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| View Larger Image | Return to the Moon: Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space
by Harrison H. Schmitt
| | List Price: | $25.00 | | Price: | $16.50 | | You Save: | $8.50 (34%) |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 373375 | | Studio: | Springer | | | Binding: | Hardcover | | Number Of Pages: | 336 | | Publication Date: | October 17, 2006 | | Publisher: | Springer |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
The Moon is not just a "local" destination, argues former NASA Astronaut Harrison Schmitt. As a destination, the Moon presents us with a goal that tests our resourcefulness and determination. How much are we willing to spend to re-establish ourselves as space-farers? Return to the Moon proposes that we begin planning, and now, for the establishment of human outposts on the Moon — not just as an exercise in technology and discovery, and not just as a way of fulfilling our destiny as explorers and pioneers. Schmitt, having himself traveled to and literally walked on the Moon, is no stranger to technology, discovery, and a sense of our destiny as explorers; but in this book he focuses on a return to the moon as a business proposition. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 11 reviews)
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the Moon beckons! 
I've always been a big space exploration advocate, so OK, I'm an easy sell on reasons to go out there. Having admitted my bias, I think it's fair to say that Harrison Schmitt's RETURN TO THE MOON is very convincing in asserting that the Moon's vast helium-3 deposits may well be a major part of the answer to our energy problems here on Earth, since helium-3 is an ideal fuel for nuclear fusion reactors and there's not much of it on Earth. Schmitt readily admits that a lot of work would have to be done to achieve this, especially 1) more development of fusion reactors, 2) establishing a Lunar base to mine helium-3 from the Moon's soil, and 3) setting up a transportation system to get the helium-3 from the Moon to the Earth. One big advantage here, though, it that NASA is planning to send people back to the Moon for various reasons anyway, so we would not have to go solely to mine helium-3.
Schmitt has obviously done a great deal of research on all this, mainly as a geology professor at the University of Wisconsin. I think he makes a good case for the feasiblility of it, though I'm not an engineer so I can't really assess all that he is saying. In the book's foreword, Neil Armstrong, who IS an engineer, deems the proposal "worthy of careful examination." Schmitt lays the proposal out in much detail - fusion technology, mining processes, economics, and so on - such that the book is usually dry and academic in tone and would probably lose those just moderately interested in space. But if he is right that the Moon's helium-3 will save us, we had better ALL be interested in this. We're in an energy crisis on Earth, and Schmitt estimates we'll need at least 8 times more energy production by 2050!
It is true, as some have noted, that Schmitt does not emphasize the reduction of global warming as one of the main advantages to be gleaned from helium-3 fusion, but he does say that it would help in that regard. He states that we will need a "portfolio of fusion, fission, clean coal, and solar energy (including wind)" to deal with our energy needs by 2050, and that this combination "gradually reduces the addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere from human sources, cutting that particular contribution to natural climate warming trends. Whether future climate warms, or warms and then cools rapidly, more electrical power will be required to counter the adverse consequences of change." (page 326) If human activity is more responsible for climate change than Schmitt believes, helium-3 fusion is even more attractive, as it releases no greenhouse gases.
By the way, the cover of RETURN TO THE MOON says that Schmitt "is currently the last human being to have STEPPED ONTO the Moon." (emphasis mine). This is a trick of semantics, because his Apollo 17 partner, Eugene Cernan, is sometimes said to be the last person to have WALKED ON the Moon. These statements are both correct in a tricky way, because Schmitt was the last person in Apollo 17 (the last human flight to the Moon thus far) to step out of the Lunar Module ONTO the Moon, while Cernan was the last person to get back into the Lunar Module after walking on the Moon!
May 18, 2007 | |
A slight inaccuracy 
The book sounds great, but the bio describes Schmitt as "the 12th and last human to have stepped on the Moon." Schmitt was the 12th human to step onto the lunar surface, but it is generally accepted that Gene Cernan is the last human to have walked on the moon since he left the lunar surface and re-entered the LEM after Schmitt.
