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I wonder if we will revive O'Neill's idea of putting a mass driver on the Moon. That would potentially enable getting mass (like water or lunar regolith) into
by Tepix 7y ago
I wonder if we will revive O'Neill's idea of putting a mass driver on the Moon.
That would potentially enable getting mass (like water or lunar regolith) into space (alas from the Moon, not Earth) at even lower cost than Starship.
Recommended related link: http://ssi.org/ssi-supermodels-part-2-make-your-own-ssi-mass-driver/ http://ssi.org/ssi-supermodels-part-2-make-your-own-ssi-mass...
- wolfram74 7y agoThis paper [1] estimated a mildly useful launcher could be delivered to the moon with no in-situ production for 9 falcon heavy launches, or half of a nominal starship payload. [1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276039810_Mass_Estimate_for_a_Lunar_Resource_Launcher_Based_on_Existing_Terrestrial_Electromagnetic_Launchers https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276039810_Mass_Esti...
- skykooler 7y agoThe big limitation for constructing something like that is setting up a manufacturing industry on the Moon: even with Starship, a mass driver requires far more processed material (mainly refined metals) than can be practically shipped up from Earth. The tipping point for a Lunar mass driver will be when we've created enough of an industry on the Moon to construct it out of local materials.
- wolfram74 7y agoObviously complicated metallurgical alloying processes takes a lot of baseline, but fabricating pure metallic elements might be tractable. And I was under the impression that pure aluminum and magnesium were actually pretty useful structural elements if you don't have to worry about oxidation?
- jandrese 7y agoThey're useful structural elements even in the presence of oxygen. In fact they're better than steel because they form their own protective coating that doesn't flake off and expose fresh metal underneath. The moon has other challenges, like the slow day/night cycle, radiation, and the damn dust.
- elsonrodriguez 7y agoThis is also a crucial point many people miss when discussing Moon to Mars missions. The moon needs an industry first.