Outer Vegas
Posted at 5:45 AM on September 24, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(25 Comments)
Another space newsflash - the website of the journal Science is publishing a report today that concludes there is water on the moon. I find it interesting that the subheading on the Los Angeles Times story jumps right to the idea of establishing a colony there. What are we waiting for?
The water appears to be widespread but not plentiful. It is described as "a thin film coating the surface of the soil in some areas of the moon." So it would take a lot of effort to gather it up. Still, this marks a change in conventional wisdom.
There were traces of water found when they unpacked lunar rocks brought back to Earth by the Apollo missions, but space scientists assumed they were really sensing the damp air in Houston. Now we are officially OK'd to think differently about the moon. It's ever-so-slightly moist.
It reminds me of the famous line from Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", about "water, water everywhere."
Water, water everywhere
There's water and it's lunar.
How might our goals in space have changed
If we had found it sooner?Armstrong, Aldrin, and the rest,
I wonder what they're thinking.
If they had dug and sifted more
They'd still be up there, drinking.The moon is cold, remote and bleak
there's no place there that's urban.
But water transforms landscapes if
you mix it with some bourbon.The moon is not a chunk of cheese,
Just craters, dust and mountains.
From such a desert, Vegas sprang
With gambling, shows and fountains.And so the moon might someday be
A mecca with low gravity.
Which will assist the building boom
And all sorts of depravity.
What would you build on the moon?
Comments (25)
great poem, Dale - another Las Vegas is what we need alright - and on the moon. that's probably where somebody will want to build a ball stadium also, not?
or maybe the new location for the Duluth schools, so hotly contested down here.. the bus ride would be fabulous.
Barbara - glad to hear you have eggplants! what a luxury. ratatooooeee!!
oh, shoot, i thought i was actually going to be first this morning!!!!
I tried, dale!
i was just writing lesson plans for 9th graders and used as one example for an activity to imagine you were the first colonist on Mars...the moon would be interesting, as well.
sign me up for a stay at the first luxury, anti-gravity resort!
p.s. Just got great new speakers for the computer for 16 dollars, hooked them up while streaming online up in the loft office, and i've got great music throughout the whole cabin!
Good morning, all!
I would leave the old moon alone and build absolutely nothing there...
Perhaps we could hear Gram Parsons' "Ohh, Las Vegas" or perhaps some version of "Old Devil Moon".
Have a great day, all! :-)
or blue moon by the cowboy junkies?
(hi, barb and elinor, and to donna et al. in advance)
Thanks for the Gram Parsons!
Off topic and I apologize, but I'm trying to find out where the Robin and Linda Williams recording of "That's the Way Love Goes" is from.
I think the best answer is don't build, as Elinor said. However, Gerald Thorne, who spent his life studying small worms called nematodes, said he was sure they would find nematodes on the moon. If there is water on the moon there might be some nematodes. Maybe a nematologist should go to the moon to do a study and a small laboratory might be needed to do this.
what time do people in Utah have to get up to post at 6:20????? uffda, Kay! if i would have known i'd have waited a few minutes to allow you to be first.
Jim, if there are nematodes, then also maybe their precursors - toads?
A moon song that I like is Rooty TootToot for the Moon by Greg Brown.
Greetings! I think an anti-gravity resort would be cool. And a goat farm so goats can jump around, Barb and Cynthia can make goat cheese and brand it as real "Man in the Moon Goat Cheese" or something like that.
Spanish speakers say there is a rabbit in the moon not a man. Do you think there is enough water, cool, clear water to grow carrots for the bunny?
Dale the blog over the last 2 days makes me wonder why you are feeling so spacey.
Good day all!
Beth-Ann, spaciness is in the job description. I am supposed to be several steps removed from reality. At least with the moon development question I'm closer to terra firma than I was on the rings of Saturn.
And Bill, the song "That's The Way Love Goes" is on the Robin & Linda Williams recording "Buena Vista".
a t shirt shop that sold spoons, coffee cups and moon rocks seems like the most logical building. i could set up the ebay store down here to ship the earth customers and reduce the freight charges.
moon river is a favorite
Perhaps there could be a dance school built on the moon so I could take classes and be as graceful as I wish I was - what with the reduced gravity and all, I might approach the smoothness of Ginger Rogers or be as light on my feet (tee hee) as Barishnikov. Tap dancing like Savion Glover might get hard without enough gravity, though...
Well, Barb, I didn't know that toads are precursors to nematodes, but I guess there could be some toads on the moon found in some wet spots under moon rocks.
well, barb, you have to wake up accidentally at around 5 a.m. to hear the beginning of dale's show out here---gracious! "in the dark morning," as my little neighbor girl used to say.
now the dance studio is an interesting idea! immediately brought to mind that episode of the Jetson's when Judy won the song lyric contest (eep opp ork ah ah) and George played the drums with the band and all the teens were dancing in the air...THAT would be fun!
i was shown by my dad that there is also a woman in the moon, her neck and head, sideview, silhouetted like an ivory cameo
I think the discussion of where to put the moon's light rail line should begin immediately. It will save a lot of wrangling and retrofitting later on.
Once those plans are in place, we should start seeing a few real estate offices and model condominium trailers popping up nearby.
I think they should fill one of those craters with water for people to swim in. What would it be like to swim in space? Would it be harder or easier with no gravity? I imagine it would take a lot of effort to splash your younger siblings with water as it slowly floats into the air. Have a great morning!
Joanne - i like your idea for "man in the moon" cheese - great! but the goats are staying here with me (can't speak for Cynthia) because they don't need a lack of gravity to leap around, unlike mere humans. and like Anna, i think the dance studio sounds like fun - i've always wanted to be able to be Fred Astaire or Donald O'Connor - that graceful and light, instead of a clutz. :-)
Linda, what would those condos on the moon be called? Lunar Lofts? Tranquility Estates?
I was thinking any buildlings should be tents or yurts... but now if there's light rail, that could change things. A well would be nice, but is there water UNDERGROUND?
The "rabbit in the moon" IS kinda cool and can be seen by tilting your head (can't remember which direction, just sort of stand on your head till you see it); I'll have to look for this woman, Kay.
Off topic: Yes, Barb -- AND eggplant parmesan, eggplant scallopini, baba ganoush... And RE: your questions from last week, I came in "runner up", but the job was for only a few hours a week, something to keep me out of trouble. :) It's wonderful to be back singing in this little chorus, and I'll bet Darcy would agree (tho' we're in different choruses)...
Another thought: if the water is NOT plentiful, then people would end up wearing those water-saving suits like in the Dune novels (I only read the first one, Frank Herbert). Kind of takes the fun out of it, and dancing could be difficult.
OK, I'm through now.
Thanks, Dale. Well so it is. I can't believe I couldn't find that out on my own this morning. I think I was convinced it's on the only R&L CD I don't own: Visions of Love. Made all the more embarrasing by the fact that I do own Buena Vista.
Ihave lovely memories of GK and Kate McKenzie singing this as a duet, maybe all the way back to the American Radio Company days.
Have a great day in St. Paul!
Bill
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