Lunascaping :)

>> I doubt people living on the moon would get outside much. I think
Heinlein
>> had it right in The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress when he had one of his
>> characters say (and I paraphase) that the only people that ever went
>> topside were those that really really had to and tourists taking their
>> obligatory "Moon Walk".

>If you consider the surface below a transparent lunar dome as "topside",
then
>I think that perhaps lunar walks will not be *that* uncommon. I think that
>inflatable lunar domes will be cheaper than underground facilities and will
>be used for activities that consume a lot of surface area/volume and are
>radiation-insensitive - e.g., agriculture.

I like the idea of domes, I really do, but I doubt that there will be many
of them for quite some time after the start of a colony/base on the moon. My
feeling is that any moon base or colony would tend to be running very close
to the edge in terms of resource availability. Especially on the moon where
a lot of basic elements are unavailable locally. It seems to me that domes
would be a luxury item. If one needs agriculture then one puts up surface
tube greenhouses using the least resource cost and then lives below the
surface. Imagine a dome with a nicely manicured biome - who could justify
the expense and labour to maintain one when the resources could be better
devoted to survival, expansion or profit (commercial interests will want to
make their money back).

I hope I'm wrong but I really think that for many years any moon base will
have a lot more in common with an oil well drilling platform (ugly,
industrial, pretty good food) than an Avalon style dome (pastoral
landscape).

Regards
Dale