Let me back up and provide an overview of our Moon Base plan. We will organize the material in a more coherent manner for the book. Now the technology is coming in rather “stream of conscious” bits and pieces. The pieces are related and interconnected, but don't come in a logical order.

One Falcon-9, with 10,000 kg payload to LEO, could include systems to land 1000 kg on the Moon. The 1000 kg (2200 pound) load landed on the Moon would be 6 of the Micro-Space HTS (Human Transport System) units. At least one would carry an astronaut, and for each astronaut there would be a second carrying ascent fuel for return to lunar orbit. With about 36 pound structural mass, 330 pounds (150 kg) of each would be payload. All residual fuel would be stored as it is quite valuable. Full weight astronauts (170 pounds + light spacesuit) would each carry over 100 pounds of supplies and life support equipment. (Lightweights -midgets and petite women - could each add over 70 days of food supply.) The additional HTS units could carry a years food supply for each astronaut, or a good quantity of “Camp” supplies.

I expect that two of the Falcon-9 systems will be flown in the first year, costing $37 Million each, plus the payload systems, including lunar landers, LTO (escape) fuel and Earth return systems. This should cost $100 Million (75% of which is the Falcon -9 launch vehicles).

Dropping to ½ that scope, with a single Falcon-9 carrying a single astronaut to the Moon is a viable option. If he/she can get the recycling systems working properly, he/she can then live on the Moon for over three years without resupply. I won't focus on that option unless it becomes necessary. That would be the case if $50 Million looked like a ceiling for funding, but that sum was virtually guaranteed.

I am ambivalent about sending two astronauts on the first trip, or only one. Constructing the camp (primarily by lining dug trenches) will be more difficult for one individual, but the quantity of supplies sent with two individuals would be quite limited. Much of the work – and long term supplies – would in that case have to wait for the next shipment. That shipment could actually include a third astronaut and well as supplies. Historically, human explorers have survived in unexpected conditions that never could have been handled by robots (including Apollo 13). The reverse logic – letting billion dollar robotic missions fail rather than risk the life of a willing human explorer – will not be a component of my discussions. No human “Soul” is ever lost in risky exploration – such a loss involves choices in another arena altogether. The finite number of days any of us have in this World may of course be reduced. An adequate number of qualified individuals are more than willing to face the risks of serious exploration and will welcome the opportunity to “Go where no one has gone before”!

Considering the “long, cold nights on the Moon”, note than 80 cm below the lunar surface, thermometers showed NO day /night temperature variation. This depth can be reduced when the overlayer is sifted regolith – with lower density and heat conductivity - and total elimination of the temperature cycle is not necessary. Storing energy for the long nights is of course imperative. My proposal involves LNG production and storage plus SOFC fuel cells integrated into the chemical reprocessing of Life Support Oxygen and CO2. I will detail this soon.

Initial operations on the Moon would use supplied food, LOX and CO2 absorbers, with a 5 pound per day requirement. The captured CO2 would be a valuable resource. Water would, of course, be recycled just as it is on planet Earth. The transition to Oxygen reprocessing (and in situ production) would begin in the first few days after landing.

Keep in mind that the equipment involved will be Tiny! Some of the chemistry resembles that used in “Fuel Reforming” for Automotive Fuel Cells. But the underpowered original 985 cc Volkswagen produced less than 20 kilowatts of mechanical power, and was driven “pedal to the metal” on highways. A similar, underpowered electric vehicle will also need 20 kW of electric power production. One Hundredth this capacity (of fuel processing chemical hardware) will handle the reprocessing required by one astronaut! If five hundred pounds of chemical equipment is necessary to feed Hydrogen to the fuel cells in a small car, five pounds of similar machinery will feed Oxygen to an astronaut! More soon.