Review of Platinum Moon

I really don't want to do this, but in order to be honest, I have to be a little critical of this book.  One criticism that I saw on another review said there wasn't enough character development.  I don't think I saw that, but what I did see was not exactly well stitched together story.

For one thing, the characters aren't used to full effect in order to move the plot along.  There is this one character, named Frog, whose appearance in this story doesn't really fit exactly.  She's a pilot, like the main character, Anders, but not on a mission like his.  Her character is an interesting character to know, but what does anything having to do with her matter to what happens to Anders?  Anders and Frog meet by the end of the novel, but by that time, the story is winding down.

Anders has two other characters that accompany him to the surface of the moon.  But you don't know, since the story doesn't tell you, is that the two people are romantically involved.  By the end of the book, you find out that they are getting married.  Big surprise for me.  I didn't have a clue.

Anders and his wife don't get along and are divorced.  That plays a part in the plot.  But Frog doesn't fit into this at all.  She might have, but she doesn't.  Anders own character may be a little too good to be believed.  He is a crack pilot and a good father from what we can see.  Many of his countrymen think he is a traitor, I suppose that a chink in his armor.  But the story shows that this a subjective point of view, not necessarily shared by everyone.  He comes off well.  Maybe a little too well.  I really don't believe this character.

As far as the plot itself, several opportunities to heighten the suspense are missed.  There is one spot where if something wasn't caught in time, it could have led to disaster.  You can see this, but what you don't see is how it all got resolved.  This is just skipped over as if it wasn't very interesting to know.  There could have been others, but I guess I won't mention them.

In short, the idea for the book was of intense interest to me.  That is why I bought the book  If I had not been interested in the idea of mining the moon in the first place, I probably wouldn't have bought the book.  If I had happened across this book somewhere, and began reading it, I don't think I would have finished it.  The story wasn't gripping enough to keep interest.  Hate to say that.  But it is the truth from my point of view.

Korea is still there

Every once in a while North Korea likes to let the world know they are still armed and dangerous. Several months ago, they killed several dozen of their southern neighbors by sinking a S. Korean war vessel. Today they sent hundreds of rounds of artillery fire to blast a South Korean island. Scores of homes were reportedly destroyed. The death toll was set a 2 and 17 wounded, but that number seems small for the amount of property damage inflicted. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is standing up and shaking his fist and warning the North to stop or they'll really be in trouble. GRRRR.It's the tried and true old trick from Kim Jong-il. He does this everytime he needs something from the South. A form of extortion, that almost always sees the US or South Korea paying him to stop. Credence for this, is the response of China (puppetmasters of the Kims) calling for new 6 party talks. This is code for get out your checkbook you running dog capitalists. Some reports have claimed this second round of agression in a short period of time, is due to the apprenticeship of the beloved leaders' successor and coincidently his son, Kim Jong-un. Little un is learning how to throw tantrums and get stuff from the grownups. Taught by the master his little Papa. It's a dangerous and foolish game they play, but so far they've mastered it.

SPACE.com -- SpaceX Receives FAA License to Return Private Spaceships From Earth Orbit

SPACE.com -- SpaceX Receives FAA License to Return Private Spaceships From Earth Orbit

Finished Platinum Moon

Not much to add to what I have already written.  One thing though.  Everything I
have written on this subject is in that book.  But, until I started reading up on
this stuff, I didn't know much of any of it.  What I am saying here, is if you want
to know what's the basic story in this book, all you have to do is read all the
space stuff posts.  It isn't exactly the same, but the general themes are there.
And that's about it.

This doesn't mean the end of these type of posts, though.

I have written before about wet workshop or dry workshop- terms that describe
the remodeling of the interior of a rocket after it has expended its fuel, and
while it is already in space.  With respect to the external tank that the new
Direct launcher will use, lets find a way to utilize that- don't throw it away.

There should be missions which practice this technique in space.  For example,
refashion the big fuel tanks into smaller tanks.  Then you could use these smaller
tanks and also free up some space inside the big external tank for other uses.  You
could also reuse the rocket motor.  A refueling module could refill the newly
fashioned tanks which would be connected to the rocket motor.  Then you'll have more
mission capability than before.


Update:

How could smaller tanks, which used the matter derived from larger tanks, be made
in space?  Being no expert in these matters, and just speculating, here's a scenario:

Cut the large tanks into manageable pieces.  Using molds brought from Earth and
a metal press, stamp out halves of a tank.  Then weld the halves together to make
a full tank.  The metal may need to be heated up so it will be soft and pliable
and will stamp easily into the mold.

Given that the original tanks are very large, plenty of metal is available.  Many
smaller tanks could be made in such a fashion.

Refilling a small tank should be easier than refilling a fricking huge one.  By
making a lot of small tanks, you ease a logistical problem of how to refuel in
space.

New Features

I like the new features. The link to Drudge Report is convenient since I visit both Boots and Drudge every day. The joke links are cool too. Keep up the good work, bud.

Platinum Moon

I am reading this book right now.  I'm about half finished with it.  Interesting ideas here.  If I may offer a thought, even though this may have been written or said somewhere else before, I'll say that art begins where science leaves off.  This book is a novel, it is not nonfiction.  But a lot of this book has high technological plausibility and is often consistent with current developments, yet not entirely consistent with reality as it stands today.  As it is a novel, not a report of actual developments, it is a work of art.  But the art involved consists of the storytelling, for the most part.  The technologies presented provide the setting for the story.

Is there a purpose to the story?  If there is a purpose, one may demonstrate the plausibility of something like this happening for real.  It wouldn't take all that much to try what is being tried in the book.  That's my opinion, and for the most part, what I have been writing about a lot in this blog.  It is also why I bought the book and why I am writing about it here.

It appears that there exists a widely held belief that manned spaceflight has to be expensive.  Anything like space mining would therefore seem too far fetched to be taken seriously.  If this book could serve as an educational tool to inform people of this as a real possibility in our future, and that we may be much closer to doing this than anyone thinks, then perhaps the story here could serve that purpose.

I plan on finishing the book today.  When I do, I'll have more to say.  Until then.

Been busy so far today

More housekeeping on the blog.  I have subdivided the blogroll and updated it to include more blogs.  The subdivision works out roughly as political blogroll and a high tech blogroll.   I found some interesting sites and have implemented some ideas.  I have added a few links to joke sites, for example.

This blog (QuantumG's blog) is now on the blogroll (see left )  He mentions a novel called "Platinum Moon" by Bill White, and also mentions an extensive review which I am checking out as I type this.  I have to disagree with this quote from the review:

The Apollo program cost a Super Power a super-sized fraction of its GDP to employ a vast army of engineers and technicians to build and operate a wide array of gigantic facilities, rockets and spacecraft.

As I mentioned in this post, the government is spending only a tiny fraction of its budget on space.  Now correlate this fact to what Wayne Hale (formerly with NASA) says:

Lots of fancy viewgraph charts.  Big changes, imaginary promises, no more money. No bucks, no Buck Rodgers.

The government asks of NASA more than what it is willing to provide funds for doing.  When it fails, NASA gets the blame.  Its almost like somebody wants it to fail.  Why do so many politicians demand the impossible and why do the people let the politicians get away with failure to provide a realistic chance for success?  A realistic plan is needed and a realistic plan for funding needs to be provided and then a commitment needs to be made to do it.  Otherwise, you are setting up the program for failure.

Update:  just finished reading the review.  Platinum Moon may be worth reading.
Update 2:  I am going to order this book, read it, and maybe review it.  If I review it, I may cross post it on Amazon.