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Kell Win English 191, Section 2 9 September 2003 Man on the Moon There are approximately 6,314,919,789 people inhabiting our planet today. Our population will grow to reach an estimated 9,084,495,405 by the year 2050 (U.S. Census). This epic number of occupants is consuming our Earth’s natural resources as if our resources were from a perpetual supply. We are incessantly depleting our life-giving forests, water, air, and ozone in order to accommodate our explosive population growth. Recycling, conservation, and pollution restraints will slow this destructive pattern down, but looking beyond Earth for solutions to the problem is inevitable. According to some researchers, one answer lies 147,560 miles above us - our moon (NASA). Compared to Earth’s abundance of blue waters and lush, green plant life, the moon offers a harsh and barren environment. With no shielding atmosphere, it is unprotected from the extreme temperature swings (a 300 °F difference between night and day), cosmic rays and occasional solar flares directly striking its surface. Without protection from these elements, inhabiting the moon would be impossible. A group called Oregon Moonbase is researching ways to protect the habitation modules of a future lunar colony. With support from NASA and private investors, Oregon Moonbase has devised a plan using lava tubes. Lava tubes are passageways left behind under a lava flow after the lava drains out (Gillett, 33).
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