What Will It Take to Get Back to the Moon w/ Andrew Chaikin #60

**David Goldsmith** (0:03)
Hello, everyone, this is David Goldsmith, and welcome to The Age of Infinite.
Throughout history, we've seen humanity undergo transformational shifts that are so impactful, they define entire ages. Just recently, we lived through the Information Age, and what an incredible journey it's been. Now think about this, you could be very well in the midst of another monumental shift, the transformation into the Age of Infinite. We're talking about an age that transcends the concepts of scarcity and abundance. It introduces a lifestyle rich with infinite possibilities, established by a new paradigm that links the moon and the earth into a term we call mirth. This synergy will create a new ecosystem and an economic model propelling us into an era of infinite possibilities. It does sound like a plot for an extraordinary sci-fi story, but this is the story you'll see unfold in your lifetime.
This podcast is brought to you by the Project Moon Hut Foundation. We look to establish a box with a roof and a door on the moon, by the way, we were named by NASA, that's how we got the name, through the accelerated development of an earth and space based ecosystem. Then to turn the innovations and the paradigm shifting thinking from the endeavor back on earth to improve how we live on earth for all species. For more information, you go to our website, www.projectmoonhut.org, where you can check out our 40 year plan, the work we're working on and so much more. There is a lot being generated on that website. As a matter of fact, you should check out the Project Moon Hut classification system right under the 40 year plan.
Absolutely amazing work by the team.
We are a nonprofit, so while you're there, consider making a donation by clicking on the button up on top. So let's dive into our podcast today. The name, the title of the program today is, What Will It Take to Get Back to the Moon? And today we have another fabulous guest with us. We have Andrew Chaikin. How are you, Andrew?

**Andrew Chaikin** (1:57)
I'm very well, David. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.

**David Goldsmith** (2:01)
I'm looking forward to it. So as always, we do a very brief bio.
Andrew is an independent space historian, best known as the author of A Man on the Moon, The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. He's a visiting instructor at NASA since 2010, member of the geology and geophysics imaging team of the New Horizons missions to Pluto and to the caper belt. He's also a member of NASA's Engineering Safety Center's Human Factors Technological Discipline Team. I barely can get that out. He is a recipient of two NASA Group Achievement Awards and a recipient of the American Astronautical Society's Ordway Award for Sustainable Excellence in Space History.
Those are a lot of tongue twisters in there. So before we start, and we've had to add this only because individuals had commented that I know what's going on in this interview, that how do I come up with all these questions? Let me be clear to you, and Andrew can attest to this, I know nothing about what Andrew's going to talk about. He and I and every guest that have been on a program, we get on and we discuss the title of the topic. We don't go into any depth. I don't have any of the content. Then Andrew is allowed to go out. He does his own thing. He comes up with his own program. And this is the first time I'm hearing anything. I do not know where he's going. I don't know what he's going to cover. I've not heard the bullet points. This is live. I have a piece of paper in front of me. And during a typical interview, I take 13 to 17 pages of notes. So I'm live with you learning at the same time you are asking real questions in real time.
So let's get started.
Andrew, do you like it, Andy or Andrew?

**Andrew Chaikin** (3:51)
Andy's fine.

**David Goldsmith** (3:52)
Okay.

**David Goldsmith** (3:53)
Because I just looked in the bottom of your corner of your screen and it said Andy.

**Andrew Chaikin** (3:57)
It's Andrew in print, but Andy to friends and...

**David Goldsmith** (4:02)
So I've become a friend is what you're saying. I've crossed over that.

**Andrew Chaikin** (4:06)
You're on the inside, David.

**David Goldsmith** (4:08)
So Andy, do you have an outline or set of bullet points for us?

**Andrew Chaikin** (4:12)
I do.
And I want to say before we even start that this has been a very interesting and rewarding process for me, because the stuff I'm going to talk about today, I've been teaching at NASA and other places like the Missile Defense Agency since 2016 So I have a lot of miles on the odometer talking about this stuff, but having to come up with these bullet points really was interesting and rewarding because it got me to think about communicating this material in a different way. So I'm really glad that we're doing this.