[extropy-chat] SPACE: Back to the Moon (?)

[JAY DUGGER]

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 23:26:56 +0100
  Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
>On Thu, Oct 30, 2003 at 10:46:41AM -0500, JAY DUGGER 
>wrote:
>> 
>> I don't know if reuse could happen so easily. Lunar 
>> gravity shouldn't pose a problem, but what about 
>>radiation 
>
>1/6 g should do okay for pretty long stays. It may 
>require a heavy exercise
>schedule.
>

I thought only of the structures, not of their crews.

>> exposure during transit and then on Luna? Burying the 
>
>Two days transit. No problem, unless you run into a major 
>solar storm with no
>shielding.
>

Do the ISS modules offer as much radiation protection as 
the Apollo CM and LM?

>> modules in the regolith once they arrive seems the 
>>easiest 
>
>Right. Not that short stays will need any more shielding 
>than the landing
>module provides.
>
>> way to shield them, but how much regolith do you need 
>>and 
>> can the modules take it over the long term? Remember 
>>once 
>
>How much regolith do you need to emulate the shielding 
>Earth's atmosphere
>provides? 1 m, maybe two.
>
>> you bury them,  repairing the modules gets harder. How 
>>do 
>
>Hello? You seem to think we're doing lunar mining here?

No, I don't. I do find hard it to imagine how to patch a 
hole on both sides when one side has regolith over to the 
depth of 1-2 m.

>If you're deep, a leak is no problem: material shields. 

Does regolith provide a good seal against gases leaking at 
cabin pressure? I expect that depends on how hard you 
could pack the stuff, or how you treat it. Could you use 
some sort of superglue or a plastic?

>Patching from the
>inside as well: polymerizable monomer in situ. Leaks will 
>happen (everything
>we sent up to LEO has been leaking like a sieve) but 
>there
>are enough volatiles to replenish the losses on Luna.
>

In the long run, sure. That seems unlikely for the kind of 
semi-permanent station suggested. One could grow crops in 
an indoor garden at McMurdo, but I bet that doesn't happen 
any more than buildings there get their construction 
materials from local mines.

Jay Dugger     :     Til Eulenspiegel
http://www.owlmirror.net/~duggerj
Sometimes delete serves best.