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[[right margin]] Colve, Well written letter - hope it has some effect Gene [/right margin]] 3316 Rocky Mount Road Fairfax, Virginia 22031 November 3, 1987 Mr. Donald E. Fink Editor Aviation Week & Space Technology 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10020 Dear Mr. Fink: In addition to your fine reporting of space related activities AW&ST has expressed editorial opinions which are undoubtedly influencing this country's space program. I have been active in mapping and remote sensing for several decades and trust the view I express may be of interest to your readers. In our concern with space stations and planetary exploration we apparently forgot all about the moon. Sally Ride and her recent report has helped rectify this but the report stopped short by not pointing out its full significance. The moon is, in fact, natures space station from which may of the things man hopes to achieve in space can be accomplished. I am not referring to colonization or mining the moon (a la Paine report) but simply to its use as the ultimate observation post for mankind. Werner Von Braun in 1965 remarked at a symposium on earth sensing that when we put a big telescope in space it should be used for both earth and celestial observations. I do not think Van Braun had the moon in mind as the telescope platform at the time, but were he with us today I feel sure he would endorse this concept. The moon has several characteristics that make it a most attractive observation post. The backside offers a huge electronic shield from the earth and thus is a natural for radio astronomy. The near-side, always facing the earth has a potential for both earth and celestial optical observations that seems to have been overlooked. To me, this is where Von Braun's conceived dual-purpose telescope belongs. Such a telescope must have a 2 to 4 meter diameter collector (disk) to view the earth as we now do from systems like Landsat but today that is certainly doable. Putting such an observatory on the moon (robotically operated) would not be cheap but one must compare this cost to the alternative space stations before considering the extravagant. The earth exposes its entire surface (except for limited polar areas) to the moon ever 24 hours and 40 minutes and during its 28-day cycle around the earth would permit, from any given point in the moons near-equatorial latitudes, observation of the entire celestial sphere. Perhaps, the greatest attribute of the moon as an observation post is that it has sufficient mass to clean from its orbit the debris (natural or manmade) such as it infesting the lower earth orbits. NASA's report "Planetary Exploration Through Year 2000" paints a chilling picture of this problem. Page 164 of part 2 covers this matter and states "as the situation becomes worse, we may have to provide massive shielding for space installations to protect them from orbiting debris." I suspect that the chance of an observatory on the moon being damaged by a random object from space in infinitesimal. The orbit of the moon is neither geo-synchronous nor sun-synchronous but the moon itself is a huge space station highly suitable as an observatory for man as well as a stepping stone for the physical exploration of the planets. Very truly yours, [[signature]] Alden P. Colvocoresses
