People Carry
This article is tagged for relocation to Scientifiction.org.
The Moon is a dangerous place. All people on the Moon will have to carry with them a few things to support their well being.
A Personal
In our stories, a Personal an electronic device resembling a cell phone that functions as:
- Cell phone
- Calculator with professional software
- Health and environment monitor
- Automatic SOS signal in case of loss of consciousness or heart attack
- Vocal or hand signal computer interface, as most keyboards are gone
- Really big memory stick
- Camera
- Personal digital assistant with calendar, scheduler, timer and to do list
- A home for your Avatar (See Types of Robots)
- GPS
- (your idea here)
The functions of your Personal are a personal statement of who you are.
The interface with the Personal is by voice. Most people have an avatar appear on the Personal's small screen and converse with it. Usually the avatar appears as a person but can be a pet or even a dinosaur. The Personal's power is limited but it normally interacts with a base computer system which gives it enough power to support an artificial intelligence for the avatar.
When you are outside, your Personal plugs into your spacesuit. It provides a number of functions supporting the suit and providing emergency communications.
When you are inside, the Personal can be carried in your backpack, in a pocket, in a purse, or in a shoulder holster James Bond style.
A backpack with an emergency spacesuit
When not outside in a full environmental suit, everybody carries a back pack containing an emergency space suit. It is made from all soft materials and folds up compactly. It can be entered quickly, but only contains enough air to last only a few minutes. The extra weight of the pack actually helps people walk in the Moon's low gravity.
The backpack also has room for personal items and a special pocket for your Personal.
Daily exercise
To stop excessive bone and muscle loss in the Moon's low gravity, each person will have to take calcium supplements and exercise for an hour or more each day. Everybody's lives on the Moon will be organized around work and exercise. The more important it is to a person to return to Earth, the more strenuous and long their exercise program has to be. The miners do the least. Astronauts do the most.
In our stories, there is a special exercise hall in the shape of an oval track with exercise machines along the inner wall. Exercise can also be provided by artificial gravity. Lunar enthusiasts on Earth help out by organizing and taking part in games and tournaments.
