4 ms·
Some stupid questions: 1. Are they going to build using materials from moon? 2. If they use materials from Earth, would it increase weight of moon? 3. Doesn’
by the_arun 2y ago
Some stupid questions:
1. Are they going to build using materials from moon?
2. If they use materials from Earth, would it increase weight of moon?
3. Doesn’t that additional weight cause any problems to tides on earth?
- pavel_lishin 2y agoI don't think we could conceivably launch enough mass onto the moon to meaningfully affect the tides.
- xavxav 2y ago1. the article explains how many materials could potentially be sourced on the moon and provides potential magnet compositions to address that as well. 2. The moon weighs ~8.1 x 10^19 tons, if we use their iron based magnet design and ship everything from the earth (iron is present on the moon), it would require ~1 million tons aka 10^6 tons or approximately 0% of the weight of the moon. 3. See above.
- Etheryte 2y agoThe moon's mass is around 7.342 * 10^22 kilograms. As a civilization we are not capable of making any kind of a meaningful dent compared to that.
- skywhopper 2y agoFor #1 this is addressed in the linked paper. For #2 and 3, no. Such a construction project, even using entirely materials transferred from Earth, would not meaningfully affect the relative mass of the Earth and Moon.