Moon Base
Hugo Gernsback's
Moon Base
Hugo Gernsback, who inaugurated the American pulp science fiction tradition in 1926 with the publication of the first issue of Amazing Stories, contributed an article to The Complete Book of Outer Space called "The Exploitation of the Moon." In it, he describes the construction and operation of the lunar mining base diagrammed above by famous SF pulp illustrator Frank Paul. Gernsback's moon base utilizes radar-dish shaped reflectors to convert sunlight into the energy needed to power mining equipment and living quarters. Electric furnace at lower right, which is used to smelt ores brought up from the mine shaft, is also solar powered.