Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases on the Moon

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-should-build-armed-bases-on-the-moon/
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In article <10cb442$imh$1@reader2.panix.com>,
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases on the Moon

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-should-build-armed
-bases-on-the-moon/

Of course, after the war has been fought (successfully) and the military
base is no longer needed, it could be abandoned. OBsf Ref: "The Ghost
Town" by Donald Kingsbury (June 1952 issue of Astounding SF, the only appearance mentioned by the ISFDB).

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. ?-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In article <mksvmkFtp7jU1@mid.individual.net>,
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

In article <robertaw-DC5787.10063810102025@news.individual.net>,
Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:

In article <10cb442$imh$1@reader2.panix.com>,
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases on the Moon >>>
I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-should-build-armed >>> -bases-on-the-moon/

Of course, after the war has been fought (successfully) and the military >>base is no longer needed, it could be abandoned. OBsf Ref: "The Ghost >>Town" by Donald Kingsbury (June 1952 issue of Astounding SF, the only >>appearance mentioned by the ISFDB).

Had not realized that Kingsbury went that far back (nor that he is 96 now!).

I need to re-read _Courtship Rite_ at some point.

Kingsbury is part of a cohort of SF authors who had one or two stories published in the 1950s, quit for a couple of decades, and then returned.
Dean Ing is another.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases on the Moon

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-should-build-armed-bases-on-the-moon/

We must prevent the moon from turning into an armed base by pre-emptively blowing it up (ABIAN!!!!)
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

James Nicoll wrote:

In article <mksvmkFtp7jU1@mid.individual.net>,
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

In article <robertaw-DC5787.10063810102025@news.individual.net>,
Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:

In article <10cb442$imh$1@reader2.panix.com>,
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases on the Moon >>>>
I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-should-build-armed

-bases-on-the-moon/

Of course, after the war has been fought (successfully) and the military >>> base is no longer needed, it could be abandoned. OBsf Ref: "The Ghost
Town" by Donald Kingsbury (June 1952 issue of Astounding SF, the only
appearance mentioned by the ISFDB).

Had not realized that Kingsbury went that far back (nor that he is 96 now!). >>
I need to re-read _Courtship Rite_ at some point.

Kingsbury is part of a cohort of SF authors who had one or two stories published in the 1950s, quit for a couple of decades, and then returned.
Dean Ing is another.

With the death two years ago of professor Chandler Davis, longest
surviving writer of the 40s cohort, is Kingsbury the earliest published Astounding (or any other SF publication) still alive?

William Hyde

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In article <10cbnh7$9pqc$1@dont-email.me>,
William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:

James Nicoll wrote:

In article <mksvmkFtp7jU1@mid.individual.net>,
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

In article <robertaw-DC5787.10063810102025@news.individual.net>,
Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:

In article <10cb442$imh$1@reader2.panix.com>,
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases on the Moon >>>>>
I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-should-build-armed >>>>> -bases-on-the-moon/

Of course, after the war has been fought (successfully) and the military >>>> base is no longer needed, it could be abandoned. OBsf Ref: "The Ghost
Town" by Donald Kingsbury (June 1952 issue of Astounding SF, the only
appearance mentioned by the ISFDB).

Had not realized that Kingsbury went that far back (nor that he is 96 now!).

I need to re-read _Courtship Rite_ at some point.

Kingsbury is part of a cohort of SF authors who had one or two stories
published in the 1950s, quit for a couple of decades, and then returned.
Dean Ing is another.

With the death two years ago of professor Chandler Davis, longest
surviving writer of the 40s cohort, is Kingsbury the earliest published >Astounding (or any other SF publication) still alive?

People have reported that Kingsbury is dead but I have been unable
to determine if that is true or false.

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Fri, 10 Oct 2025 14:10:10 +0000, James Nicoll wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases on the
Moon

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

And here I thought you would be talking about women with purple hair.

John Savard

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 10/10/2025 9:10 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases on the Moon

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-should-build-armed-bases-on-the-moon/

"The Long Watch" by Robert Heinlein
https://www.baen.com/Chapters/1439133417/1439133417___4.htm

""Nine ships blasted off from Moon Base. Once in space, eight of them
formed a globe around the smallest. They held this formation all the way
to Earth."

