Moon Base Alpha

This treaty became effective on January 27, 1967. As its name implies, the Outer Space Treaty prohibits placing into orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, the installation of such weapons on celestial bodies, or their stationing in outer space in any other manner. Also forbidden are the establishment of military bases, installations, and fortifications; the testing of any type of weapons; and the conduct .

Glass?

Moonbase Alpha Overview

NASA has once again landed on the lunar surface with the goal of colonization, research, and further exploration. Shortly after the return to the Moon, NASA has established a small outpost on the south pole of the moon called Moonbase Alpha. Utilizing solar energy and regolith processing, the moonbase has become self-sufficient and plans for further expansion are underway.


Moonbase Alpha Game ScreenShot -- Repairing the Life Support System

In Moonbase Alpha, you assume the exciting role of an astronaut working to further human expansion and research. Returning from a research expedition, you witness a meteorite impact that cripples the life support capability of the settlement. With precious minutes ticking away, you and your team must repair and replace equipment in order to restore the oxygen production to the settlement.

Team coordination along with the proper use and allocation of your available resources (player controlled robots, rovers, repair tools, etc.) are key to your overall success. There are several ways in which you can successfully restore the life support system of the lunar base, but since you are scored on the time spent to complete the task, you have to work effectively as a team, learn from decisions made in previous gaming sessions, and make intelligence decisions in order to top the leaderboards.

  "In Our Hands: The Moon"

Plato said...

Well Steven we know we need water if we are ever to establish a base. The support system for establishment of that base, require elements that can be found there, as they will be necessary for the foundation and support of "creating the place" in which to live. The property has to have some value. Who is to determine it's owner ship? So how one looks at the planets is to think about it's structure and what benefits can be gained from establishing locations for ventures further out into space. What it's gravity field looks like may aid in the determination of the mass and density of that planet n aiding the elemental determination of that structure? Colonization. I just thought if I was to gain from mining profits it would have to be for a reason in order to get my capital expenses out of such an investment. Then, what mining and values understood in terms of those elements is to be able to look at the moon in such a way that such support for that colonization for the moon base is established. Is it a international mining company, then a private one? Who shall have the say over where such mining can or can't occur, if property rights are or are not given? Just some of the thoughts that have occurred for me. Best,

January 13,

NASA's Mini-SAR instrument, which flew aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 1 to 9 miles (2 to 15 km) in diameter. Although the total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater, it's estimated there could be at least 600 million metric tons of water ice. The red circles denote fresh craters; the green circle mark anomalous craters.  NASA

Steven Colyer said...

Hi, Plato, Water, and air! In the long run I don't see that being as much of a problem as shelter from cosmic rays and solar radiation, which we can also solve. Air and water will have to be imported from Earth for the first century, maybe less. There's titanium oxide on the moon, right? That means oxygen. I'll make a deal with you. You can keep the titanium, I'll take the O2. With the O2 we'll get our air, and if we can locate some hydrogen we can combine that with the O2 to make water. And once someone gets off their duff and repeats Biosphere, except this time with less mistakes both managerial and engineering-wise of the first one, we'll recycle that stuff. For food: plants, and the small furry animals that love them. For shelter, the best news of late is that there are Caves on the moon! That's where we'll settle first. It'll sure save on excavation costs. Now, I know this will be pricey, but that hasn't stopped exploration before. We know who the Ferdinands and Isabellas of our day are, all that remains is to find the Columbuses, and I suspect there are no shortage of them either. And in any event, as Kennedy said, we won't go to the moon because it is easy, we will go to the moon because it is hard! A challenge! A goal. Goals are good. As a fringe benefit, we can solve the massive poverty problem here on Earth in doing this. Full employment for all humans is possible, provided we have a goal and people want to help. I have a cousin who worked at Grumman in the 60's - he was pretty darn proud to be one of the hundreds of thousands that allowed Neil and Buzz to step on our sister planet and return safely to the Earth. The Moon with it's 1/4th gravity will provide a saner place to build and launch a Mars mission one day. Also, in about 2 months we'll have a probe in orbit around planet Mercury. It's quite possible Mercury has more rich minerals and precious metals than any other planet, and if so, our successes on establishing a lunar base will be priceless in terms of experience to go after the Gold planet. Both seem equally hostile. So did North America back in the day, given the technology of those days, but, our ancestors conquered that eventually, eh? Yes they did, and we're the living proof. :-)

January 14, 2011 6:38 AM

Plato said...

