If by some magic process humanity was able to go to the stars tomorrow and find habitable worlds we would probably want to design a society based upon modern technology. We can't do this but we can look at our Earthbound society and think about how to redesign it so that it will work better. It is like a giant game of the SIMS but in the real world. This book examines how the exploration of space, specifically a commercial base on the Moon and Mars would transform our economies on the Earth as surely as the discovery of the New World transformed the old world of Europe. From Platinum Group Metals for fuel cells, manufacturing high tech metals and robots to the building of a fusion reactor, the Moon holds great promise for a high tech manufacturing future. This book takes a look and imagines how a world with such resources could be designed for our future.

Veteran space journalist digs into the science and technology--past, present, and future--central to our explorations of Earth's only satellite, the space destination most hotly pursued today. In these rich pages, veteran science journalist Leonard David explores the moon in all its facets, from ancient myth to future "Moon Village" plans. Illustrating his text with maps, graphics, and photographs, David offers inside information about how the United States, allies and competitors, as well as key private corporations like Moon Express and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, plan to reach, inhabit, and even harvest the moon in the decades to come. Spurred on by the Google Lunar XPRIZE--$20 million for the first to get to the moon and send images home--the 21st-century space race back to the moon has become more urgent, and more timely, than ever. Accounts of these new strategies are set against past efforts, including stories never before told about the Apollo missions and Cold War plans for military surveillance and missile launches from the moon. Timely and fascinating, this book sheds new light on our constant lunar companion, offering reasons to gaze up and see it in a different way than ever before.

San Francisco sportswriter Jack McDonald's career spanned five decades. Here he describes his encounters with such legendary figures as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Casey Stengel, Jack Dempsey, and Red Grange.

While the Moon was once thought to hold the key to space exploration, in recent decades, the U.S. has largely turned its sights toward Mars and other celestial bodies instead. In The Value of the Moon, lunar scientist Paul Spudis argues that the U.S. can and should return to the moon in order to remain a world leader in space utilization and development and a participant in and beneficiary of a new lunar economy. Spudis explores three reasons for returning to the Moon: it is close, it is interesting, and it is useful. The proximity of the Moon not only allows for frequent launches, but also control of any machinery we place there. It is interesting because recorded deep on its surface and in its craters is the preserved history of the moon, the sun, and indeed the entire galaxy. And finally, the moon is useful because it is rich with materials and energy. The moon, Spudis argues, is a logical base for further space exploration and even a possible future home for us all. Throughout his work, Spudis incorporates details about man's fascination with the moon and its place in our shared history. He also explores its religious, cultural, and scientific resonance and assesses its role in the future of spaceflight and our national security and prosperity.