Sustainability Through Public Buy-In: An Open Letter to the Moon-to-Mars Commission - May 4, 2004
Dear Commissioner,
If you had to name one condition that would guarantee sustainability of the Moon-to-Mars plan over the course of several decades, what would it be?
Your answer would probably be long-term support from the general public.
Regardless of who the President is 12 or 20 years from now, if the public is clamoring then for the Moon-to-Mars plan to succeed, the President and his administration will have to go along. There isn't much that can hold the attention of the American public for such a long period. But there is one innovative approach that might be enough - a large-scale competition among private companies coupled with a personal stake in the outcome for every American.
The public loves a fight, a competition. Open the Moon-to-Mars initiative to private industry, and you'll see consortia comprised of companies from all over the globe competing against each other like rival basketball teams. Americans who normally have little interest in space issues will be drawn in from the desire to root for, encourage, and support their "team." Undoubtedly there would be various combinations of U.S.-led and international consortia - if it came down to a consortium led by U.S. companies competing against a Russian-led or Chinese-led consortium, don't you think many, many Americans would sit up and take it personally?
What about a personal stake for individual Americans? We can thank Dennis Hope for the answer. In 1980, Mr. Hope claimed ownership of the Moon. Although his claim is without merit, he has nevertheless been able to sell bogus space property deeds to over 2 million customers in the last 20 years. In doing so, Mr. Hope has unwittingly showed us the key to every American having a personal interest in the Moon-to-Mars outcome - the idea of individual land ownership in space. If 2 million people were willing to buy bogus space property deeds, how many more would be willing if real, legally-recognized deeds were being offered?
Imagine private consortia competing to develop a space line and Moon base, with the prospect of a large land claim being recognized by the U.S. when the mission is achieved. These consortia could potentially use the concept of real estate "options" to generate investment capital up front. Americans and others who purchased these options would be financially and psychologically bought in, in a tangible way, right away, with a specific interest in seeing the consortia's efforts succeed. Others who chose to wait for the actual deeds to become available would also be highly interested in seeing the consortia's efforts through.
The bottom line? Create personal buy-in for the average American. Combine competition on a grand scale with the opportunity for every American to have a personal stake in the initiative, and you will immeasurably increase the likelihood of long-term sustainability for the Moon-to-Mars initiative.
Sincerely,
Douglas O. Jobes
