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What types of People will Settle the Moon?

It will take many types of people to build a successful lunar settlement. Many will have specific jobs or have had lengthy training. Others will go to the Moon with specific intentions, like mining or settlement.

Do you see yourself in this list?

This list is of the possible types of people it will take to run a full scale lunar mining settlement such as the one described by Harrison Schmitt in Return to the Moon^[1]. More details can be found in Timelines.

A separate list is available of People on Earth who will support the lunar settlement and types of Robots on the Moon gives the non human participants.

The competition for any of the lunar berths will be very stiff. People in different groups are apt to feel that others had it too easy getting to the Moon.

This list is also intended to help develop characters for stories about settling the Moon.

Types of People on the Moon

They may be called "Mooners" or "Luners".

Astronauts / Cosmonauts / Taikonauts

They are the first group of people on the Moon
They are government employees
They are trained in US, Russia, or China
- Their training location is indicated by their title
They visit Moon only for short periods to do specific tasks
- They stay a few days to a few weeks,
- They rotate in and out over longer periods
They are always expected to go home
They deliver and install scientific equipment
They help deliver and setup new facilities
They deliver and help setup the first mining equipment
They may be any sex or nationality
Their selection has a political component
What they want to do is to put their footprint upon the Moon
- To go somewhere no one has ever gone before

Miners

They may be called "Sand Hogs", or with a derogatory twist, "Mules".

They are the second group of people on the Moon
Their primary mission is to keep the mining machines, the Sandworms, working
They work hard and play hard
They have contracted for a one way trip to the Moon
They are past mid-career
They expect to stay on the Moon for life
They rarely return to Earth
They are employees of The Company
They may be either sex
- They can not have children
They may be any nationality
They are select by The Company from long list of applicants who volunteer
They pass a very difficult physical examination
- with a long psychological examination
They usually serve as an Earth-side worker before their trip to the Moon
They may provide any support service
They may assist astronauts
What they want is to:
- Make the economics of the lunar mine work
- To lay the ground work for lunar settlement
Some die on the Moon
- They are buried on Moon
- These may be made into computer avatars

Tourists

They may be called “worthless *#*#@ …”.

They only stay for short periods on the Moon
- A few days
They are very rich people on Earth
They have a robot buddy at all times
Their fees are important to early economic startup
All other groups of lunar people have a love / hate relationship with them
- They are subjects of snide comments by others behind their backs
They are not allowed to convert to other types of Mooners
- because of a lack of training
- Have not gone through the training process
What they want:
- To say then have been there (and you haven't).

Retirees

They may be called “Grandpa” or “Grandma”.

They enjoy retirement in low gravity
They pay huge fees.
This program is an extension of the tourist program.
They are very, very rich
They own a large block of The Company stock
They may have political connections of value to the lunar settlement
They will have a valet robot with an Earth controller
They will have already picked out their lunar grave site and epitaph
Their duties:
- Serve as grandparents to settlement children
- Serve as mentor in business management training
- Serve as tour guide
What they want:
- To fulfill a dream

For further details refer to Retirement on the Moon

Settlers

They may call themselves ‘the real Moon people”.

They intend to raise families on the Moon
They come as couples and can have children
They are long-term residents
- Almost certainly for life
They are the youngest age group
They make attractive role models for young people on Earth
Their presence is possible only after the lunar facilities are well established
- They need medical care, schools, and extra living space.
- They are the last group to arrive
Their job is to work in the mines and do all support services
- They do most of the hard work of building a real settlement
They help to expand all facilities
They stress farming
- They introduce animal husbandry
What they want:
- To settle the Moon permanently

Personality Types on the Moon

Can you find yourself here:

Adventurer

You might call them “Indiana”.

They live for risk
- Adrenaline junkies
They can be an astronaut or miner,
- But not a settler
They distrust large organizations, government or corporate
- Yet, they are good behind the scenes wheeler-dealers
They are hail-fellow-well-met
They grew up on Star Trek and other great Science fiction franchises
What he or she wants:
- The excitement of living on the edge

Explorer

They may be referred to as “another Marko Polo”.

They are driven to be out at the edge of the human experience.
- If they are not at that edge then spend their time plotting to get there.
They may be an astronaut, miner, or settler
What he or she wants:
- To go even farther
- To take a rover and drive.

Entrepreneur

They might be referred to as “another Bill Gates”.

They may be an astronaut, minor, or settler
They are driven to work, to build new businesses
- Sometimes at the expense of family
What he or she wants:
- To found a new industry on the Moon
- To make a truly impressive amount of money

Family person

May be called “Mrs.”, Mr.”, “Mom”, or “Pop”.

They may be astronaut or settler,
- But not a miner, at least at this time in their life
They are the salt of the Earth and now of the Moon
- They are stable, hard working, and reliable
They travel in the footsteps of Neal Armstrong
What he or she wants:
- To settle the Moon
To raise a family

Your idea Here

Who else would you meet on the Moon?

