Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: AZRedhawk44 on February 03, 2014, 04:52:08 PM
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10614953/US-ready-to-return-to-moon.html
Yay, we're sending robots to the moon.
I really think the moon is a dead end as far as manned space exploration is concerned. The only exception I might grant is mining it for water and breaking that to H2/O2. Then using a portion of that fuel to lift a container to lunar orbit so it can refuel other craft, and then de-orbiting the empty fuel transport for refueling at the surface.
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IMO, I was with you up until recently that the Moon might get bypassed in large, in favor of Asteroids or whatnot.
However I think the ability to work and "stand on something" may show limits to what can be done in zero g, where every torque and push has to be counter-thrusted, whether you're human or robot. And unless we go big on centrifugal force spinning habitats, the long term medical effects of microgravity are beginning to pile up by the month after each new study. 1/6th might be enough to make a difference vs. zero.
Then there's also the issue of shielding from CME's. Digging a hole into the Moon is relatively easy. You can get behind an asteroid, but if you want a permanent inhabited structure in space, you have to shield it and at some point, trucking the shielding to where you want that structure to be, might just not outweigh going where the shielding is instead.
You can also make "spin cities" on planetary bodies that have less than 1 Earth Gravity where the city or settlement is like a large shallow cone with tilted buildings and streets where the "gravity" is a thrust vector combined of both the natural gravity, and the angular momentum from the rotation. Like making a constant bank turn in an airplane. And keep it all shielded underground from radiation...
It's proximity to Earth, reasonably low delta-V for liftoff (as compared to Earth) no atmosphere to force wasteful aerodynamic shapes and mass-fraction penalties onto ships, proximity to the L1-5 Liberation Points, an environment that otherwise has the potential industrial benefits of the vacuum of space, but somewhere for men and machines to walk, stand, roll, crawl etc. might mean the Moon becomes a big hub for manufacturing, processing, and housing humans that don't want to go all the way down the well...
First maxim of real-estate, location, location, location.
Also, there's been LOTS of "useless land" in history that we didn't figure out what it was good for until much later. Or ideas, procedures or industries we won't figure out until we're there.
I definitely agree we don't need to be "moon fixated" just because it's "there" and a superficially logical next step, but we should keep an open mind and go wherever the economics, the energy, and the resources dictate.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10614953/US-ready-to-return-to-moon.html
Yay, we're sending robots to the moon.
I really think the moon is a dead end as far as manned space exploration is concerned. The only exception I might grant is mining it for water and breaking that to H2/O2. Then using a portion of that fuel to lift a container to lunar orbit so it can refuel other craft, and then de-orbiting the empty fuel transport for refueling at the surface.
Will it kick that Chinese rover in the butt, just to show who's boss in space?
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Will it kick that Chinese rover in the butt, just to show who's boss in space?
That Chinese rover needs a kick in the butt considering it broke and won't move anymore.
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That Chinese rover needs a kick in the butt considering it broke and won't move anymore.
China is sending parts... might take awhile to get there though. (http://dx.com/s/motor)
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However I think the ability to work and "stand on something" may show limits to what can be done in zero g, where every torque and push has to be counter-thrusted, whether you're human or robot. And unless we go big on centrifugal force spinning habitats, the long term medical effects of microgravity are beginning to pile up by the month after each new study. 1/6th might be enough to make a difference vs. zero.
Another thing to consider is that while we're still working on materials strong enough for a skyhook on earth, it's within reach today for the moon. It's easy to get off the moon compared to the Earth. Lower gravity and no atmosphere? Easy peasy.
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I suppose that the moon would be a good place to send political prisoners.
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I suppose that the moon would be a good place to send political prisonerspoliticians.
FTFY
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FTFY
isn't that what australia is for?