7 ms·
I know this sounds ridiculous, but "Moonball" is really promising as a televised professional sport. Think about it: who wouldn't watch professional athletes in
by dr_dshiv 5y ago
I know this sounds ridiculous, but "Moonball" is really promising as a televised professional sport. Think about it: who wouldn't watch professional athletes in 1/6 gravity? That means, 4 second long, 10ft high jumps. Assuming everyone would watch it, it's a real business opportunity.
It's not terribly hard, either. There are enormous moon lava tubes[1], so it would be possible to just inflate a sporting arena in the radiation sheilded underground. Importantly, atheletes could play without a special life support suit. However, you'd need awesome shoes with good ankle support for landing those jumps. I assume Moonball will first be played by mission astronauts, to keep fit. But within 20 years, I predict televised sports will be the biggest source of moon revenue, aside from govt income.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_lava_tube https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_lava_tube
- dylan604 5y ago> expect it to be the biggest source of revenue maybe 2nd after advertisers building giant billboards visible from earth
- trothamel 5y agoThe moon is really small, visually - half a degree in diameter. That's the size of a dime at six feet, likely means such billboards would not be noticeable enough to be worth the effort.
- muthdra 5y agoJust advertise for telescope enthusiasts.
- crocodiletears 5y agoPepsi logo might work
- otabdeveloper4 5y agoThere's an old joke about the USSR painting the moon red and the USA then writing "Coca-Cola" on it in retaliation. So I think the original poster wasn't entirely serious.
- chiph 5y agoOr broadcasting. No pesky national rules regarding power output or content.
- dylan604 5y agoHow often would that signal be available?
- stubish 5y agoMuch cheaper to build smaller ones in closer orbits, and you are not limited to just one big one (that will be covered up by some other wag by a smaller billboard in a closer orbit).
- generalizations 5y agoConsider how quickly fads change on earth; I imagine the novelty of 'moonball' would quickly fade.
- prox 5y agoThat’s what all you earthlings say :P
- Buttons840 5y agoAs quickly as football?
- ithkuil 5y ago> However, you'd need awesome shoes with good ankle support for landing those jumps. How does that work? The energy (force times distance) your legs can impart pushing the ground up, must match the force time distance the ground will impart on your feet while you land. So, if any of that is significantly different from the dynamics in Earth's gravity, the same effect should matter on liftoff and not only on landing. I assume the biggest risk on landing is that you risk losing balance, is that what you need better shoes, so you're more tolerant to a bad foot position on landing?
- dr_dshiv 5y ago> I assume the biggest risk on landing is that you risk losing balance, is that what you need better shoes, so you're more tolerant to a bad foot position on landing? That's my honest guess. Also, I'm pointing out another Earth-based market opportunity, viz Nike Moonshoes.
- stevenwoo 5y agoA competitive team sport in a chamber taking advantage of the lunar gravity was a very minor part of the world building of a moon base in The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov, honestly I thought he spent too long explaining it but you may enjoy it keeping in mind he only had the science of 1972 to work with. :)
- ck2 5y agoWhat kind of dystopia is the world going to be with climate change raging, disease and poverty wiping out hundreds of thousands, lack of access to healthcare by millions while the rich and famous play moonball on the moon?
- kragen 5y agoHmm, I think disease, poverty, and lack of access to healthcare are less serious problems now than at any previous point in human history, even though covid has killed more than 4.69 million people so far, and probably closer to 20 million. (By way of comparison, cancer and coronary artery disease kill almost 9 million people a year each. Diarrhea kills 1.3 million.) So if those are your standards, then on four of the five axes you mention—climate change, disease, poverty, healthcare access, and moonball—this would count as a utopia rather than a dystopia. Climate change is a pretty big deal, though, and it could undo all the dramatic advancements we've made in space travel, healthcare access, and fighting disease and poverty.
- antifa 5y agoHN: this would count as a utopia The rest of Americans: affordable healthcare please...
- kragen 5y agoUSans are only 5% of the world population, and even they have better access to healthcare than 40 years ago. Most of the rest of America (everything except Colombia, Venezuela, the US, and parts of Peru and El Salvador) does have affordable healthcare.
- sbierwagen 5y agoThere are hundreds of millions of people right now who look at the people in the First World as living lives akin to moon billionaires. If your goal for a just world is "nobody is ever unhappy or jealous of another person" then that is a very, very high bar to clear.
- TheDudeMan 5y agoLower gravity would actually make for less action.