Why I Would Like to Live on the Moon or Mars

¶ … Moon

Many people wish to escape the confines of everyday reality. The pressures of modern life in an industrialized society can be overwhelming. Just sorting through a day's worth of e-mails can be daunting. Some choose daydreams to escape. Some ingest drugs or alcohol, some look forward to sweet dreams at night. Some may travel to faraway and exotic destinations, soak in a spa or meditate to find a higher place. The moon, however, provides a viable alternative for several reasons.

The moon is free of noise pollution. No honking car horns, blasting radios, or barking dogs will be on the moon. The moon won't include the boss or the bill collectors. The moon won't charge rent and utilities. The moon won't require rising at six a.m. Or sleeping at ten p.m.. No phones will ring on the moon. No telemarketers will call, offering the latest gadgets, schemes, investments and long distance plans. There will be no mass mailings on the moon, no door-to-door salespeople, no coupons and credit card offers. On the moon there will be no bank statements to reconcile.

In our personal escape scenario there is access to air on the moon, and food and liquids are plentiful. The moon in our fantasy escape is fully equipped with the most basic of necessities, for what would an escape be without the fundamentals? On the moon, society's ills do not exist. There is no abuse, no disease, no bullies, no war, and no injustice. There are no prisons, no traffic laws, no murders, and no robberies. There is no traffic, no traffic jams, no smog and no tap water.

In fact, the moon is a clean slate, a fresh start. The moon takes almost a month to go around the earth. This cycle is referred to as a "sidereal month." The actual cycle is 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes and 11 seconds long.1 This means that the same spot on the earth can be viewed twelve times a year, and that the entire earth can be seen once a month, or at least an entire rotation of the earth. The view from a distance will bring a literal sense of beauty and a figural sense of distance, the perfect scenario for an escapist.

In December 1968 the Apollo 8 voyage to the moon was championed by Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders.2 Luckily neither this first group of astronauts nor their predecessors stayed permanently. The moon is still available for lone habitation. The challenge will be to keep its occupation a secret, to prevent others from encroaching on this coveted territory. One of the attractive characteristics of the prospect of hailing on the moon are its proximity to earth and the fact that the 'man in the moon' always sports a slight grin, a hint that the moon is a comforting and peaceful place on which to reside.

The moon's varied surface provides ample opportunity for every situation. The mountains provide heights from which to garner the best views of earth. Craters provide cover from space debris, especially windy days and other adverse weather conditions. For the purpose of our escape, gravity will be simulated in our makeshift living quarters and gravitational jet packs will provide transportation along the moon's surface while keeping us tethered to the ground. No computers will accompany us on our trip; no electronics will require maintenance, power sources or attention. Exercise will come from the natural motions of getting around in space, and not from artificial machines that are designed to simulate the practice of exercising.

How important would it be to socialize with other human beings? To have access to popular forms of entertainment, to be able to apply one's mind or hands to a worthy endeavor? At first, not at all. At first, the escape would entail the very idea of abandoning these very things. Over time, however, research has shown that these are fundamental human needs. There are, then, two possible solutions. The moon could serve as a temporary respite, an escape to which one could enter and leave at will. The second option would be to build the necessary infrastructure to satisfy those human needs on the moon, a type of manned space shelter.

Option two, however, would violate the very essence of escaping to the moon. With more and more people discovering and traveling to the shelter, it would soon mirror earth in aspects of relationships, distribution and support systems, transportation bottlenecks and arguments over resources. Soon we will need to find a new refuge, such as mars, if we are to truly escape the things of man in privacy and seclusion. We will be forced to reach farther and farther for the outer stretches of the universe for some semblance of peace. And, like here on earth, it will become harder and harder to find.