3 ms·

Erosion in space is much different than on earth. Even the rovers left on the moon 50 years ago should in theory still work.

flatiron 5y ago
And it’s silly to think about. Who cares. 300 years from now people will be taking trash out in mars and people will be picking it up. We will spread our disease at least within out universe.
- WalterBright 5y ago
  There's no biosphere on Mars, nothing alive there, our Terran notion of pollution makes no sense on Mars.
  - quartesixte 5y ago
    Our Terran notion of pollution makes no sense anywhere without Terran compatible atmospheres.
mlindner 5y ago
The above poster is talking about physical erosion by human interaction. There are ruts worn into solid rock in many parts of the world with old roads that are only 1000 or 2000 years old. Over 10,000 years anything that is touched by humans will be worn away to no material at all.
- Retric 5y ago
  Those areas received a lot of traffic, and the rocks in question are not particularly durable as durable rocks such as quartzite are much harder to use in large scale construction projects.
sandworm101 5y ago
Except the batteries on that rover are long dead. Many, if not all, of the plastic and paper insulators exposed to vacuum are now brittle and broken. All labels or painted surfaces are likely bleached white. Differential expansion during lunar daylight cycles has likely snapped a few things here and there too. Fifty years of exposure to static electric charges on the moon has put lunar dust in all sorts of places it doesn't belong. Powering up the electrical systems would be interesting/scary. Any metal parts that have been touching each other, again in vacuum, are now contact/cold-welded together. The wheels might still turn, but the bearings are likely shot. And that is all before any talk of micrometeors.
nkrisc 5y ago
Depending on the speed of an interstellar craft, even trace amounts of dust between stars could be a source of significant erosion over a long enough period of time.

flatiron 5y ago

And it’s silly to think about. Who cares. 300 years from now people will be taking trash out in mars and people will be picking it up. We will spread our disease at least within out universe.

WalterBright 5y ago
There's no biosphere on Mars, nothing alive there, our Terran notion of pollution makes no sense on Mars.
- quartesixte 5y ago
  Our Terran notion of pollution makes no sense anywhere without Terran compatible atmospheres.

mlindner 5y ago

The above poster is talking about physical erosion by human interaction. There are ruts worn into solid rock in many parts of the world with old roads that are only 1000 or 2000 years old. Over 10,000 years anything that is touched by humans will be worn away to no material at all.

Retric 5y ago
Those areas received a lot of traffic, and the rocks in question are not particularly durable as durable rocks such as quartzite are much harder to use in large scale construction projects.

sandworm101 5y ago

Except the batteries on that rover are long dead. Many, if not all, of the plastic and paper insulators exposed to vacuum are now brittle and broken. All labels or painted surfaces are likely bleached white. Differential expansion during lunar daylight cycles has likely snapped a few things here and there too. Fifty years of exposure to static electric charges on the moon has put lunar dust in all sorts of places it doesn't belong. Powering up the electrical systems would be interesting/scary. Any metal parts that have been touching each other, again in vacuum, are now contact/cold-welded together. The wheels might still turn, but the bearings are likely shot. And that is all before any talk of micrometeors.

nkrisc 5y ago

Depending on the speed of an interstellar craft, even trace amounts of dust between stars could be a source of significant erosion over a long enough period of time.