Note: My 4-star review is arbitrary and stupid. I don't want to rate a book I haven't read and Amazon won't allow me to post this comment without assigning a rating. 4 stars is the current average review.
February 20, 2007 | |
Comprehensive if a bit dry
If you are interested in the exploitation of space, you will find this a very thought-provoking read. The topics broached span the gamut of technical and business details that make the case for privatized lunar exploitation based on a very imminent earthly need - new sources of clean energy in the form of deuterium-helium and helium-3 fusion mined from the lunar regolith.
Oddly, one of the best arguments for the enterprise -- the chance to eliminate use of fossil fuels that are contributing to global warming -- is given the short shrift. Schmitt's politics come into play as an apologist for the far-right "counter-conspiracy" of climate change deniers. Politics are not a dominant feature of the book (or of the argument for a return to the moon) but they do occasionally pop out at you when least expected.
At least one chapter is devoted to axe-grinding about the way NASA has declined in the past few decades. Because he is well-positioned to pass judgment on these topics, this was actually very interesting (albeit secondary to the topic of a privatized lunar settlement).
You will not be fascinated by every chapter of this book. There is much material that needs to be covered to support the argument and certain topics - for example detailed business and financial forecasting - are required for making the case.
The lynchpin, of course, is the assumption that commercial deuterium-helium fusion reactors can be produced and this can only be taken as an article of faith. Schmitt is aligned with Fusion Technology Institute of the University of Wisconsin so he does have some insight into the progress on this technology but, let's face it: fusion has been 5 years away for the last 30 years. Until there exist fusion reactors that can demonstrate significant power production, the mining of lunar helium-3 will be a hard sell.
February 18, 2007 | |
Great topic, flawed presentation 
Love the topic and a lot of what Schmitt has to say, but have significant issues with the style, language and presentation.
The book's style is neither fish-nor-fowl, but occupies a middle ground between science fiction, an academic paper and a powerpoint presentation.
It largely reads like an academic paper, with countless footnotes (oddly placed at the end of each chapter, not at the end of the book) and a writing style that's hard to folow unless you are willing to find a pen & paper to take notes while you read.
In this sense it resembles the guise of a very dry academic paper - which would be fine, but at the same time it also lacks the focus and precision of an academic paper.
Previous comments have focused on some of the perceived inacuracies in across some the many specialized fields he touches, including:
- fussion reactors,
- mining technologies
- exogeology,
- economics,
- long-term energy predictions,
- spaceflight,
- management theory,
- International relations
- etc..
He certainly deserves praise for the amount of time and effort he has spent becoming conversant in all those diverse disciplines, but his presentation of each individual one is typically dry and often unequal to the complexity of the subject matter.
Finally, my primary issue with his approach is that it's based on a strange & uneasy mixture of private enterprise and Apollo-style government science projects.
Substitute taxpayers for investors, and you have much the same approach - various people representing multiple constituencies gathered around a conference table, a strategic plan, and a massive pool of cash to be deployed in pursuit of this plan.
It just doesnt work that way - no large company started life *as* a large company, and certainly not as a large company with a plan.
If/when we do see He-3 mining on the moon, it will come about as an organic process, with carpetbaggers, prospectors, conflicting claims, unrelated developments, lawsuits, booms and busts, lucky breaks, etc..
November 07, 2006 | |
The 21st century is not for wimps
We face a great many problems in the 21st century, from global warming to population stability. Most discussions of these problems are little more than the rending of our garments or efforts to strike fear into people. Such efforts do not solve big problems.
Dr. Schmitt's work is completely different. It is a can do vision of a successful future. Such visions get people into action and keep people in action. Such visions do solve major problems. Such visions are the only things that solve such problems. This book is a world changer.
The solution of our energy problem will require the development of many pieces of the puzzle. Some will be mundane like conservation, some will be high tech, like CO2 sequestration. He3 from the moon is just plain exotic. We will need all the pieces before the solution of the whole puzzle can become clear.
The 21st century will be hard, but I promise you it is not going to be boring.
July 23, 2006 | |
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