Although he likes to be humorous with his illustrations, he is not limited to that in this book. “Illustrations are not only meant to make jokes, but to respond to the text and illuminate it,” he explains.
What would it really be like to live on the Moon or Mars?
Throughout their book, the Weinersmiths address the pros and cons of building and living on the Moon, Mars, and floating space structures, often lacking in the bold speeches and opinions of space colonization advocates like the SpaceX founder. , Elon Musk, and Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos. Weinersmiths mention that During the long lunar nights the moon is colder than Antarctica. Additionally, it has no air, low gravity, is bombarded by space radiation and lacks carbon for growing plants and valuable minerals.
Mars presents many of these challenges and more: Dead Martian soil is full of toxic perchlorate, its dust storms are prone to shutting down external equipment (including much-needed solar panels), and it's so far away, creating delays of up to 20 minutes. When trying to talk to someone at home. “So it's Tuesday. Most of the Moon's problems are toxic dust storms and semi-annual orbital flights. Why do many colonial defenders consider it the ideal second home for humanity? ” writes the pair.
Interested space colonists should be aware of these obstacles before attempting to set up camp. For example, a year or two of space radiation, or high-energy particles from the Sun and interstellar cosmic rays, can threaten astronauts with cancer. While it's possible one day someone could design habitats similar to geodesic huts that provide enough protection, for now, it makes more sense to build underground, the couple writes. Living in a windowless basement might not be fun, but it might be necessary for first-generation space explorers.
