Where are we going? - Make it so!

It has been suggested that maybe I should summarize what these last posts
are about .  That is, the ones about RPG books and my reading of all
these fiction stories that take place on the Moon and Mars.

What does this have to do with the Moon, Mars, and Beyond?  Why should you care?

Probably a good idea since I could use your inputs as well.
Where do we want to go?

I have ordered a number of books about going to the Moon and Mars that
were written back 10, 20 years ago when we thought we would be out
there sooner rather than later.  Ben Bova has written a number of good
books that I never read before . "WELCOME TO MOONBASE" is one of them
and  reading at the moment, "MOONWAR".  I have more of them coming.

Since I didn't go to the NSS ISDC2007 conference, I didn't get to meet
him in person.  Trying to do that now through his books.  Here is a clip of
Dr. Bova that Theresa Holmes took at the ISDC2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeA_9fLd8YQ

Robert A. Heinlein has written many Sci-Fi books and again, I only have
a few.  Have ordered some of those and they date back to 1957.

These stories tell of living in space with all the problems and
emotions we as humans seem to bring to a quest.  I hope to compare
them with where we are today and would like to go in the future.

I have also acquired a number of books on how to write better and what
to consider when telling a fiction story, since at the moment a lot of
going to the Moon and Mars is still fiction. How soon it will become
fact remains to be seen.  You out there can have a part in making it happen.

In the mean time maybe some of these posts will be more what ifs, than
what is.  I think we need to SEE the vision, to make it happen.  Any
suggestions as to what you think it will be like would be helpful.

The GURPS books are role playing manuals that have the information on
how to build characters and design campaigns for conducting an
adventure in a given setting.   They are very detailed and have a lot
of information right down to what you should be wearing and how you
would conduct yourself in a given situation.

I just received another book powered by GURPS, "TransHuman SPACE".
- LRK -
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/transhuman/
Snip
In the coming decades, technologies like genetic engineering, artificial
intelligence, and nanotechnology will transform humanity. A strange new
world is unfolding - nightmarish to some, utopian to others. Soon we'll
have the power to reshape our children's genes, build machines that
think, and upload our minds into computers.

And Earth no longer confines us. Space tourism, mining the Moon and
asteroids, a settlement on Mars: all are dreams poised to take wing.
Snip
http://www.amazon.com/Transhuman-Space-David-Pulver/dp/1556344546/

How do you see us conducting ourselves in the near future?
How are we going to get to the future?
What politics will be involved in making the future?

In my case, I hope to see how I might better take us on an adventure
to the Moon or Mars.  I am reading them with an eye for how you would
conduct yourself in building a Lunar Base and what you would be doing
to handle the daily challenges.  What would make it exciting?
The dangers, the conflicts, the politics, they will all be there
whether it be fiction or the real thing.  How do we get there?

To add to the weight of books on the coffee table, I just received
"Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century", with W.W.
Mendell as the editor.  The cover image can be seen at
http://www.nss.org/settlement/moon/index.html
and a link to reading it online can be found at
http://www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/index.htm
or ordered through Amazon.com as I did. [used]

How far do you want your minds stretched?
Just the facts?  Only the facts?
Or, some of what the facts might be?

Your comments and thoughts are much appreciated.
This is your journey as well as mine.
Let the force be with you.
Or, better yet, "Make it so!".

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

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I was asked if there would be videos from the ISDC2007 conference.
Theresa Holmes says there will be video postings for the ones that she took.
See snip from e-mail posted to some of us on a working group to improve
the NSS Settlements section of the website.
http://www.nss.org/settlement/
- LRK -
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Snip

Meanwhile, anyone who wants to view (and use) the video interviews, etc.
that I shot and uploaded to YouTube over the weekend, the way to find
them is to go to Google, pick Video, then do an advanced search on the
keywords "NSS space ISDC." You'll find all of the videos I shot, plus
one from March announcing the conference.

Once I get home, I'll also be gathering all the videos into my SSTO
Project and SPS Project groups on YouTube. You'll be able to find them
all in one place by doing a search under Groups for either of the
groups. As time goes on, I'll be collecting more videos of interest to
folks in either group.

If you have a blog, you can either post the link provided by YouTube for
a given video, or you can embed the code for the YouTube Flash player
showing that particular video. It depends on the blog. What I'd like to
see is these videos spread all over the Internet. It's called going
Viral. It would be a great boost to NSS.

Snip

Theresa Holmes
Sophia Systems Design & Engineering, Inc.
http://www.save4yourseat2orbit.com/
http://www.freewebs.com/save4yourplaceinspace/
http://sophiasystems.spaces.live.com/
http://phoenix-rising.townhall.com/

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http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22NSS+space+ISDC%22

http://www.youtube.com/group/SSTOProject
http://www.youtube.com/groups_videos?name=SSTOProject
Snip
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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