by humans and robots, which would act as a stopover for spacecraft, and become a 'village' with mining and even tourism.
Multi-dome lunar base being constructed, based on the 3D printing concept. Once assembled, the inflated domes are covered with a layer of 3D-printed lunar regolith by robots to help protect the occupants against space radiation and micrometeoroids
'Right now we have the Space Station as a common international project, but it won't last forever,' said Woerner.
'If I say Moon Village, it does not mean single houses, a church, a town hall and so on. No, that would be misleading.
'My idea only deals with the core of the concept of a village: people working and living together in the same place.
'And this place would be on the moon.
'In the Moon Village we would like to combine the capabilities of different spacefaring nations, with the help of robots and astronauts.
End excerpt.
I can see them getting the robot part up and running but actually sending people? Also, in the end, any sort of colony has to serve a purpose other than just being an outpost. There has to be a plan to actually produce things, to make money in some fashion. People are driven by profit in some sense; dreams and high mindedness usually collapse under the weight of reality when the going gets tough. There has to be something in it for the individual. Knowing the Europeans they will expect this thing to operate at a loss, be entirely Earth-dependent. Such a scheme will fail under the thumb of European bureaucracy.
I hope I'm wrong. I want to see Mankind settle the solar system, and the Moon is a planet (I know, technically untrue but it is large enough to be one if it was in her own orbit) just a few days away and there really is no good reason why we haven't tried to do something with it. What with the low lunar gravity we can use it for raw materials much more cheaply and efficiently than shlepping stuff up from Earth. I want us there - and if it takes the European Union to do it so be it. I would rather it be the U.S., but if we aren't able or willing then others should go. But I seriously doubt the E.U. is societally capable of accomplishing such a feat.
We have to do this at some point.
The European Union wants to go to the Moon and mine it. According to the U.K. Daily Mail:
The European Space Agency revealed it has signed up rocket maker ArianeGroup to develop plans for a moon base that could be used to mine material from the lunar surface. The project will 'examine the possibility of going to the Moon before 2025 and starting to work there'. Industrial partners including renowned architects Foster+Partners have already worked with ESA to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil to create moon bases.
The one-year contract aims to eventually mine regolith on the lunar surface.
'As ESA and other agencies prepare to send humans back to the Moon – this time to stay – technologies that make use of materials available in space (in-situ resource utilisation) are seen as key to sustainability, and a stepping stone in humankind's adventure to Mars and farther into the Solar System,' the space agency said.
The one-year contract aims to eventually mine regolith on the lunar surface.
'As ESA and other agencies prepare to send humans back to the Moon – this time to stay – technologies that make use of materials available in space (in-situ resource utilisation) are seen as key to sustainability, and a stepping stone in humankind's adventure to Mars and farther into the Solar System,' the space agency said.
I say - good luck with that!
The U.S. could do it (but probably won't because we are too interested in quasi-socialist schemes and not in actually making or doing anything tangible) and the Russians maybe and possibly the Chinese, but Europe is a decadent, moribund society incapable of taking any sort of initiative. This is a project that requires hard work, dedication, and fortitude as well as technical expertise. Europe is constitutionally incapable of most of that. Socialist dreams have turned Europe into a wine-sipping garden party without any grit or determination. They have never launched their own space station, nor done any of the real astronautical work. At best they can put up a few satellites and whatnot, but actually putting people in harm's way is another matter. Europe is too lazy and pleasure-minded to do such a thing. Here's more from the article:
The use of space resources could be a key to sustainable lunar exploration and this study is part of ESA's comprehensive plan to make Europe a partner in global exploration in the next decade - a plan we will put to our Ministers for decision later this year at the Space19+ Conference.' added Dr. David Parker; Director, Human and Robotic Exploration at ESA.
The mission will pit Europe against the US, Russia and China, all of whom are developing moon missions.
End excerpt.
Sustainable is right; the Europeans will probably face a backlash from Environmentalists, who will argue we have no right to go to the Moon and mess up her "pristine" environment. They will call it unsustainable. And the general public in Germany or France will probably not like "wasting money" in space when they can use it to fund three day work weeks and the like. And accidents happen; what will Europe do if a rocket explodes, or some other tragedy strikes? These people are risk-averse. They have been since America became their nanny after the Second World War. A death or two will probably see them scurry back to the safety of their cafe's and beergartens.
They have a grand vision:
The concept is a base for lunar exploration by humans and robots, which would act as a stopover for spacecraft, and become a 'village' with mining and even tourism.
Multi-dome lunar base being constructed, based on the 3D printing concept. Once assembled, the inflated domes are covered with a layer of 3D-printed lunar regolith by robots to help protect the occupants against space radiation and micrometeoroids
'Right now we have the Space Station as a common international project, but it won't last forever,' said Woerner.
'If I say Moon Village, it does not mean single houses, a church, a town hall and so on. No, that would be misleading.
'My idea only deals with the core of the concept of a village: people working and living together in the same place.
'And this place would be on the moon.
'In the Moon Village we would like to combine the capabilities of different spacefaring nations, with the help of robots and astronauts.
End excerpt.
I can see them getting the robot part up and running but actually sending people? Also, in the end, any sort of colony has to serve a purpose other than just being an outpost. There has to be a plan to actually produce things, to make money in some fashion. People are driven by profit in some sense; dreams and high mindedness usually collapse under the weight of reality when the going gets tough. There has to be something in it for the individual. Knowing the Europeans they will expect this thing to operate at a loss, be entirely Earth-dependent. Such a scheme will fail under the thumb of European bureaucracy.
I hope I'm wrong. I want to see Mankind settle the solar system, and the Moon is a planet (I know, technically untrue but it is large enough to be one if it was in her own orbit) just a few days away and there really is no good reason why we haven't tried to do something with it. What with the low lunar gravity we can use it for raw materials much more cheaply and efficiently than shlepping stuff up from Earth. I want us there - and if it takes the European Union to do it so be it. I would rather it be the U.S., but if we aren't able or willing then others should go. But I seriously doubt the E.U. is societally capable of accomplishing such a feat.
We have to do this at some point.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
09:19 AM
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