Steven:There's titanium oxide on the moon, right? That means oxygen. You get my point well then that, "the elements" are factors that we have to take into consideration if the future of colonization has a step off point. The life cycle of a lunar impact and associated time and special scales. The LCROSS measurement methods are “layered” in response to the rapidly evolving impact environment. See: Impact:Lunar CRater Observation Satellite (LCROSS) So one must first plan for the expansion based on a blueprint for future generations. So you develop a research scenario based on the development and support of building such a base. As you have shown we are part way to the moon "so structure of habitation is and has already shown it can "withstand" through how such a design must be built on the moon. Of course first habitations is going to be the capsules in which it got us there. Metallurgic and refinement processes are developed for specific kinds of materials needed in the development of. Politics is an interesting question when it comes to how we want to move out toward space colonization, beyond the boundaries earth has to this date incorporated so as to benefit investment, while developing for all humankind? So is it a "public company" or "a private Corporation" through future developmental designs that shall lead the way? Best,

January 14, 2011 7:09 AM

Plato said...

Extracting Oxygen from Moon Rocks If you have obtained a long term supply of elements specific, then how shall they be combined to support such a long stay? "A supply" for sure then. Best,

January 14, 2011 7:18 AM

Steven Colyer said...

So is it a "public company" or "a private Corporation" through future developmental designs that shall lead the way? You handle the Legal end and I'll handle the Sales end. :-) As a tip though, what did it take to start up the Dutch East India Trading Company? It's in the History books, a not-small dose of which I believe you lawyers had to study in your undergraduate days. :-) Also, regarding Columbus. Was he really Italiano, or was he the Portuguese double-spy Salvador Fernandes Zarco, who played King John against Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand and vice versa, until he got the 3 ships he couldn't afford himself? And who then, on the high seas, ran into, got info from, then killed: John Cabot, the alleged REAL discoverer of the New World? Well, I don't know, sounds like conspiracy crackpottery to me, but however he did it, he sure got it done.

January 14, 2011 7:29 AM

The Leader-Post - Dec 17, 1966

UN Approval Expected on Outer Space Treaty

Plato said...

 

Steven: You handle the Legal end and I'll handle the Sales end. You have to lead first by example? At 9:11 AM, November 05, 2009, Steven:How can Quantum Gravity help? Transmutation. Once we know how matter and energy work on the smallest scales, Engineers should shortly thereafter learn how to turn Lunar titanium into any other form of matter we desire, and Newton's dream of Alchemy will finally be realized. Unfortunately I am embroiled in United States sovereignty claim because of the flag planted on the moon and various mirrors for measure as claims to land. Setting up the infrastructure like Christine said is first and foremost. An elementary consideration as to how we can support that community on the Moon and provide for manufacture and production is why my companies move to land claims of the Aristarchus Crater and Surrounding Region. If different countries can challenge Canada's sovereignty of it's north, then I should have no problem contesting any rights to United States sovereignty on the moon.:) If we as a global community dispense with such borders then as a community it then belongs to all people, not just "capitalistic control." I as a mining company will bequeath all my lands to such an endeavor. Best,

January 14, 2011 7:43 AM

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The Outer Space Treaty of 1967

Treaty on principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies.


Opened for signature at Moscow, London, and Washington on 27 January, 1967


THE STATES PARTIES. TO THIS TREATY,


INSPIRED by the great prospects opening up before mankind as a result of man's entry into outer space,

RECOGNIZING the common interest of all mankind in the progress of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes,


BELIEVING that the exploration and use of outer space should be carried on for the benefit of all peoples irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development,


DESIRING to contribute to broad international co-operation in the scientific as well as the legal aspects of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes,

BELIEVING that such co-operation will contribute to the development of mutual understanding and to the strengthening of friendly relations between States and peoples,


RECALLING resolution 1962 (XVIII), entitled "Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space", which was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly on 13 December 1963,


RECALLING resolution 1884 (XVIII), calling upon States to refrain from placing in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction or from installing such weapons on celestial bodies, which was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly on 17 October 1963,


TAKING account of United Nations General Assembly resolution 110 (II) of 3 November 1947, which condemned propaganda designed or likely to provoke or encourage any threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression, and considering that the aforementioned resolution is applicable to outer space,


CONVINCED that a Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, will further the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations,


HAVE AGREED ON THE FOLLOWING:


Article I


The exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind.


Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.


There shall be freedom of scientific investigation in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and States shall facilitate and encourage international co-operation in such investigation.


Article II


Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.


Article III

States Parties to the Treaty shall carry on activities in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, in accordance with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, in the interest of maintaining international peace and security and promoting international co- operation and understanding.

Article IV


States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, instal such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.


The moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all States Parties to the Treaty exclusively for peaceful purposes. The establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited. The use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited.


Article V

In carrying on activities in outer space and on celestial bodies, the astronauts of one State Party shall render all possible assistance to the astronauts of other States Parties.


