2 ms·
Lunar regolith seems to be about 20% silicon (by mass). We could try to lift that much silicon from earth's gravity well, or try to build a refinery and launch
by philsnow 4y ago
Lunar regolith seems to be about 20% silicon (by mass).
We could try to lift that much silicon from earth's gravity well, or try to build a refinery and launch system on the moon, with ~1/6th the gravity of earth.
- gpm 4y agoTheoretically, but to make that work you're talking about a far greater advance in space capabilities than "just" launching from earth. You're still talking about launching 10 millions tons of material, and you're going to need local infrastructure to do everything like "make launch vehicles and fuel" if you want it to be an efficiency win over launching from earth.