🚀 go-pugleaf

In <C0I044.3n0.1@cs.cmu.edu> rcs@cs.arizona.edu (Richard Schroeppel) writes:

>Randall Tyers <tyersome@toxic> writes
>>   Subject: Question:How Long Until Privately Funded Space Colonization
>    In response to this question, a group called the Lunar Society appears
>    to be interested funding space colonization.  I would like to know
>    whether they are for real.  Does anyone know if this group is
>    legitimate and whether they have any chance of reaching their stated
>    goals?

Yes, the Lunar Society is real.  It was founded a few years ago
by Dr. Jerry Pournelle and others.  Its purpose is to establish
a colony on the Moon, financed by its members in much the same way 
the National Geographic Society used to finance various expeditions
on Earth.  They've been operating in a low-profile mode lately,
because the things they're doing right now don't require much
visibility.

As to whether they have a chance of reaching their goals, yes --
a chance.  Beyond that, it's impossible to say.  However, they
have had some successes already.  For example, they were one of
the groups that persuaded Dan Quayle to launch the SSTO project.


>I sent them a $25 check in August (enough to get the newsletter), and
>haven't heard a peep from them.  They haven't cashed the check though.
>Perhaps they're just slow.

Perhaps.  They are deliberately operating on a very low (practically
nonexistant) overhead.  The opposite of the NASA/Gary Coffman approach.
Of course, it's also possible that your check was eaten by the US Snail.