Article VI

States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty. The activities of non- governmental entities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty. When activities are carried on in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, by an international organization, responsibility for compliance with this Treaty shall be borne both by the international organization and by the States Parties to the Treaty participating in such organization.

Article VII


Each State Party to the Treaty that launches or procures the launching of an object into outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and each State Party from whose territory or facility an object is launched, is internationally liable for damage to another State Party to the Treaty or to its natural or juridical persons by such object or its component parts on the Earth, in air space or in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies.

Article VIII


A State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over such object, and over any personnel thereof, while in outer space or on a celestial body. Ownership of objects launched into outer space, including objects landed or constructed on a celestial body, and of their component parts, is not affected by their presence in outer space or on a celestial body or by their return to the Earth. Such objects or component parts found beyond the limits of the State Party of the Treaty on whose registry they are carried shall be returned to that State Party, which shall, upon request, furnish identifying data prior to their return.


Article IX


In the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, States Parties to the Treaty shall be guided by the principle of co-operation and mutual assistance and shall conduct all their activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, with due regard to the corresponding interests of all other States Parties to the Treaty. States Parties to the Treaty shall pursue studies of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and conduct exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter and, where necessary, shall adopt appropriate measures for this purpose. If a State Party to the Treaty has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by it or its nationals in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities of other States Parties in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, it shall undertake appropriate international consultations before proceeding with any such activity or experiment. A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation concerning the activity or experiment.


Article X

In order to promote international co-operation in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, in conformity with the purposes of this Treaty, the States Parties to the Treaty shall consider on a basis of equality any requests by other States Parties to the Treaty to be afforded an opportunity to observe the flight of space objects launched by those States.


The nature of such an opportunity for observation and the conditions under which it could be afforded shall be determined by agreement between the States concerned.


Article XI


In order to promote international co-operation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, States Parties to the Treaty conducting activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, agree to inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations as well as the public and the international scientific community, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable, of the nature, conduct, locations and results of such activities. On receiving the said information, the Secretary-General of the United Nations should be prepared to disseminate it immediately and effectively.

Article XII


All stations, installations, equipment and space vehicles on the moon and other celestial bodies shall be open to representatives of other States Parties to the Treaty on a basis of reciprocity. Such representatives shall give reasonable advance notice of a projected visit, in order that appropriate consultations may be held and that maximum precautions may be taken to assure safety and to avoid interference with normal operations in the facility to be visited.

Article XIII


The provisions of this Treaty shall apply to the activities of States Parties to the Treaty in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by a single State Party to the Treaty or jointly with other States, including cases where they are carried on within the framework of international inter-governmental organizations.


Any practical questions arising in connexion with activities carried on by international inter-governmental organizations in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be resolved by the States Parties to the Treaty either with the appropriate international organization or with one or more States members of that international organization, which are Parties to this Treaty.


Article XIV


1. This Treaty shall be open to all States for signature. Any State which does not sign this Treaty before its entry into force in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article may accede to it at any time.
2. This Treaty shall be subject to ratification by signatory States. Instruments of ratification and instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America, which are hereby designated the Depositary Governments.
3. This Treaty shall enter into force upon the deposit of instruments of ratification by five Governments including the Governments designated as Depositary Governments under this Treaty.
4. For States whose instruments of ratification or accession are deposited subsequent to the entry into force of this Treaty, it shall enter into force on the date of the deposit of their instruments of ratification or accession.
5. The Depositary Governments shall promptly inform all signatory and acceding States of the date of each signature, the date of deposit of each instrument of ratification of and accession to this Treaty, the date of its entry into force and other notices.
6. This Treaty shall be registered by the Depositary Governments pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.


Article XV


Any State Party to the Treaty may propose amendments to this Treaty. Amendments shall enter into force for each State Party to the Treaty accepting the amendments upon their acceptance by a majority of the States Parties to the Treaty and thereafter for each remaining State Party to the Treaty on the date of acceptance by it.


Article XVI


Any State Party to the Treaty may give notice of its withdrawal from the Treaty one year after its entry into force by written notification to the Depositary Governments. Such withdrawal shall take effect one year from the date of receipt of this notification.

Article XVII


This Treaty, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Depositary Governments. Duly certified copies of this Treaty shall be transmitted by the Depositary Governments to the Governments of the signatory and acceding States.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorised, have signed this Treaty.
DONE in triplicate, at the cities of London, Moscow and Washington, the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven.

Stephen J. Garber, NASA History Web Curator

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Space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow (left) discusses layout plans of the company's lunar base with Eric Haakonstad, one of the Bigelow Aerospace lead engineers.

PS Update: Back to the Moon, This Time to Stay