People with Specific Jobs

Some people will have very specific and necessary jobs.

Miner

They may be called “Sandhog”.

He or she will keep the big lunar volatiles harvesters running
He or she is an employee of the Company
He or she is a miner
What he or she wants:
- To keep this operation running
- To keep the Helium 3 production high

Lunar Operations Supervisor

They may be called “The Boss”.

He or she is the highest ranking manager on the Moon
He or she is an employee of the Company
He or she is a miner
What he or she wants:
- To keep this operation running
- To keep the Helium 3 production high

Union Steward

They may be called “The union guy”.

He or she is the representative for the workers union on the Moon
He or she is an employee of the Company
He or she is a miner
He or she supports workers
- In personnel disputes
- In job related problems
He or she participates in negotiations over working conditions
- Hours
- Down time between shifts
- Required overtime
- Benefits like mass to and from Earth
He or she does not negotiate:
- Strikes (illegal, like air traffic controllers)
- Pay (set by individual personal services contracts)
What he or she wants:
- To keep people happy and productive
- To keep the things running smoothly

Scientist

They may be called “Professor”.

He or she is responsible for scientific experimentation
- Sets up new instruments
- Maintains existing instruments
He or she goes on ground exploration surveys with the rover
He or she follows in the footsteps of Harrison Schmitt
- Supports mining surveys
He or she supports educational outreach
- For students back on Earth
- For settler children on the Moon
He or she supports health tests on lunar people
What he or she wants:
- To keep the data flowing
- To get their name on a very large number of referred science papers.

Chief Security Officer

They may be called “Sheriff”.

He or she is responsible for all security maters
He or she keeps a lock box for all fire arms and explosives
He or she is not Sean Connery in “Outland”.
He or she has previous law enforcement training
He or she usually has previous military training
He or she may have a posse of trained workers for emergencies
What he or she wants:
- To keep a lid on this thing

Chief Medical Officer

They may be called “Doc”.

He or she is responsible for all health issues
He or she runs the clinic
He or she has a lock box for all dangerous drugs
He or she is not McCoy in “Star Trek”
First responder in all incidents involving people
What he or she wants:
- To keep everybody alive
- To keep everybody healthy

Fitness Instructor

May be called "Coach".

He or she runs the gym
He or she makes people's exercise plans to counter act 1/6 g problems
- He or she takes special care with people who plan to return to Earth
He or she supports the Doc on health issues
- He or she is a first responder
He or she organizes exercise games and contests between Moon people and Earth bound enthusiasts
What he or she wants:
- To keep everybody healthy
- To show off what the human body can do in 1/6 g

Information Technologist (IT)

They may be called “IT guy”, as in “get the IT guy”.

They keep the many computer systems running and up to date
They have responsibilities in computer security
They support robot control and communications systems
They support scientific data taking
What they want:
- To keep this colossal mess running
- To play with the toys

Tour Guides

They may be called the "Cruse Director".

They only stay for short periods on the Moon
- A few days, rarely a week
They look after the tourists
They may be a lunar retiree
They are tolerated by, but not liked by, the real lunar workers
The fees paid by the tourists are important to early economic startup
What they want:
- To make lunar tourism work.

Your Lunar Job Here

Envision yourself on the Moon in your dream job.

Other Considerations

There are other considerations on the selection of people for the Moon.

Nationalities

All groups may have people of any nationality
Many are from the major space-faring nations:
- USA, Russia, China
Some are from other space participating nations include:
- Europe, Canada, Japan, India, Israel
Tourists and retirees can come from any wealthy country, e.g. one of the first space tourists was Mark Shuttleworth from South Africa. Middle Eastern oil families are likely. There are billionaires in most countries in Asia, e.g. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, also Australia, New Zealand.
Some come from odd places and nobody can quite figure out how they got to the Moon

Transitions

Some types of people can change into other types, and some cannot.

Allowed transitions:

Astronaut to miner
Astronaut to Earth worker
Astronaut to settler
Earth-bound enthusiast to miner
Dead miner to avatar
Settler to miner -- by death of partner

Not allowed:

Tourist to miner or Settler -- At least not without returning to Earth first. They are not seen as properly trained and the people who worked hard to get to the Moon fairly resent them buying their way in.
Miner to settler -- The miners are required to be older workers. The females would likely be past reproductive age. All male miners would have vasectomies. The settlers are all required to be fertile.

Not all the characters on the Moon will be human beings. See Types of Robots.

Some people are stuck on Earth. See People on Earth.

References

↑ Return to the Moon Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space - Harrison Schmitt, Foreword by Neil Armstrong - 2005, ISBN 0-387-24285-6

[1] Return to the Moon Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space - Harrison Schmitt, Foreword by Neil Armstrong - 2005, ISBN 0-387-24285-6

[1]