The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Settlement (Springer Praxis Books)

This book is the best up-to-date introduction to lunar development, focusing on the primary technical infrastructure necessary to expand from an initial base via In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) to global development of what the authors term "Planet Moon". The book makes a clear case first for why we should do this, and then in quite detailed outline, how. While some technical components, such as remote robotic tele-operation, or lunar materials mining and processing, still require research and development work, nothing in this project is far from mundane things we already know how to do. The book isn't entirely self-consistent and the logical separation of topics sometimes seems a bit odd, but the range of material covered is satisfyingly broad: lunar topography and composition; railways, telecommunications and materials transport; requirements on construction and chemical processing equipment; human-suitable habitats, life support, agriculture, and "cislunar" transport and logistics, and more. Beyond the technical discussion of the physical, chemical, and engineering issues are several sections of the book dealing with lunar government, including a proposal for creation of a "Lunar Economic Development Authority" (LEDA) following a port authority model, which looks extremely promising. At least as valuable as the 10 main chapters are the 20 appendixes, to which over half the book's pages are devoted. These appendixes, based heavily on work published elsewhere, bring a lot of information together in one place available for ready inter-comparison. Perhaps the most interesting is also the longest, Appendix E, which thoroughly covers the proposed processes for lunar oxygen extraction and related chemical processing. This book is an essential guide for anybody hoping to work on lunar development and participate in, as the authors phrase it, the "Planet Moon Project".

This book does an excellent job of presenting the Moon as an essential Gateway to Space. It's full of facts and good reasoning. It is the best since "Mining the Sky".

As a summary of hundreds of scientific papers, this is in depth and not for non-scientists or engineers. However, if you have a technical background, it is very well written and organized. The ideas are more up-to-date and practical than older books that sound like something out of Buck Rogers. I was surprised how much I learned. That Ilmenite (20% of the regolith) is a semi-conductor and has a band-gap of 2.45V just blew my mind! All of the ISRU ideas were presented with pros and cons. I highly recommend this book.

THis book does an exceptional job of detailing all things regarding how our moon could and should be utilized as a return site for future space exploration. There are not a whole lot of books on the specific subject s its nice to find one that does it so well.

Very informative and scientific. A very good resource for detailed essays on travel too, and outposts on the moon, in addition to general information and exploration methods.

My team and I will make this book a reality.

Everything Elon Musk needs to conquer Luna.

No problems with purchase or packaging of item received.

If you are seriously interested in Moon Settlements that is the book you should buy.This is a well written book and the quality of the printing is very good.It is a very good up-to-date introduction to lunar settlement.Although the text is sometime technical (in particular for some of the appendices) the book is easy to read.This book of 561 pages is divided in two parts:- The first part of 220 pages constitutes the body of the book and contains 11 chapters.- The second part of 324 pages contains 22 appendices of great value.List of contents:1 Lunar origins and physical features2 Science opportunities - engineering challenges3 Lunar resources4 Lunar robotic and communication systems5 The first lunar base6 Return of humans to the Moon7 Circumferential lunar utilities8 The Planet Moon9 Governance of the Moon10 Endless frontiers11 ConclusionList of the appendices:Appendix A: Robots on Planet MoonAppendix B: Lunar regolith propertiesAppendix C: Lunar soil simulantsAppendix D: In-situ resource utilization (ISRU)Appendix E: Proposed process for lunar oxygen extractionAppendix F: Faciliting space commerce through a lunar economic development authorityAppendix G: Quality standards for lunar governanceAppendix H: Helium-3Appendix I: NASA and self-replicating systems: Implications for nanotechnologyAppendix J: Human FactorsAppendix K: Maglev trains and mass driversAppendix L: Development of the lunar economyAppendix M: Lunar mysteriesAppendix N: Milestones of lunar developmentAppendix O: International Lunar Observatory/AssociationAppendix P: Cislunar orbital environment maintenanceAppendix Q: The Millennial Time Capsule and L-1 Artifacts MuseumAppendix R: MALEO: Modular assembly in low Earth orbitAppendix S: Logistics for the Nomad Explorer asembly assist vehicleAppendix T: Beyond our first Moonbase: The future of human presence on the MoonAppendix U: Lunar rock structuresAppendix V: Rapid prototyping: Layered metal fabrication technology development for support of lunar exploration at NASA/MSFCIt is then followed by:- A Bibliography of 26 pages,- A rich Index of 11 pagesA serious and well informed book.If you want to know more about Lunar settlements I strongly recommend the two following books:- Building Habitats on the Moon: Engineering Approaches to Lunar Settlements by Benaroya, Haym 328 pages Publisher: Springer- Lunar Settlements (Advances in Engineering Series) by Haym Benaroya (Editor) 801 pages Publisher: CRC Press Note: This book is a compilation of 45 edited papers that evolved from the Rutgers Symposium.Also of great interest are the following two reports by the U. S. Army:- PROJECT HORIZON - Volume I (134 pages) and Volume II (320 pages)Although dated 1959 these declassified reports from the United State Army are very interesting and important reports: they show in great details how the U.S. Army was planning to build a base on the Moon. A very ambitious project. The Security and Political implications of building such a Moon base are also discussed.>

Very informative. Worth buying if your interested in the possibilities offered on the moon