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Welcome to Moonbase
With the premise that man returns to the moon in 1999 and establishes a permanent base there by 2020, science fiction author and editor Bova here fashions an intriguing "manual" for pioneers arriving at the lunar community. With 50 detailed illustrations by NASA artist Rawlings, the guidebook covers Moonbase history, architecture, ecology, transportation, science projects, jobs, training, industries, tourism, sports ("lunar jai alai"), entertainment, day-to-day life, duties, rights and laws: "No one is allowed to walk on the surface alone, except in the specially marked 'Moonwalk Lanes.' " Combining fact and fiction in this "future history," Bova presents a compelling and persuasive argument for mankind's continual exploration of the moon and the establishment of a base on the lunar surface.
254 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 1987
About the author
Ben Bova
697 books1,067 followersBen Bova was born on November 8, 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1953, while attending Temple University, he married Rosa Cucinotta, they had a son and a daughter. He would later divorce Rosa in 1974. In that same year he married Barbara Berson Rose.
Bova was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He was an environmentalist, but rejected Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.
In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.
In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search".
Bova was the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode. His novel The Starcrossed was loosely based on his experiences and featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. He dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project.
Bova was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1996.
Bova has drawn on these meetings and experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists.
Bova was the author of over a hundred and fifteen books, non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he was the Author Guest of Honor at the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000).
Hollywood has started to take an interest in Bova's works once again, in addition to his wealth of knowledge about science and what the future may look like. In 2007, he was hired as a consultant by both Stuber/Parent Productions to provide insight into what the world is to look like in the near future for their upcoming film "Repossession Mambo" (released as "Repo Men") starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker and by Silver Pictures in which he provided consulting services on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon".
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benbova
Bova was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He was an environmentalist, but rejected Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.
In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.
In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search".
Bova was the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode. His novel The Starcrossed was loosely based on his experiences and featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. He dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project.
Bova was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1996.
Bova has drawn on these meetings and experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists.
Bova was the author of over a hundred and fifteen books, non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he was the Author Guest of Honor at the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000).
Hollywood has started to take an interest in Bova's works once again, in addition to his wealth of knowledge about science and what the future may look like. In 2007, he was hired as a consultant by both Stuber/Parent Productions to provide insight into what the world is to look like in the near future for their upcoming film "Repossession Mambo" (released as "Repo Men") starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker and by Silver Pictures in which he provided consulting services on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon".
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benbova
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 9, 2022
This is a very cute yet also technically-rich depiction of a what-if scenario of lunar exploration from the 1980s. Unfortunately, no permanent Moonbase actually opened in 2020!
September 24, 2019
Part science fact, part speculation, and part science fiction, this book reads as a sort of user manual or user guide for someone who has been hired as an employee at a hypothetical moon base in the mid-21st century. Written in 1987, the book is out-dated in some places, e.g., it predicts astronauts returning to the moon in 1999 and beginning work on a lunar outpost in the years thereafter. Nevertheless, Bova (who was the president of the National Space Society at the time) makes a strong case for why humans should return to the moon and build a permanent lunar outpost.
The author explains that the key to Moonbase's importance in space transportation derives from two basic facts:
1. Because of the Moon's low gravity and lack of an atmosphere, it takes 22 times less energy to launch a payload from the Moon than from Earth (i.e., the escape velocity from the Earth is 11.2 km/sec while the escape velocity from the Moon is only 2.4 km/sec). "With a fully operational and nearly self-sufficient Moonbase, this means that it is very nearly 22 times less expensive to launch payloads from the Moon than from Earth... Spacecraft lifting form Earth carry less than 5% of their total weight as payload. Most of their liftoff weight consists of the propellants necessary to overcome the Earth's gravity. Spacecraft lifting form the Moon can be 50% payload..."
2. "The Moon is rich in resources that are important to space transportation and construction. Among those resources are construction materials such as aluminum, magnesium, silicon, titanium and steel; propellants such as oxygen and aluminum; electronic materials such as silicon and gallium; and life support supplies such as oxygen and food."
The author goes into great detail about how liquid oxygen can be produced on the Moon from natural lunar resources and used as rocket propellant and points out that if lunar oxygen could replace oxygen lifted from Earth, it would result in great cost savings.
In this way, a lunar base can serve as a key stepping stone for human exploration further out into the solar system and beyond.
Of course, the relatively recent discovery of water ice at the lunar poles is another game changer (e.g., in terms of providing rocket propellant from lunar resources for rockets launched from the moon, as well as drinking water and other life support for a lunar base) that Bova doesn't really anticipate and speculate about much in this older book.
