Author Topic: 25 Good Reasons To Go To The Moon  (Read 11098 times)

Offline Lunadyne

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Re: 25 Good Reasons To Go To The Moon
« Reply #40 on: 09/23/2018 06:51 am »
Quote
the claim was that going to the moon could ensure survival of the human species

Wait, did I claim that?  [Goes back over list]  Nope, that wasn't me.  Good, because I'm a big fan of trade and a free and open marketplace.  Which the Moon and cislunar space can contribute to in a significant way.

I tend to look at it as climbing up the value-added ladder.  Early products will be more like commodity goods, with increasing shipments of tools to the Moon allowing for increases in value-added.  Raw regolith just needs a shovel and a bag.  Sintered regolith bricks require a bit more infrastructure (solar mirrors, molds, collecting and packing equipment, &c.).  Oxygen from regolith?  Well, over a dozen different methods have been proposed, but most are out of favor now that water has been identified.  Just crack that.  Still, I did like some of the pyrolitic methods proposed...

I do like A_M_Swallow's thinking on circuit boards vs. chips.  I can see them ending up in many basic functions over time as the team in the workshop needs to replace stuff.  Then again, I do have a bias as I do hobby electronics (he says while staring at the Larson Scanner he put together with his nephew, trying to figure out how to incorporate it into a Halloween costume...).  Still, one has to wonder how such settlements might think of A.I. vs. Smart Systems.  I'm having a hard time seeing the folks on the Moon fully trusting the functioning of an airlock to an A.I.  Just doesn't seem prudent.  Personally I'm biased in favor of Smart Systems; really, really excellent at the one thing we need of them, but otherwise stupid.

My first question, though, is would these circuit boards be more or less susceptible to Single Event Upsets (SEUs)/bit flips?  Pretty sure I know the answer, but will leave the question out there.

I'd rather not dwell on the whole retirees on the Moon thing.  As I noted, I don't see it happening soon, but I can see it happening.  I also in no way assume that life will forever be austere on the Moon.  Folks will start making it home as soon as they move there.  I see big things for the lava tubes.  I also recognize that each successive lava flow on the Moon has its own lava tubes associated with it, so there may be deep, deep caverns that can be accessed and sealed (or maybe the succeeding lava flow filled them in.  Who knows?).  Then you're talking about things like enormous swimming pools (lakes, really) and places to really fly.  The culture on the Moon might evolve into things like carefully nurtured plants in every available nook and cranny, with the whole team pitching in for their care, a true communal effort.  It is, of course, impossible to foresee what will actually happen, we just have to see what happens when we go out there and do it.  So let's get our butts out there and start doing it!

Offline Tulse

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Re: 25 Good Reasons To Go To The Moon
« Reply #41 on: 09/24/2018 01:51 pm »
Quote
the claim was that going to the moon could ensure survival of the human species

Wait, did I claim that?  [Goes back over list]  Nope, that wasn't me.
Sorry if I wasn't clear -- that was on DougSpace's addendum to the original list.

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