Stick with Earth

I like this expression – “Lunar Governance”

It was fun reading Padma Tata in New Scientist. She wonders what is the politically correct way to describe a group of humans who settle on the Moon or Mars? "Colonies" is the term bandied about most often . But the word evokes memories of exploitative European settlers in Asia and Africa, points out MYS Prasad, deputy director of the Indian Space Research Organisation's Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad. Scientists from India, a former British colony, would prefer to say lunar and Mars "habitation bases".

Go a step further. When those planets are inhabited, soon we are all going to pay for everything. How do we pay? After all, if space tourism really takes off and space travel becomes commonplace, people might need to pay for things up there. Why not just use ordinary cash, you might say? Or perhaps a credit card? Those aren't any good for space, according to George Fraser of the University of Leicester, UK. None of the existing payment systems we use on Earth – like cash, credit or debit cards – could be used in space for a variety of different reasons," says Fraser, whose team of scientists has designed a new space currency. "Anything with sharp edges, like coins, would be a risk to astronauts while the chips and magnetic strips used in our cards on Earth would be damaged beyond repair by cosmic radiation."

I ask, what the hurry is. Hell, the Bull Run is not yet over !!!!:-)

.