Guest: Homer Hickam. Topics: We discussed his new book "Crater" & how he developed the technologies & systems to make living on the Moon credible. You are invited to comment, ask questions, & discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, & any discussion must be relevant & applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed back Homer Hickam to the program to discuss his new book "Crater" & his new Kindle book, "Paco: The Cat Who Meowed in Space." You can buy each book from Amazon using these special URLs & Amazon will make a contribution to The Space Show/OGLF: For "Crater," use www.amazon.com/Crater-Helium-3-Novel-Homer-Hickam/dp/1595546642/ref=one…. For "Paco," use www.amazon.com/Paco-Meowed-Kindle-Single-ebook/dp/B007K1OC6K/ref=onegia…. Homer explained that Crater (set 120 years in the future) was a teenage orphan working to mine HE3 which was sent back to Earth as Earth desperately needed it for fusion energy. While telling us about his book, we learned that Homer created solutions to many of the challenges to living on the Moon. For example, microgravity & radiation - listen to how he solved the problems. Muscle deterioration? He solved that one too. Transportation back & forth between Earth & the Moon? That one too. Spacesuits, the use of one atmosphere, all sorts of other challenges to our having a lunar settlement have a solution to make the Crater story credible. As you will hear, not only does Homer go into detail about the storyline, but he focused on the solutions & this makes the story both believable & credible. Issues such as lunar dust, children on the Moon, even pregnancy, well, there is a solution. Food & water too. We did go off the topic of his books to ask about space policy. As you will hear, Homer thinks the Moon will be developed by entrepreneurs for commercial value. He sees companies such as Space X changing the game for our space policy & does not see government space programs being what they once were though development of needed infrastructure is part of what government can & should do. The lunar transportation systems he talked about will be private commercial businesses. When asked how he came up with solutions to problems encountered when living on the Moon, he talked about a study he did in the 1990s which is on his website, www.homerhickam.com. Homer was asked why the Moon & not Mars. Don't miss his response to this listener question. We also talked about the space programs for other countries such as China. Homer then told how he envisioned the world to be 120 years in the future. As you will hear, countries have broken up into smaller, more manageable nations, including the United States. The world is not as we know it today. Toward the end of the first segment, Homer was asked about the difference in times from when he grew up in W. Virginia to today given the listener said his son could not even fly an Estes rocket in their city. Part of his reply stressed the need to join rocket clubs today. Before the break, we talked about insitu resources, water, food, law, & justice on the Moon. During our short second segment, Homer was asked about strip mining on the Moon & he had much to say about it. Don't miss this discussion. He was also asked about other uses for the Moon besides HE3 including solar, radio telescopes, & manufacturing. As the show ended, he commented on the need to have better political leadership to lead us forward in space development. He also had more to say about slime mold which plays an important part in his book. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. Mr. Hickam can be contacted through his website.
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