""The small ship displayed the insignia of an admiral-yet there was no
living thing of any sort in her. She was not even a passenger ship, but
a drone, a robot ship intended for radioactive cargo. This trip she
carried nothing but a lead coffin and a Geiger counter that was never
quiet.""

"?from the editorial After Ten Years, film 38, 17 June 2009, Archives of
the N. Y. Times"

"JOHNNY DAHLQUIST blew smoke at the Geiger counter. He grinned wryly and
tried it again. His whole body was radioactive by now. Even his breath,
the smoke from his cigarette, could make the Geiger counter scream."

"How long had he been here? Time doesn't mean much on the Moon. Two
days? Three? A week? He let his mind run back: the last clearly marked
time in his mind was when the Executive Officer had sent for him, right
after breakfast?"

Lynn


--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 10/10/2025 09.10, James Nicoll wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases on the Moon

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-should-build-armed-bases-on-the-moon/

Pierre Boulle had two opposing sides unwittingly building lunar
bases quite close to each other in "The Lunians"[1]. It's seen
from both sides, as they gradually learn each others' languages
and explain their societies. Each is impressed by how the other
manages their affairs.

Eventually, dawn breaks over Marblehead. They realize that they've
been dealing with:
Godless Commies!
Capitalist Stooges!

Of course, this means war![2]

[1] <https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?95519>
[2] <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbBtmDuMysU>


--
Michael F. Stemper
No animals were harmed in the composition of this message.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote in news:10d0t9q$22g9q$1@dont-email.me:

On 10/10/2025 09.10, James Nicoll wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases
on the Moon

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-shou
ld-build-armed-bases-on-the-moon/

Pierre Boulle had two opposing sides unwittingly building lunar
bases quite close to each other in "The Lunians"[1]. It's seen
from both sides, as they gradually learn each others' languages
and explain their societies. Each is impressed by how the other
manages their affairs.

Eventually, dawn breaks over Marblehead. They realize that
they've been dealing with:
Godless Commies!
Capitalist Stooges!

Of course, this means war![2]

[1] <https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?95519>
[2] <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbBtmDuMysU>

Don't recall the title or author but I remember a story where the
personnel of a top secret U.S. Air Force base on the Moon realize
that there is another base nearby. Eventually they send someone to
scout the mysterious base. He returns with the news that the
mysterious base is a top secret U.S. Navy base.

(It's possible that I'm misremembering the service branches.)

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 18/10/2025 17.39, Michael Ikeda wrote:

"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote in news:10d0t9q$22g9q$1@dont-email.me:

On 10/10/2025 09.10, James Nicoll wrote:

Five Extremely Convincing Reasons We Should Build Armed Bases
on the Moon

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

https://reactormag.com/five-extremely-convincing-reasons-we-shou
ld-build-armed-bases-on-the-moon/

Pierre Boulle had two opposing sides unwittingly building lunar
bases quite close to each other in "The Lunians"[1]. It's seen
from both sides, as they gradually learn each others' languages
and explain their societies. Each is impressed by how the other
manages their affairs.

Don't recall the title or author but I remember a story where the
personnel of a top secret U.S. Air Force base on the Moon realize
that there is another base nearby. Eventually they send someone to
scout the mysterious base. He returns with the news that the
mysterious base is a top secret U.S. Navy base.

(It's possible that I'm misremembering the service branches.)

Yeah, I think that it was the Army and the Navy. This story came to
my mind after my previous post. I don't remember the title, either.

YASID, anybody?

--
Michael F. Stemper
Psalm 82:3-4


--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Michael Ikeda <mmikeda@erols.com> wrote:

Don't recall the title or author but I remember a story where the
personnel of a top secret U.S. Air Force base on the Moon realize
that there is another base nearby. Eventually they send someone to
scout the mysterious base. He returns with the news that the
mysterious base is a top secret U.S. Navy base.

I'd love to know that!

The Red Army used their own special fastener standards so that people
would not steal nuts and bolts off of Army equipment to use for
themselves. The Soviet Navy used their own special fastener standards
so that the Army would not steal nuts and bolts off of Navy equipment... --scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)