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Why does Mars get so much more press than the moon? I guess it has a bit more gravity, 37% of Earth vs 17% for the moon. We can’t survive in either atmosphere.

by xref 6y ago

Why does Mars get so much more press than the moon? I guess it has a bit more gravity, 37% of Earth vs 17% for the moon. We can’t survive in either atmosphere. Temperature differentials on mars are less extreme? That seems like the least of the engineering problems however.

roca 6y ago
Mars has more Earth-like gravity (should be significantly better for humans). It has a lot more water. It has a 25-ish hour day instead of 4-week day. (The latter may not matter to humans since we'd have to be inside most of the time anyway, but it matters for things like solar power.) Mars temperature is much better. I'm still not saying we should settle Mars first, but it does have some real advantages.
- titzer 6y ago
  That 9 month trip is a real killer, though. No dust storms on the moon, and solar power is way more efficient than on Mars. See, e.g. how weak rovers are overall, despite having the best engineered solar panels that money could buy. Solar energy is only about 600Wm^-2 there versus more than double that on Earth. The Moon also has no atmosphere to scatter blue and UV light. Mars is a terrible idea for a long-term colony, IMHO.
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
  Why wouldn't space based solar power work for the moon, when the concept is discussed for earth? [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_solar_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_solar_power Only thing i can think of are decaying orbits because of irregular mass distribution. But when thinking of such concepts, why not plan for some station keeping expendables? It's not like were talking about some feeble pebbles thrown into orbit there like we have done up until now...
hackeraccount 6y ago
Why does the moon get so much more press then Venus? Cloud cities. Basically Earth gravity. What's not to love there?
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
  The rain of [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid

by xref 6y ago

roca 6y ago

Mars has more Earth-like gravity (should be significantly better for humans). It has a lot more water. It has a 25-ish hour day instead of 4-week day. (The latter may not matter to humans since we'd have to be inside most of the time anyway, but it matters for things like solar power.) Mars temperature is much better. I'm still not saying we should settle Mars first, but it does have some real advantages.

titzer 6y ago
That 9 month trip is a real killer, though. No dust storms on the moon, and solar power is way more efficient than on Mars. See, e.g. how weak rovers are overall, despite having the best engineered solar panels that money could buy. Solar energy is only about 600Wm^-2 there versus more than double that on Earth. The Moon also has no atmosphere to scatter blue and UV light. Mars is a terrible idea for a long-term colony, IMHO.
LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
Why wouldn't space based solar power work for the moon, when the concept is discussed for earth? [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_solar_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_solar_power Only thing i can think of are decaying orbits because of irregular mass distribution. But when thinking of such concepts, why not plan for some station keeping expendables? It's not like were talking about some feeble pebbles thrown into orbit there like we have done up until now...

hackeraccount 6y ago

Why does the moon get so much more press then Venus? Cloud cities. Basically Earth gravity. What's not to love there?

LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
The rain of [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid