Guest:  Brian Dunn;  Topics:  Brian's hard sci-fi book "Tube-Town-Frontier" plus what he says will be plausible lunar development for establishing humans on the Moon and select commercial businesses.  During this program Brian detailed his book which again as hard sci-fi, is based on real science and could happen.

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We welcomed Brian Dunn to the program to discuss his Tube-Town lunar settlement concept with us.  As a hard science fiction author, Brian said his books are based on real science and could happen so Tube-Town has been treated as a plausible venture.  It was certainly treated that way for this Space Show discussion.  Brian's initial book, "Tube Town: Moon Base One, "from 2015 is available on Amazon:  www.amazon.com/Tube-Town-Moon-Base-One/dp/1519573979/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1642698982&sr=8-1.  His most latest book was the focus of today's discussion, "Tube Town-Frontier" which is not yet finished.  Tube Town uses lava tubes on the Moon for human habitats, plus commercial lunar manufacturing and industrial facilities.  During our program, Brian took us through the development plan and he answered many questions from both callers and those using email.  As with other program, the best way to summarize the program is to repeat the Tags and Key Words here as they tell us the subject matter of our discussion.  I will add in some highlights from the discussion.

Tags and Key Words:  Brian Dunn, Tube-Town, hard science fiction, plausible stories, lunar lava tubes, lunar human habitats, claims on the Moon, the book Tube-Town-Frontier, lava tube benefits, Starship, SLS, CLPS program, CLPS missions, sci-bots, lunar factory, lunar gravity, lunar tourism, visiting Tube-Town, the International Space Program (ISP), ESA, RTG usage, using mobile power, lunar food farming, issues of governance, ISS as the governance model, lunar space suits, ballistic mats, lunar medical concerns, communications, budgets, cost estimates, finance projections, Starship missions, tourist timeline, establishing a second lava tube for residency, expected outcomes from book &Tube-Town promotion

Regarding the lava tubes, Brian spent lots of time describing them, how to find them, how to modify them, get power to them, where the industrial and manufacturing facilities would be in relation to human living quarters and more.  He talked about how to find them because for the most part, we can only see a few when certain things have developed that show up on the lunar surface.  In addition, Brian was looking forward to Starship changing the paradigm to for the most part to make Tube-Town happen and even practical. Marshall was an earlier caller  to inquire about one of his favorite topics,  food production at Tube Town and on the Moon.  This turned into a most interesting discussion on food, animals and sustainability between our guest and caller.

Brian suggested space tourism would be a big deal for Tube Town.  Take a listen and tell us what you think.  He also had much to say about the modes, the ISS being the main one, but also the International Space Program and ESA.  Lunar gravity was a concern, a centrifuge was part of Tube Town as you will hear, plus listen to his plans for dealing with radiation, very cold temperatures, and getting power to the living and working facilities in the lava tubes.  He talked about nuclear and the use of RTGs.  Later, he mentioned functions that would fit into the development of a second lunar lava tube.

Near the end of the program when Brian was talking about how many flights it would take at a specific price to fund Tube-Town.   I asked him for the development cost info on his project as best as can be estimated at this time.  Unfortunately, Brian had not costed out Tube-Town.  Brian and I had quite the discussion on why he needed cost data, why he needed to show how he derived at cost data and only then could he talk about pricing and the number of missions to provide an ROI for Tube-Town development.  I suggested several Earth-based projects that could possibly be a rough analog to costing out Tube Town.  Please give us your thoughts on the economics, financing, and costs for Tube Town.  Post your thoughts on our blog.  Before ending the discussion, Brian talked about the CLPS missions and the what he said would be the "mother of all CLPS missions."  Listen to what he said to find out about that one significant CLPS mission, the mother of all of them.

Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog for this show.  You can reach Brian through The Space Show and his address which he gave out on air near the end of the show.