The author explains that the key to Moonbase's importance in space transportation derives from two basic facts:
1. Because of the Moon's low gravity and lack of an atmosphere, it takes 22 times less energy to launch a payload from the Moon than from Earth (i.e., the escape velocity from the Earth is 11.2 km/sec while the escape velocity from the Moon is only 2.4 km/sec). "With a fully operational and nearly self-sufficient Moonbase, this means that it is very nearly 22 times less expensive to launch payloads from the Moon than from Earth... Spacecraft lifting form Earth carry less than 5% of their total weight as payload. Most of their liftoff weight consists of the propellants necessary to overcome the Earth's gravity. Spacecraft lifting form the Moon can be 50% payload..."
2. "The Moon is rich in resources that are important to space transportation and construction. Among those resources are construction materials such as aluminum, magnesium, silicon, titanium and steel; propellants such as oxygen and aluminum; electronic materials such as silicon and gallium; and life support supplies such as oxygen and food."
The author goes into great detail about how liquid oxygen can be produced on the Moon from natural lunar resources and used as rocket propellant and points out that if lunar oxygen could replace oxygen lifted from Earth, it would result in great cost savings.
In this way, a lunar base can serve as a key stepping stone for human exploration further out into the solar system and beyond.
Of course, the relatively recent discovery of water ice at the lunar poles is another game changer (e.g., in terms of providing rocket propellant from lunar resources for rockets launched from the moon, as well as drinking water and other life support for a lunar base) that Bova doesn't really anticipate and speculate about much in this older book.
November 8, 2012
Interesting but out of date.
November 20, 2020
This hardcover book club edition of "Welcome to Moonbase" gives readers an intriguing vision of what it might be like to live and work on the moon. “Welcome to Moonbase” presents itself as a guide for a newcomer to the lunar base. In its pages are some moonbase history [both factual and some extrapolated future-truths], the governance and organization of moonbase, the layout of the base, and an overview of job opportunities. It continues with sections on Quality of Life, information on the Lunar Transportation Node, Lunar Manufacturing, Exploration and Research, Lunar Tourism, Permanent Residents [referred to as Luniks], and Facing the Future.
Appendices include basic lunar facts and a sample employment agreement.
Although new discoveries [such as water and ice on the lunar surface] may change some of the manual’s information and procedures, readers with an interest in space exploration, the moon, and space colonization are sure to find much to appreciate and consider here.
Reading much like a novel, the narrative's accompanying illustrations and photographs add a dimension of reality to the manual. Readers will find that there is much to be said for serious contemplation of a lunar base as man looks to step out into the wider universe.
Highly recommended.
Appendices include basic lunar facts and a sample employment agreement.
Although new discoveries [such as water and ice on the lunar surface] may change some of the manual’s information and procedures, readers with an interest in space exploration, the moon, and space colonization are sure to find much to appreciate and consider here.
Reading much like a novel, the narrative's accompanying illustrations and photographs add a dimension of reality to the manual. Readers will find that there is much to be said for serious contemplation of a lunar base as man looks to step out into the wider universe.
Highly recommended.
July 11, 2024
If you're a fan of hard sci-fi (sci-fi with an emphasis on science fact and problem solving), you will probably like this book.
How exactly do you power a moonbase? How do you protect it from radiation? What about water and plants and muscular degeneration because of the light gravity? This was written in the 1980s but there aren't any glaring errors of prognostication that made me wince. I would have given it 5 stars except that it gets too soap-opera with conflict sometimes.
How exactly do you power a moonbase? How do you protect it from radiation? What about water and plants and muscular degeneration because of the light gravity? This was written in the 1980s but there aren't any glaring errors of prognostication that made me wince. I would have given it 5 stars except that it gets too soap-opera with conflict sometimes.
August 6, 2026
When we eventually go back to the Moon, we’d be foolish to not crack open this book, start extracting ideas, and make plans around them. Bova couldn’t have known at the time the amount of water we’ve found on the Moon, so that part should be a bit easier, but so much in this book has held up that, again, we’d be foolish to ignore it when we go back.
May 5, 2008
Someone didn't get the name right, but close enough.
This is a fun book. I read it in either late junior high or early highschool and just recently found a copy at a used book store. It covers some possible technologies and problems that need to be overcome when colonizing the moon. There are a lot of very clear diagrams and very clear explanations. Quick, easy read, with lots of information.
This is a fun book. I read it in either late junior high or early highschool and just recently found a copy at a used book store. It covers some possible technologies and problems that need to be overcome when colonizing the moon. There are a lot of very clear diagrams and very clear explanations. Quick, easy read, with lots of information.
August 25, 2016
An entertaining (if slightly dry) account of living on a fictional moonbase. The concept is lovely, and it's well thought out. It would be lovely if this was real.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews