Wednesday, June 6, 2018 (Gusday, Sagittarius 50, 0031)<\/p>\n
Boredom is a serious issue that a crew can face while traveling through space for extended periods of time. Early one morning, Carl chirped at Tom, \u201cAre we there, yet?\u201d and Brandon thought Tom was going to smack him.<\/p>\n
But, Tom was just playing around as he raised a backhand and quoted to Carl the old Stooges line, \u201cWhy, I oughta\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Dating back to the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo days, many of the astronauts have found space travel to be an almost spiritual experience. Maybe it was just the sight of earth from such a high altitude. Maybe it was the Zero Gee. Whatever it was, the experience has inspired some to compose poetry while traveling through space, and later after returning home. Others, such as Alan Bean, picked up a brush and began painting as a hobby and turned it into an extensive body of works shown in galleries worldwide.<\/p>\n
Beginning in his senior year of high school and continuing in college, Brandon was quite a space advocate and wrote about it. During his sophomore year in 1992, one of the founders of the Space Studies Institute, Gerard K. O\u2019Neill passed away. That year Brandon penned:<\/p>\n
Ode To Gerard K. O\u2019Neill<\/p>\n
Now we\u2019re strapped into our seats, prepared to launch at nine
\nStaring straight up towards the sky, your seat right next to mine
\nThe Space Shuttle Atlantis, with passenger refitting
\nOne hundred-sixty personnel ready, waiting, sitting<\/p>\n
As soon as these clouds pass they\u2019re gonna light this candle
\nAnd then we\u2019re really gonna fly, so, find yourself a handle
\nIn less than seven hours we\u2019ll eat our second meal
\nThen, over the horizon we\u2019ll see the great O\u2019Neill<\/p>\n
The flagship of our Starfleet, the Gerard K. O\u2019Neill
\nThe first of many starships built from lunar steel
\nThe first ship ever built from ore mined from the moon
\nAlthough \u2019tis nearly obsolete and decommissioned soon<\/p>\n
So, on its final voyage out, it\u2019s a fitting consolation
\nThat the Jovian moon, Io, be its final destination
\nTo haul up stores will take about a dozen flights or more
\nPlus ten passenger shuttles, brings our crew to eighty score<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll rendezvous in geo-synch and board the mighty ship
\nThen stow our gear and settle in for the thirteen month long trip
\nLike lifeboats, smaller shuttlecraft are neatly stowed away
\nWe\u2019ll set up runs down to the base and back, three times a day<\/p>\n
Once in Io\u2019s orbit, the O\u2019Neill will serve quite well
\nAs construction shack, greenhouse, smelting plant, and hotel
\nSolar power satellites will spring from Io\u2019s sand
\nAs corn and soybeans will rise up from the reclaimed land<\/p>\n
Then after solar satellites our colonies, we\u2019ll build
\nIn orbit around Io until the orbit\u2019s filled
\nThen, after all is said and done the O\u2019Neill will have its place
\nAs the one and only orbital museum that\u2019s in space<\/p>\n
And on that far off day you and I may look with pride
\nUpon the Gerard K. O\u2019Neill that once gave us a ride
\nTo settle there, on Io and give birth to a new race
\nThe Io-ens, our children, another life in space<\/p>\n
While studying at the University of Michigan, Brandon became fascinated with the concept of Space Solar Power Satellites (SSPS). He read about a plan to build a base on the moon in order to strip-mine the surface for ore to be used in space. The plan called for a crew of 100 to 200 people residing on the moon, plus an undetermined number living in orbit at the ore processing construction shack.<\/p>\n
Their job would be to process the raw ore and turn it into solar power satellites as well as a huge orbital habitat, a design variety known as a Stanford Torus. This latter item is a bicycle-inner-tube shaped habitat, one mile across, with a tube diameter of about 400 feet. The habitat was designed to house 10,000 people, living and working in space while building and maintaining solar power satellites and additional habitats.<\/p>\n
The SSPS would generate electricity using photovoltaic cells or through concentrated sunlight heating helium to turn gas turbines. The electricity would then be transmitted by microwave beams to rectifying antennae on Earth and then patched into the national grid. This all sounded a bit far-fetched to Brandon, but the technology has been available since the mid-to-late 1980\u2019s. In fact, when working up the plan, in the 1970s, a cost estimate was in the range of $106 billion over a twenty-year time frame, very affordable in today\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
Also, the sale of such electricity could generate about $80 billion per year in revenue. And even if you factor in the inflation since the 1970s and double that figure, the payback would also be adjusted to $160 billion per year. But, since no one has seen fit to begin such a project, Brandon decided the least he could do is write about it:<\/p>\n
The Alternative<\/p>\n
Give us a place deep in space
\nBetween the Earth and Mars
\nWhere the sun shines bright both day and night
\nLike all the other stars<\/p>\n
There we\u2019ll find the peace of mind
\nTo unite the world as one
\nNo threat of wars on distant shores
\nThe fighting will be done<\/p>\n
We all know the way to go
\nIs forward, never back
\nWe must start soon to mine the moon
\nTo save that which we lack<\/p>\n
\u2019Tis not so much the iron and such
\nBut the cost of transportation
\nThe gravity tax would break our backs
\nAnd wreak havoc on our nation<\/p>\n
And why buy oil from foreign soil
\nOur future is burning away
\nDon\u2019t spend our cash on fossil trash
\nThere is a better way<\/p>\n
Solar power, every hour
\nNight or day, it doesn\u2019t matter
\nThe sale of which will make us rich
\nOur wallets will grow fatter<\/p>\n
There\u2019s just one way, as they say
\nTo save our starving masses
\nAnd that\u2019s for us all to get on the ball
\nAnd off our lazy butts<\/p>\n
One evening, about ten years ago, Brandon arrived home from work to find a phone message from an old high school buddy, whom he hadn\u2019t seen in nearly fifteen years. Jeff had also been quite a poet, back in the day. As they were getting caught up on life events, Jeff told Brandon about a web site called originalpoetry.com, where many poets share their work. Once Brandon clicked onto the site, he was hooked and even entered a contest, winning with the following:<\/p>\n
The Starship Cynical<\/p>\n
Sailing, sailing o\u2019er the Milky Way
\nFar beyond our galaxy is where I long to play
\nOut among the distant stars, lies a destiny to explore
\nGive me a ship with solar sails and an ion-thruster oar<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t burden me with anchors; they\u2019ll only add on weight
\nI\u2019m off to visit Cassiopeia, with whom I have a date
\nNext, on to The Horse Head Nebula, to see where stars are born
\n\u2018Second star to the right, then straight on till morn\u2019<\/p>\n
A crew of marauding pirates would truly serve my needs
\nOut among the natives, let them sow their seeds
\nWe will take humanity and spread it to the stars
\nScarring every planet, making each one ours<\/p>\n
Conquer, pillage, rape, oh yes! After all, that is our nature
\nTo spread among the cosmos, our bastard nomenclature
\nThen, go about our business, laughing with great mirth
\nWe\u2019ll do unto others, in Heaven as it is on Earth<\/p>\n
It had now been several years since he had composed a space-themed poem. But, as it was a way to pass the time while drifting through the cosmos, Brandon once again began to write:<\/p>\n
Men Are From Mars<\/p>\n
Men are from Mars
\nNow we\u2019re going back
\nBut we\u2019ll be taking women with us
\n\u2018Cause that\u2019s one thing which we lack<\/p>\n
Of course, not completely
\nOr we would not exist
\nBut, there is a definite shortage
\nAnd they are quite high on our list<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll return to our mother-planet
\nFrom whence the Earth was seeded
\nWe will then reseed Mars
\nAs a backup home is needed<\/p>\n
All our eggs are in one basket
\nAnd one never knows ones fate
\nWe need to diversify
\nBefore it gets too late<\/p>\n
If the Earth is someday struck
\nBy a comet the size of Maine
\nThere will simply be nothing left
\nI think that\u2019s just insane<\/p>\n
But with a colony living on Mars
\nCivilization will keep going
\nWe will take with us our knowledge
\nAnd other things worth growing<\/p>\n
Then someday if the Earth
\nIs once again worth improving
\nWe\u2019ll return and re-germinate
\nTo keep the cycle moving<\/p>\n
Then outward to the universe
\nOther orbs we\u2019ll seek to seed
\nWe will send forth our children
\nTo build homes, which they will need<\/p>\n
Onward, onward, evermore
\nLife will go on extending
\nOnward, outward, evermore
\nTo the universe un-ending<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wednesday, June 6, 2018 (Gusday, Sagittarius 50, 0031) Boredom is a serious issue that a crew can face while traveling through space for extended periods of time. Early one morning, Carl chirped at Tom, \u201cAre we there, yet?\u201d and Brandon thought Tom was going to smack him. But, Tom was just playing around as he raised a backhand and quoted …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions\/286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}