INFLATEABLE LUNAR HABITAT

INFLATEABLE LUNAR HABITAT Bound for Antarctic Trial

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NASA officials inflated a prototype lunar habitat one last time Nov. 14th at the ILC Dover facility in Frederica, Del., where it was manufactured, before shipping it to be tested in Antarctica, The U.S. Space Agency said in a Nov 14th press release.

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The upcoming 13-mounth field trial, from January 2008 to February 2009, will take place at the National Science Foundation-managed McMurdo Station.
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“Testing the inflatable habitat in one of the harshest, most remote sites on Earth gives us the opportunity to see what it would be like to use for Lunar exploration,“ Paul Lockhart, director of Constellation Systems at NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington, said in a prepared statement.
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The prototype is one of several possibilities being considered for crew quarters when NASA makes its planned return of astronauts to the Moon, now scheduled for 2020.

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The pressurized module contains insulation, heating and power, NASA said. It resembles an “inflatable backyard bounce house for children,” according to the release.

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The weighs about 408 kilograms, spokeswoman Melissa Mathews said in a Nov.15th e-mail. The relatively light weight and small stowed volume will leave more room aboard module’s carrier spacecraft for other equipment, NASA said.

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“This prototype inflatable habitat can be taken down and redeployed multiple times, and it only takes four crew members a few hours to set up, permitting exploration beyond the initial landing area,” Lockhart said in his statement.

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“Taken from “SPACE NEWS”, NEWS BRIEFS dated Nov 26, 2007”

Charles Lee Lesher's Book "EVOLUTION'S CHILD" Wins Award

Congratulations, Chuck

Hi EveryoneSomething exciting happened to me on Saturday morning. I was notified by email that Evolution's Child had garnered Best of the Moon Fiction of 2007 from the Lunar Library -
Out of the Cradle, a web site devoted to all things lunar, fact and fiction. In the link below, you must scroll down almost to the bottom for the fiction section.
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http://www.blogger.com/
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Award Excerpt:...All of the books were fun reads as part of the Lunar Library Moon Fiction review project.
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“Moon Quake” is published as part of Apogee Books ‘Science Faction’ series of books, and would be considered the hardest science of the works, in the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke. “Moon Blog” is rather contemporary, but then so is “Evolution’s Child”. Ultimately, I’d have to say that “Evolution’s Child” is the most fully developed from a number of perspectives, from philosophical to a not unbelievable future technological society. So while it can be considered controversial, it is at least an explored and reasoned controversy, not a reactionary one. “Evolution’s Child” is the Best of the Moon Fiction of 2007.
Its not a Hugo or Nebula award but its better than a kick in the head! Here is a link to the review posted Oct 6 on the Lunar Library:
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http://www.blogger.com/
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Review Excerpt:Lazarus Sheffield is a man on the edge. A high level analyst in the Department of Homeland Security, he's finally had enough and decides to bolt to the Moon, a place of freedom in his mind. The year is 2092......This is a complex book. It takes a very strong position, and one that does not look kindly on fundamentalism... this may throw off some readers. If you don't like your theology being questioned... then this book is not for you. For more tolerant folk, this is quite a story that keeps building and building to the climax... I'll give this one a waning Full Moon.
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Go through the list of reviews and look at how many Full Moons are given out. Not many!
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Thanks Everyone!!!Chuck
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