March 19, 2011 - Last year, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the successful return of the apparently doomed Apollo 13 crew, we held an Essay Contest:

"Manned Space Exploration is Worth the Risk" and received some great entries.

This year, as the Commercial Space Sector continues to grow and become ever more important, our topic is Space Tourism

Where would you like to go? Obviously, many readers will pick the Moon.
But some of our readers may also be Mars fans, or interested in other destinations altogether.
For this contest, lets rule out destinations beyond our home Solar System.

Give us an itinerary: where you would like to visit, what you would like to do there, what memories you would like to bring home.
What kinds of souvenirs would you want to pick up. Would you be going alone? With a tourist group?
Would you pick a “routine” tour, of something “off the beaten path?”

Would you consider a “working tour group?” That is, to defray costs, would you accept shipboard chores? How about field work?
On Earth, working tours such as archaeological and paleontological “digs” are becoming increasingly popular.
Some tours may have exploration and/or prospecting goals.

How long would you be willing to be away from Earth, from friends, family, your job?

How much would you spend on a lottery ticket for a free tourist experience of the type you are describing?

Where would such a tour rank in your personal “pipe dream” list? In your “bucket list”?

The contest is open to members, former members, visitors, and in short to anyone who hears about it, anywhere in the world.

Our panel of three judges:

Charles Lesher - editor of the Moon Society's new Moonbeams science-fiction quarterly
Second and Third Judges to be announced

Prizes are modest:  Renewals or new Moon Society memberships.

1st Prize: 3 year renewal, or 3 year new Moon Society membership - a $105 value
2nd Prize: 1 year renewal or 1 year new Moon Society  membership - a $35 value

A 3rd Prize is being offered by the Lunar Reclamation Society, publishers of Moon Miners'  Manifesto:

A hardcopy subscription to Moon Miners' Manifesto* - a $12 value

*Conditions. This 3rd prize is available to only to those who are  not members of the Moon Society. If the 3rd contest winner, as picked by our panel of judges  is a member, he or she must assign this subscription as a gift  to a non-member or to a Library of his/her choosing.

All three prize winning entries will be published in Moon Miners' Manifesto
and also on the Moon Society website
A collection of the winning entries and runner ups will also be published in a special edition of our Science-Fiction (pdf file) magazine, Moonbeams, a great keepsake and a prize all by itself.

Contest requirements and conditions:

• Word limit: 1,000 words
• Submission form: electronic only ( .doc word document, .rtf plain text document, .html web page document, .pdf file -- note: if your mail program allows, you may also copy the unformatted text of your entry into the body of the email message. ) Double-spacing is not necessary.
• Submission address: secretary@moonsociety.org
• Submission deadline: July 1, 2011
• Include a "code name": please pick a code name and put that name with no other contact information in your entry. Put your name and full contact information in the accompanying email. The Editor will compile a list matching code names to real names, which will not be distributed to anyone. This ensures judge neutrality in the event that a judge might recognize the name of an entrant and be influenced favorably or unfavorably by that. Given the code names on entries picked by the judges, the MMM Editor will notify the winners, the Moon Society webmaster by email.
  

Awards would be announced on July 15, 2011.

Please spread the word to anyone whom you think might be interested.

Address any questions about the Contest or its details to secretary@moonsociety.org