Hans-Jurgen Rombaut of the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture in the Netherlands has planted his hypothetical hotel at Rima Prinz, a deep rille on the Moon near Schroter's Valley. The cosmic complex features twin towers -- each of them 525 feet (160 meters) in height -- looming large over the barren but magnificent landscape.
But please. Don't call for resort reservations yet. Give it a few decades.
Moving Rombaut's master's thesis to Moon construction may take until 2050, time enough for developers to seal their deals and for travel agents to offer lunar leisure rates.
Lunar attraction
Science and tourism are but minor reasons for Earth inhabitants being attracted to the Moon, said said Carl Koppeschaar, co-founder of the LUNEX group, an international society of space advocates based in The Netherlands that foresee a robot moon base by 2015, a human base by 2020, and a lunar village by 2040.
Koppeschaar served as an external reviewer of Rombaut's master thesis and wrote Moon Handbook: A 21st Century Travel Guide.
"Luckily, we can use the Moon as a celestial wall plug and use its resources," Koppeschaar said. Constructing large solar panels to capture and beam energy to Earth is but one concept to help stave off Earth's impending rendezvous with energy starvation in decades to come, he said.
"As we know that this crisis will be coming, we should now think about precursor missions and continue to have complete infrastructure and industry ready," Koppeschaar said.
That is exactly the agenda of the California-based Space Frontier Foundation (SFF).
Thirty-two years to the day after Apollo 11 touched down at the Sea of Tranquility, the group will be deep in discussion this week about transforming the Moon into a place for human settlement. What better locale to hold a Return to the Moon meeting but in Las Vegas, Nevada? After all, say conference organizers, that once lunar-like desert property has become a spark plug for economic activity.
Next page: Conventions of gravity
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