FYI,

"Now, a Space of Your Own, Literally"
Hindustan Times
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=4271468f-
84dc-40eb-9a5e-179db90d1ac5&ParentID=a6dfdec6-f0b0-45bb-8273-
2875eb0b43cd&&Headline=Now%2c+a+space+of+your+own%2c+literally

: Owning a home in space could be the next big thing, come 2020.

: For space scientists congregating at Hyderabad, it looks like we
: will have a colony up there soon. Space experts are mulling road
: maps on infrastructure comprising a communication network,
: including internet, a greenhouse, fuel production plants, and
: aspects of ethics and governance for human settlements on Moon,
: Mars and beyond.

: A settlement of a dozen people by 2020 and a village of 100 by 2030
: on the Moon is a possibility, says Prof Bernard Foing, executive
: director of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group, and
: the brain behind SMART-I, the first mission of the European Space
: Agency to the Moon. A similar settlement on Mars is planned for
: 2040.

: "We believe the Moon to be the ideal test bed for evaluating
: technologies and systems that are required for taking life beyond
: Earth," he said.

: Earlier, at a meet on Strategies to establish Lunar and Mars
: colonies, William Marshall of NASA spoke of lunar governance. He is
: for a ban on military bases and deployment of weapons in space and
: advocated against property rights over lunar land.

: ISRO chairperson G Madhavan Nair said the ethical aspects ought to
: include use of resources on Moon and Mars for exploring the
: universe and a code against contamination of the new settlements.

Mark Reiff