PERMANENT operates for the following purposes:

• Publicize information and issues regarding space resources so that individuals and the public can move forward in an informed way

• Serve as an organized and comprehensive guide to all known resources and all known entities involved in space resources in a significant way, without regard to their political alliances, ideologies, and beliefs, either individually or institutionally, and covering all resources and arguments (albeit often embedded way down in the appropriate sub-sub-sup topic) in an objective and balanced way

• Reduce repeated discussions and prevent "reinvention of the wheel" -- look in PERMANENT before going forward with your work

• Suggest useful ways that institutions and individuals can allocate their resources, so that they get the best results with their resources and help us progress towards space resources utilization in substantive ways

• Help businesses succeed in developing space resources and grow

• Attract investors to PERMANENT

• Attract individuals of many kinds who are willing to help PERMANENT, and suggest useful and substantive ways they can help if they don't already have a particular thing they want to do

If you are seriously willing to become an individual or institution of this pivotal generation of mankind to help us get off our lonely planetary cradle, then you will need to make a decision and follow through on your decision.

We suggest you do one or both of the following:

1. Do something useful for PERMANENT

2. Make a Donation

PERMANENT has received no government funding, hasn't solicited any, nor does it plan to. Government won't make it happen, now that there aren't significant enemies in space. (We just want governments and their entrenched privileged interests to stay out of the way. Scientific payloads from govt. money are quite welcome, but not with political strings attached.) This is entirely private sector, as it can and should be now that we have all the technology we really need, thanks to taxpayer gov't funding in general to date. The next step of large scale space development can and should be supported by money from investors, services and products for consumers. Science and one nation's defense won't get us much further, nor should NASA/gov't sell services and products. Also think about international security, and benefits to Earth's environment. If you have questions, see our government & private sector section, as well as our section on Earth benefits.

Some of us have lived like contemporary monks to focus time and energy on laying the groundwork for this initial stage. Otherwise you wouldn't have this here. It's never stagnated like many other websites, and never will, but realistically, the rate of its development will depend on additional support -- monetary and/or inputs of time & effort.

As one owner of an investment firm was quoted in the press, they would never invest in a business whose principals said they'd quit their fulltime jobs if we put in money -- they're not real entrepreneurs. You don't get paid to lead, you get paid to follow (except by shareholders/investors). Leaders take broader risks. All new long-term technological and business frontiers are considered fringe; if they were widely accepted in the mainstream then they wouldn't be ground-level opportunities with enough leverageable value.

Do the right thing. Support free enterprize development of space resources and colonization, support PERMANENT, and/or get involved substantively. "If you aren't part of the solution, then you are part of the problem." Just make the decision to lighten up your pioneer spirit, rise above your local environment, and create a change for the betterment of all on Earth and a better life in the next frontier. It's a decision you and we won't regret on our death beds. You aren't young & energetic forever, nor do you live forever.

Our generation is a pivotal one in the geological history of life from planet Earth. Either we will get off the planetary cradle into self-sufficient space colonies, or nano-bio-technology will destroy all of us. It's a hard, inevitable reality of technology and life, and there's no chance for 20/20 hindsight. We need survivors in space. We must make bring this about.

The first space race was between the nuclear superpowers. The second space race is between multinationals. But the most important space race over all time is against technology to destroy mankind and life on Earth. You can't stop things like this, but you can transcend them.

You DO have the power to make a better future for your children, yourself, and life from Earth. Go on the historical record for this time as one who was part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Let's save life from Earth by making astronomical profits in the next business frontier, as colleagues and contractors to each other, sustainably and independently from those who would slow us down.

The main purpose of this WWW page is to reach out further into the engineering, investor, and general business communities, as well as the general public, to find people with a variety of skills who are interested in being partners in developing, openly critiqueing and refining business plans and mission scenarios which are realistically likely to succeed, as well as performing public and investor relations. You don't need to have any prior experience in the space program, as we need people outside the traditional techie rocket scientist groups, e.g., mining, manufacturing, cost estimating, public relations, artwork, architecture, movie-making, script-writing, marketing, press relations, business library research, etc. Think about it awhile, and it may dawn on you how you can get involved in all this... and feel free to send us e-mail if you want us to help you think about a potential role, if you're truly committed. The space program is becoming more like a mainstream Earth economy rather than a forum for the NASA elite, government contractors, university researchers and private techie specialists.

In addition to being profitably self-supportive and sustainable, PERMANENT will be tremendously beneficial for economies around the world as well as offer long-term preservation of Earth's environment and a better life for our beloved children. All this can happen in most of our lifetimes, if we start now, and if we make it happen. Sitting back as mouse potatoes just looking for entertainment won't make it happen.

Most importantly, our species will become immortal, no matter what happens on Earth. This is important because we are developing the technology to destroy ourselves, e.g., biological warfare, or inadvertant modern biotechnology in the lab. Imagine if a virus like AIDS or Ebola mutated to spread as easily as the common cold and produce symptoms as quickly. Again, not just a naturally occurring virus, but a technically engineered one. At the very least, civilization as we know it could collapse in our generation, even if 5% of our total population survives. At worst, our species becomes extinct, in which case life from Earth may never evolve an intelligent or cooperative enough race to leave the planet before our sun dies. Thus, our generation may be the key to saving not only Earth's unique environment but humankind as well!! Who knows if there is intelligent, spacefaring life elsewhere in the universe which has survived the biotech phase of technological progress... (and they sure haven't made their existence plain anywhere here!) That's why it's important to get space colonization started as quickly as possible, one way or another, and not just put it aside or approach it bureaucratically as something to be done sometime in the future. With knowledge comes responsibility, as well as exciting challenges.

Notably, regarding my consulting to other organizations, both government (SDI, DARPA, State Dept.) and private (e.g., engineering consulting companies), which paid/pay the bills and my lifestyle, none of these result in any vested interests of PERMANENT. Notably, I foremost promote international security and security for life from Earth, and want to bring in the best team of people around today's internetworked world.

At present, we do not give much coverage to certain important but fairly generic topics such as robotics, astronautics, mathematical modeling of large space structures, etc. There are a lot of public domain papers and big NASA contractor reports on these topics, which could be called "support" topics. Our focus is on certain "mission definition" topics which are outside of NASA's current implementations and which need work despite lack of much government funding. (We are leading, not following.) Topics covered on this website are such things as mining and processing asteroidal and lunar material into feedstocks for industry, the value and design of end products in space made from asteroidal and lunar materials, the economics of missions to specific asteroids, and other mission defining topics. The latter "mission definition" topics are the first priority. When that is defined, we can always plug in the "support" stuff such as robotics, astronautics, beam builders, etc. It is hoped that other websites will emerge which cover such "support" topics as robotics, astronautics, beam makers, etc. If anyone is willing to write up coverage of these or other such "support" topics for putting up on the PERMANENT website, that would be greatly appreciated and we can set up web links to your pages.

Finally, please point out any errors you see, and raise any issues as you see fit, no matter how basic or general. If you know of any relevant WWW links we've missed here, please tell us. If you have any materials of your own which you would like to put up here (with full credits displayed prominently!) -- either just plain text or your own webpages -- please submit them for consideration. If you have others' work (text or art), you must give contact info for them. Any kind of feedback is also appreciated.

This is a chance in life for you to get involved with those of this historic generation in getting us out of Earth's cradle and into the heavens.

This is your chance to either contribute some time and skills or else donate some money.

All the best,
The PERMANENT team