04 March 1998
"Looking for Money On the Lunar Surface" is the title of The Millennium Notebook article in the 9 March 1998 issue of Newsweek magazine (page 10). Reporter Theodore Gideonse writes of NASA's original drive to the moon, and its subsequent shrinking and search for private industry to pick up the ball. He quotes Bettie Greber of the Space Studies Institute on the fact that NASA should be building the infrastructure, not the individual retail destinations.
Lunar Resources Company Vice President Ian Randal Strock is quoted on the Artemis Project's views for the future of lunar tourism, as well as LRC's current marketing efforts.
Gideonse then discusses LRC's and others' plans for mining helium-3, and Shimizu's desire to strip-mine the lunar surface to construct machinery and spaceships.
Finally, he moves on to the Lunar Embassy's offers to sell land on the moon. He notes that Dennis Hope, LE's founder, says that presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, as well as actors Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford, are among his customers. Gideonse also mentions the UN-promulgated moon treaty.
If, after reading the article, you'd like to comment to Newsweek, they accept paper letters at 251 West 57 Street, New York NY 10019-1894 USA, and electronic letters at letters@newsweek.com. Either way, be sure to include your name, address, and daytime phone number.
And speaking of letters to the editor, Robert Silverberg's editorial in the April issue of Asimov's Science Fiction (which has not yet been read by this reporter) is apparently about Japanese commercial efforts to get to the moon. Asimov's accepts letters to the editor at 1270 Avenue of the Americas, 10th floor, New York NY 10020 USA or at 71154.662@compuserve.com.
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