Off the Record: Do space barons dream of electric fleets?
We are looking at the Moon, again. And running out of fuel, again.It’s hard to tell whether we are getting ahead of or behind ourselves as our oldest concerns creep out of the shadows.It’s not 1988. The US isn’t launching Operation Praying Mantis against targets in the Gulf, hastening the end of the Iran-Iraq War. But the Strait of Hormuz is once again under pressure.It’s not 1969. Neil Armstrong isn’t making his giant leap, delivering a psychological victory to the American people as the Cold War simmers on. But the Moon is seeing its first astronauts since the Apollo program.Across the decades and celestial bodies, it’s hard to tell where we’re at. Are we cobbling together some sort of post-modern dystopian future populated by Lovecraftian ethical abominations of our own making? Or perhaps stomping around in a primitive reality, hitting each other with clubs and betting on the cart to drag the horse along with it?Let’s be realistic and agree on somewhere in between.Either way, there is comfort in Artemis II’s historic mission, where four people carry our humanity quietly through space.Back on Earth, things are far less rosy, as the age-old issue of fuel keeps us grounded.Our traditional industries are scrambling to keep the lights on. Ordinary people are weighing the gamble of filling a tank. And even Elon Musk, long fixated on building a “self-growing city” on Mars, has pulled his gaze back to the Moon.Tech overlords, they’re just like us.And just like us, they are still constrained by some laws. SpaceX is now flaunting the Moon as a timelier and more practical destination than the red planet due in part to the pesky issue of orbital mechanics.Occam’s razor reminds us that the simplest solution is usually the best. It omits the bit about the blade coming back to bite if forgotten in a pocket. Before boarding Musk’s latest flight of capital, err, progress, it’s worth sitting with that sting.I’m not looking forward to returning my full attention to earthbound matters when Artemis II splashes down tomorrow. But beyond the ten-day mission, I hope we can still find a silver lining in space — just don’t tell the asteroid miners!Long before our latest lunar ambition there was Vanguard 1, still holding on as the oldest artificial object in orbit. Launched in 1958, it was the world’s first solar-powered satellite, fittingly free from the fuel constraints that are binding us on Earth.According to the Russians, that’s the one that counts.Off the Record is The Australian Mining Review's weekly column.
