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Show r " w A noted science writer, - 'CV iiym:; : - - J. ?gv 0oSk "T -- Why We M hostile natives. The moon, on the other hand, offers no competing life at all; not even dangerous germs. To be sure, the moon lacks air and water; it has a long burning day and a long freezing night; it lies under a shower of murderous radiation from the sun and a drizzle of small meteorites. These are problems which can be beat.'n, given the present state of technology and its steady rate of development For one thing, moon colonists need not remain on the moon's surface. A cavern carved beneath the surface could make a comfortable home, free of either radiation or the danger of meteorites. Underground, there will be no slow alternation of day and night, and the colonists can set their own light-dar- k rhythm. Nor will there be temperature extremes; that applies only to the moon's outermost skin. But what about air and water? When we say there is no water on the moon, we mean no water; no oceans, lakes, or rivers. But there may be water just the same; perhaps as underground deposits of ice or at least as molecules in loose chemical combination with the rocks themselves. Water can be mined or baked out of the rock in quantity sufficient to supply the cavern colony with what it needs. Some of the water molecules could be split electrically to yield hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen can be used for the cavern's air supply; the hydrogen can help feed the yeast cells or other life forms food. which can serve as n be will and air Naturally, water diand carbon The cycled recycled. oxide formed in breathing can feed green plants, which will restore oxygen. The various types of human wastes, properly sterilized and distilled, will restore water, and the residue can be used as fertilizer. This is not exactly a glorious prospect, to be sure. Few earthmen would look forward with pleasure to living underground in a precariously engineered environment. But as in the case of the American colonies, we can be certain that, with the years, the moon colony will expand, develop, and grow more advanced and more comfortable. And the added knowledge will be free-runni- Aoo roonwfa iriZ lire almost entirely underground THE astronauts set WHEN on the moon July 20, a wave of optimism swept mankind. Vice President Spiro Agnew announced that by year 2000, men would stand on Mars. President Nixon even more joyously said. "In the year 2000 we on this earth will have visited new worlds, where there will be a form of life." Perhaps he meant Mars, too, for of all the worlds in the solar system, Mars is the most likely to possess some simple form of life (though even this much is not very likely). Mars is not as easily reached as all that, however. It represents a giant jump beyond the moon. The moon is never farther than 250.000 miles away, while Mars is never closer than 35 million miles. It takes three days for a spaceship to reach the moon, with a total round Family Weekly, November 9, 1969 yet perhaps face fewer dangers than New World pioneers. trip of about a week. It would take many months, cramped into a spaceship, for astronauts to reach Mars, and a round trip might take something like two years. Are we ready for a Mars voyage? Will we ever be ready? Can we build a ship that will keep astronauts healthy, comfortable, and amused for a couple of years? Even if intrepid volunteers manage the trip once as a tour de force, how often would we care to repeat it? But then is Mars really our next goal? Most people seem to think there's no alternative. The nearest world after the moon is Venus and that is far too hot for manned exploration. The next nearest is Mars. What else can we do, then, but head for it? Surely, though, that is not all there is to space exploration. We can't go through space touching all the planets of the solar system, as though they were bases in a cosmic game of baseball. What would the purpose of that be? Do you think that once Columbus returned from having discovered the New World, old King Ferdinand said, "Well, that takes care of the Americas. Now let's go down and discover Australia." Nol The next step in space, after reaching the moon, is the same as the next step in overseas exploration after reaching the American continent. The new land, having been reached, must be colonized. In some ways, the moon can be colonized in the 20th century more easily than the Americas could be colonized in the 16th. In those days it took many weeks of isolation to cross the Atlantic Now it takes just three days to reach the moon, days in which the astronauts are in constant communication with home. The Europeans, penetrating the new continent in the 16th century, had to face disease, wild animals, quick-growi- home-grow- ng |