Posted on 05/21/2005 12:40:21 PM PDT by KevinDavis
How do you fancy winning a cool quarter-of-a-million dollars? That's the prize on offer for the astronomical alchemist who can create breathable oxygen from moondust.
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
As I recall, they expected a very thick layer of dust on the moon from the normal theories about how the moon originated, and it simply wasn't there. The landers had snowshoe like feet and it turned out they didn't need them.
NASA would probably want to see some functional hardware of the type that they can blast to the moon and it would then run autonomously. Is nuke power disqualified from the competition?
Oxygen is not the big trick for the moon. Water is. The moon is 1/3 oxygen by weight. There is next to zero hydrogen and that is a stopper until we get on our horses out there and start moving comets. Water is common in the solar system, but it appears to be just about totally missing from the moon. If NASA had a prize for developing water on the moon they wouldn't seem so insulated from the people of earth.
Ping to people smarter than me......Ok I need a bigger ping list....I know I know......:o)
NASA is toying with us. They wouldn't make your ping list though. :)
I think that's why they're targeting the north lunar pole. If they're right, there's a small ocean of frozen water locked away there.......
http://ryansrant.gettinlater.com/nmtt/images/banner2-2.jpg
Having cement dust all over myself and my boots at the moment, I can testify that there is considerable water in concrete in some form or other.
If I figured how to get oxygen from moon dust I sure wouldn't tell NASA about it for a measley qurter of a million, i'd patent it and tell them what royalties they will pay to recover it.
It is a prime location. Every wannabee space-faring nation that has expressed a desire to put a base on the moon has mentioned that location as a great place for their moonbase. There might be some competition. The water hasn't been proved up yet, but there could be a fair amount there--enough to fight over like bedouins at an oasis.
The major expense would be hitching a ride up there with all the gear.
"The major expense would be hitching a ride up there with all the gear."
Making a deal with Burt Rutan would probably be a lot cheaper and a whole lot quicker than depending on NASA!
Yeah, here it is:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ice/ice_moon.html
On 5 March 1998 it was announced that data returned by the Lunar Prospector spacecraft indicated that water ice is present at both the north and south lunar poles, in agreement with Clementine results for the south pole reported in November 1996. The ice originally appeared to be mixed in with the lunar regolith (surface rocks, soil, and dust) at low concentrations conservatively estimated at 0.3 to 1 percent. Subsequent data from Lunar Prospector taken over a longer period has indicated the possible presence of discrete, confined, near-pure water ice deposits buried beneath as much as 18 inches (40 centimeters) of dry regolith, with the water signature being stronger at the Moon's north pole than at the south (1). The ice was thought to be spread over 10,000 to 50,000 square km (3,600 to 18,000 square miles) of area near the north pole and 5,000 to 20,000 square km (1,800 to 7,200 square miles) around the south pole, but the latest results show the water may be more concentrated in localized areas (roughly 1850 square km, or 650 square miles, at each pole) rather than being spread out over these large regions. The estimated total mass of ice is 6 trillion kg (6.6 billion tons). Uncertainties in the models mean this estimate could be off considerably.
Luna doesn't have the gravity to hold an atmosphere of any gas. And without a starting large atmospheric pressure, water, air, etc. will all blow out into space as fast as you make it.
LOL.........I'm still working that buttered bread on the back of a cat gravity thang anyway......:o)
Stay safe !
Water is possible, not yet proved. They need to excavate, which was attempted a couple years ago with null results.
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