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There is no place on the moon that isn't in shadow 14 days at a time. https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2022/07/03/powering-the-lunar-base-version-2/ https://c

There is no place on the moon that isn't in shadow 14 days at a time. https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2022/07/03/powering-the-lunar-base-version-2/ https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2022/07/03/powering-the-l...

amelius 4y ago
Near the poles?
- Fordec 4y ago
  Only works if your bases are at the poles. Which for some missions works, but it's a limitation if your project needs to be anywhere else.
  - Nomentatus 4y ago
    https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-super-tall-towers-power-moon-base https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-super-tall-towers-powe... There's a famous-in-the-area ex-NASA blogger with good (not perfect) articles on the topic, but I can't Google and find him 'cause authoritative institutions now seems to trump and drown out mere experts on Google. Others here cite him: https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/blog-series-countering-misconceptions-in-space-journalism/ https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/blog-series-co...
TaylorAlexander 4y ago
Maybe use solar panels to split lunar ice water in to hydrogen and oxygen, then use that to run fuel cells in the dark periods.
- LarryMullins 4y ago
  14 days of lunar night would get quite cold. Maybe you could use the bases' water tanks as thermal batteries.
Nomentatus 4y ago
Tall lunar pole towers: https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-super-tall-towers-power-moon-base https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-super-tall-towers-powe... Maybe better: nuke the moon and reduce a few key crater rims, then use much shorter towers. Could be that a series of regular bombs might be more effective and less likely to "alarm the horses (general public.)"
ehnto 4y ago
Given the satellites need to be geostationary, don't they have the same issue? I know due to the higher altitude you would get more time in the sun but I feel like even one to two days would be too much distruption (2 days battery storage would be crazy expensive to send up but maybe that equation changes one day)
napier 4y ago
Beam the power around the moon from where it's sunny at any given time to wherever needs it, using phased array orbital substation reciever-transmitters. No atmospheric interference to result in high rates of transmission loss. Might prove cost efficient.

amelius 4y ago

Near the poles?

Fordec 4y ago
Only works if your bases are at the poles. Which for some missions works, but it's a limitation if your project needs to be anywhere else.
- Nomentatus 4y ago
  https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-super-tall-towers-power-moon-base https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-super-tall-towers-powe... There's a famous-in-the-area ex-NASA blogger with good (not perfect) articles on the topic, but I can't Google and find him 'cause authoritative institutions now seems to trump and drown out mere experts on Google. Others here cite him: https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/blog-series-countering-misconceptions-in-space-journalism/ https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/blog-series-co...

TaylorAlexander 4y ago

Maybe use solar panels to split lunar ice water in to hydrogen and oxygen, then use that to run fuel cells in the dark periods.

LarryMullins 4y ago
14 days of lunar night would get quite cold. Maybe you could use the bases' water tanks as thermal batteries.

Nomentatus 4y ago

Tall lunar pole towers: https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-super-tall-towers-power-moon-base https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-super-tall-towers-powe... Maybe better: nuke the moon and reduce a few key crater rims, then use much shorter towers. Could be that a series of regular bombs might be more effective and less likely to "alarm the horses (general public.)"

ehnto 4y ago

Given the satellites need to be geostationary, don't they have the same issue? I know due to the higher altitude you would get more time in the sun but I feel like even one to two days would be too much distruption (2 days battery storage would be crazy expensive to send up but maybe that equation changes one day)

napier 4y ago

Beam the power around the moon from where it's sunny at any given time to wherever needs it, using phased array orbital substation reciever-transmitters. No atmospheric interference to result in high rates of transmission loss. Might prove cost efficient.