Wednesday marks the silver anniversary of mankind’s first walk on the moon. Now that we’ve mastered lunar loping, inquiring real estate minds want to know about development.
At the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, that’s a touchy subject these days.
In 1989, President Bush broached the goal of establishing a lunar habitat and launching a mission to Mars by 2010. “To say that’s on hold would be a euphemism,” reported Wendell Mendell, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
There’s no real thought at NASA regarding a lunar base, at least not at high levels, explained Mendell. However, he added, there are “pockets of activity.” Some of the research is sanctioned, some is independent.
Although executing lunar development appears to be mired in politics and budget problems, considerable groundwork has already been laid.
There is general agreement that if and when lunar development takes place, it will likely include prominent contributions from the private sector real estate industry.
Master planning, a key component of many large and complex earthly projects, already exists at a conceptual level for the moon, experts say.
“The idea is that you want separate zones (for a lunar outpost),” says Kriss Kennedy, a NASA aerospace architect in Houston. Not unlike community planning, planetary zoning makes it easier to control growth of a base, he explains.
Kennedy outlines five different zones for development: power production; in-situ resource utilization, where local raw materials are transformed into products; a science zone, leaving undeveloped land for future experiments; a launch and landing area for transportation; and, finally, a habitation zone.
Kennedy likens this habitation zone to a central business district of sorts, providing areas and facilities for both working and living.
Lunar construction would be a far cry from terrestrial endeavors, experts say.
For starters, the moon has no atmosphere, which can be viewed as a plus-engineers don’t have to contend with rain, snow or wind when designing structures.
However, the lack of atmosphere also creates considerable challenges, including radiation dangers, huge swings in temperatures and pressure problems.
“Here on Earth if you open a window, it’s no big deal,” points out Paul Nowak, a professor of civil engineering at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. Try that on the moon, however, and all your oxygen will go right out the window.
“You’re designing essentially for a vacuum,” explains Nowak, who has done research for NASA regarding lunar habitat.
Thus, lunar structures must be pressurized, with air locks built as transition points from inside to outside. Air locks also can help control moon dust from entering interiors, where it can be a contaminant for both machinery and humans.
Another construction challenge: Temperatures on the moon swing 540 degrees in a matter of hours and then remain constant at these extremes for about 14 days.
On Earth, structures such as bridges, roads and sidewalks have expansion joints to accommodate shifts in temperature. This isn’t possible on the moon because any direct opening would cause air to escape, said Nowak.
Nowak and other experts believe inflatable structures are the answer to many of the moon’s construction constraints. Inflatable structures address pressure problems and ease transportation headaches.
To address volatile lunar temperatures, structures would be covered with moon dirt, which would also protect buildings from radiation and meteorites, said aerospace authorities.
However, scooping up moon dirt-known as regolith in scientific circles-is no easy matter. Developers would have to amend their traditional groundbreaking ceremonies.
“The straightforward thing would be to bring a shovel,” observes Stein Sture, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder. However, due to electrostatic forces, regolith particles stick together and interlock, somewhat like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, explains Sture.
“You’re probably better off with some type of high-tech bulldozer,” Sture continues. But that solution is quickly nixed due to transportation restrictions, he says, noting: “You’re not going to take a Caterpillar up there.” Indeed, transportation costs are astronomical.
Tools are another handicap. “You can’t run down to the hardware store if you forget something,” Nowak points out.
Another reason experts favor inflatable structures is that they take up less space and require minimum assembly-at least compared to construction from scratch.
As lunar development evolves, Kennedy believes structures could be built underground, a progression opposite of Earth, where humans moved from caves to dwellings above ground. Subterranean lunar shelters offer protection from radiation and provide more constant temperatures, Kennedy explained.
Permanent lunar habitat would give man “a foothold in space,” Mendell says.
And many experts lean to a lunar habitat before a space station since there are more materials to work with on the moon’s surface. “It’s not exactly amber waves of grain,” Mendell says, “but there are materials on the planet to sustain a base and help it grow.”
That includes making simple bricks out of soil and extracting oxygen from moon rocks for rocket propellent.
Helium-3 is another element which generates a great deal of enthusiasm among aerospace folks. The ideal fuel for nuclear fusion reactors, say authorities, Helium-3 could be exported from the moon to Earth.
Although there is little happening at NASA these days regarding lunar development, many still have hope.
Other countries are continuing efforts toward space exploration-Japan is expected to unveil a plan this fall-and Mendell hopes the U.S. may be “stimulated” by this international activity.
“There’s a pride of ownership here … ownership of experience,” he says, referring to the United States’ earlier moon exploration.
Although Europeans are more focused on science in their exploration efforts, the Japanese are oriented toward humans and the application of commercial values, Mendell said, noting: “They draw pictures of hotels (on the moon).”
Much of lunar development is contingent on a safe-and affordable-transportation system, say experts. Something along the lines of Southwest Airlines is needed.
If the cost of rocket transportation is reduced, lunar development would start to fall back into the realm of the private sector, experts agreed. Up to now, NASA has been the only customer for space research.
“We really need to get more players in the game,” Mendell said.
And some are starting to show up.
San Diego-based International Space Enterprises (ISE) in partnership with a Russian aerospace company, Lavochkin Association, is planning to transport payloads to the moon for approximately $57,000 per pound.
“It’s a great deal,” said Mike Simon, ISE president, explaining that his fees are about one-tenth what it would cost NASA.
Simon explained that his firm’s transportation service will allow scientists, educational institutions and private industry to put equipment and conduct experiments on the moon. ISE will also transport its own equipment and lease it.
The moon is an excellent place to conduct astronomical experiments because it provides a stable base for telescopes and there is no interference from radio signals on its far side.
ISE’s first lunar landing trip is slated for 1997. Among its first customers is LunaCorp., an Arlington, Va. company.
LunaCorp. plans to put an unmanned rover on the moon’s surface. The rover would be equipped with a video camera to transmit images which could be sold to television companies, explained David Gump, LunaCorp’s president.
“The whole idea is to pay for space exploration without tapping tax dollars,” Gump said.
In addition, LunaCorp. plans to market the rover to theme parks, where people can test drive it via remote control.
“Whenever human beings have had chance to explore a new frontier, they have done so,” Mendell observed.
Yet beyond scratching mankind’s itch to explore, authorities see lunar development and habitation as a model for solving environmental problems at home.
On the moon, one can’t dump trash. Which points to heavy-duty recycling, and transfer of that technology could benefit Earth.
“The only way it can be done is to extend conventional development activities beyond the biosphere,” says Chuck Lauer, head of Peregrine Properties, an Ann Arbor real estate consulting firm, referring to environmental ills and swelling population.
Lauer sees real estate developers playing a key role in large scale development, both in orbit and on the moon.
Real estate players are more in tune with what needs to be done, he says. The sums of money needed are enormous, but real estate developers are used to financing multimillion and billion dollar projects-and operating them at a profit.
“I plan on making this (outer space development) part of business as soon as practical to do so,” Lauer says.
