So. We're On The Moon. And Then?

We're Taking A Look Into The Future Here

Because of course Hom. Sap. doesn't have bases on the lunar surface yet, despite what the conspiranoid loonwaffles would have you believe, and no, Vulnavia, not even on the far side.  We (collective humanity, that is) have been plotting and planning and picturing our Lunar Empire for probably the past one hundred years. Perhaps if Art can put down his Mara Corday calendar and indulge us?

Very much a man's world.
(The ladies are too busy sitting at home knitting one presumes)

     In stark contrast to the enormous assemblage pictured above, today's real lunar planners are rather more modest and realistic in their aspirations.

What's this? Madam, pick up your needles and get purling!

     Er - yes, quite.  Not sure how that crept in there (and is that a hairdo or a helmet?).  Anyway, let us return to the topic of returning to the Moon, as envisaged by today's planners at ESA.  Art?

    This is one suggested lunar living module.  The only rigid parts of the structure are the airlock and the two 'windows'; the rest of the dome is an inflatable membrane, which will take up very little cargo space and consequently mass equally little.  For protection against micro-meteorites and radiation, the exterior is protected by a layer of lunar regolith, which will also provide protection against full sun and high temperatures and darkness with horribly sub-zero temperatures.
     

The view from the backyard

     Why would we travel to the Moon and set up bases there?  Well, there are a couple of reasons.  As mentioned by Neil Armstrong, there's a lot of Helium 3 up there, just waiting to be mined and sent back to Earth (the central premise of the very excellent "Moon"), fuel when we finally get our fusion reactors up and working.  Secondly, it will act as a forward base for staging missions to Mars and elsewhere.

You can't fault their enthusiasm, as this was made in 1953, or 4 years pre-Sputnik

     If you were expecting the usual ritual humiliation of the Motley at this point, well tough, it's still heading for Mars aboard MOT1 and we can't expect it back before suppertime tomorrow at the very earliest.

Meanwhile, Fans Of Hoofing A Pig's Bladder Across The Greensward Vent 

Conrad has a picture in reserve that he took yesteryon, and never got to use, as there was so much other fascinating stuff to blog about*.  Art?

     As you can see, people are venting.  Venting more than a violently vomiting volcano.  Over 2,000 comments in an hour.

     Of course - obviously! - Your Humble Scribe hasn't the faintest idea what this idea means, so I had to read what the commenters on this Have Your Say were choking out.  They were not happy, not at all.  Imagine if you were slowly being lowered into that violently vomiting volcano, after being doused in petrol; that's how happy they were.  It seems to be a bit of a cash-grab opportunity, put to two 'football clubs' that are 'owned' by South Canadian business magnates**; a class of person not noted for either their scruples or aversion to making more millions.  Art!

     One presumes that this is irony.

     Really, one can enjoy Schaudenfreude without limit, as it has no calories, does not contain gluten nor does it produce harmful greenhouse gases - Conrad recommends it!

Today's Haul

Conrad had to sweep in and purchase these the instant he saw them in Turner And Donovan's online catalogue for October, because a third volume I wanted had already been sold.  Last month I missed out on the Mapcase and Appendices for the Official History's 1917 volumes and I WASN'T GOING TO BE CHEATED OUT OF WHAT'S RIGHTFULLY MINE this time.  Art?

     "The Occupation Of The Rhineland" has a curious history, as it was only published in 1944, having taken 12 years to get approved.  The Foreign Office objected to it most furiously (because - er - because - Weasels!) and only 100 copies were printed.  You could not buy them, either, because it was restricted and not for sale to the public.  

     "Transportation On The Western Front" is part of the Official Histories and was published in a limited run of 1,000 copies together with a map case.  The map case you can forget about ever buying, they are all lost to history.  The original, I see, is going for nearly £200 in New Zealand, although that does include postage and packing.  There's a couple of South Canadian chancers trying to rip people off with the reprint that I have, except they're charging 5 times what I paid for mine, or almost £60 for postage and packing with another.

CAUTION! Selling this will not pay off your mortgage

If It's Only A Paper Moon -

Why then a plastic rocket will serve to get us there.

   For Lo! we are back with Ryan "Brickman" McNaught, Australia's only licenced Lego Construction Artist.  Yesterday we looked at his model of the Colosseum and today we take a (long step back and) look at his business's construction of an SLS model.  Art?

NO! He is not a very small human

     Rather, it's a whacking big rocket.  There are 450,000 bricks in that monster, which tops the ladder at over 7 yards in height.  Conrad doesn't have time to chase down how long it took to create, however it is part of an exhibition that totalled 5,000 hours to complete all 38 exhibits.

     Your Humble Scribe strongly suspects that there is some variety of vertical metal support running from the base up through the exhaust flames and into the body of the Space Launch System itself, as otherwise it wouldn't have the torsional strength to remain upright and erect and the slightest bit of wind - well, one doesn't want to see a grown man break down and weep.

Now you're just being silly

     
Finally -

We have hit the Compositional Ton, so I don't want to post a 200-word Final item that would stretch patience and creative ability, and besides it's getting on for bedtime and Your Humble Scribe was pretty dozy earlier today and definitely needs to catch Zeds***.  What can we have?

O yes!

     This bag of bones and fangs is a denizen of the Marianas Trench, one of the deepest places in the ocean, and not a place to go skinny-dipping.  We may come back to this, and in the meantime, sweet dreams!

*  Lithium Wafer Battery Design IS interesting!  It so is!

**  Sorry for the technicalities here.

***  Note CORRECT spelling and pronunciation of the alphabet's twenty-sixth letter.