4 ms·
How many starships full of copper would be required to run a hvdc line between enough points to get constant coverage?
by nkingsy 5y ago
How many starships full of copper would be required to run a hvdc line between enough points to get constant coverage?
- baybal2 5y agoMoon is 10% aluminium, with that constrain, I doubt copper will see much use for long range transmission.
- voakbasda 5y agoMining and refining aluminum takes a huge amount of power, so you’re back to hauling tons of wire to build the initial infrastructure. Mining is definitely the way to go after that bootstrap stage, but this question remains: is this the best bootstrap plan?
- gpm 5y agoBut one of the key observations from this article is that we won't be power constrained, we will be constrained by consistent power, since power at night costs far, far, more than power during the day. If we can ship some extra solar panels up and refine aluminum during the day, to reduce the cost of power at night, it seems likely to be entirely worth it.
- inglor_cz 5y agoYou have a shitton of solar power at your disposal during the lunar day. Lunar surface is raked by the full solar constant of power, no atmosphere = no attenuation. That is quite a sizzle. So you can smelt a lot of aluminium during the fortnight when the sun is up. And build a web of wires around the entire Moon so that during the cold and dark lunar night you can get power from the other side of the Moon.
- dredmorbius 5y agoDirect transmission (e.g., microwave beamed power) might be a more viable alternative. You'd need high towers, and lots of them (smaller radius, nearer horizon), but wouldn't have the mass budget of running wire.