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

[Eugen Leitl]

On Thu, Oct 30, 2003 at 11:28:05PM -0500, Brian Shores wrote:
> I've heard some ideas a while back about making some form of concrete
> with the regolith... maybe they could mix some nice polymers in with it

Regolith would do a nice cement if mixed with water -- but you can't do that
in a vaccum, and water (destilled from lunar cryotrap regolith) will be much
too expensive for that.

I don't see what is wrong with just piling up mounds of regolith on
modules/tubes. It works better if one can dig shallow ditches. Later, 
it's a nonissue as one would tend to tunnel (closed-loop ecosystems need a
lot of space to be stable).

> and also make it sprayable and just spray it over the module shells?
> Also a double layer shell might be a partial solution to the leak
> issue... just add some sensors in the outer shell and intermediate space

The leak issue is minor; it's a slow loss of volatiles. It should be even
more minor for deep structures. It is certainly good engineering trying to
minimize leaks.

> and go in between the shells to patch? Aah maybe there's a simpler
> solution; I am just playing with some ideas here.
> 
> Would some kind of electromagnetic shielding help in any way versus
> radiation, assuming one could be developed that was powerful enough? Is

Radiation is not a problem, really. It will only become one if you're stuck
in a thin tin can halfway to Mars, and there's a solar storm coming your way,
and you don't have a small shielded cabin inside (shielding the whole
structure requires prohibitive amount of mass).

> it really just high energy emissions people are most worried about? This
> is a bit out of my experience here, any ideas? :)

-- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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