Russia and NASA plan to COLONISE the Moon Russian, American and European space agencies are in talks to create a human colony on the Moon, according to Russian news source Rianovosti. MOON_STATION Artist's impression of the Moon station from Nasa's Global Exploration Roadmap Russia wants to build either a space base on the surface of the Moon itself or a space …
Not only are there radiation environment issues, but also the fact that ISS wasn't built to handle the range of dynamic stresses* involved in accelerating out of Earth orbit and then decelerating into lunar orbit -- not to mention the constant reboosts and orbital correction manuvers once there owing to the oddly distributed "mascons" (mass concentrations) in the moon which make maintaining a stable orbit more difficult.
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*To get an idea of what happens during an orbital reboost firing aboard ISS, check out NASA's YouTube channel and watch some of the video shot by bracket-mounted cameras inside the ship when the engines light...
"shakin' aalll-lll oooo-oooooverrr-rrrrrrr...!"
Really they should be a bit more specific of *why* they want to colonise the Moon.
All I can think of are either:
a) reasons of discovery e.g. manned telescopes, or
b) betterment of human existance which could be:
i) exploitation of resources (helium-3, wealth); or
ii) exploitation of environment (e.g. microgravity for therapies, development of medicine).
iii) waste management (bad idea)
It was fine to go to the Moon "because it is there" in the 70's but now it needs a revised mandate.
Penal colony anyone?
Launching rockets from the Moon would be a whole lot easier, so it's a stepping-stone to Mars, which could actually be conceivably colonized.
Colonizing Mars is a good idea because, well, either we do that or we die. It's just a matter of time. That said, it's not exactly urgent - but then again, when I start saying that something isn't urgent, I always end up not doing it until it becomes urgent...
They seem to be talking about a lunar base, with personnel having short tours of duty. A colony would imply people living there permanently and having children there.
By the way, although we know that humans have long-term problems in 'zero' gravity, has any research been done on what's likely to happen long term in lunar or martian gravity?
Wow, in the US, the editor would surely be challenged on the title. The title makes it sound like the Russians and Americans are off on some separate pursuit.
- There is no NASA corroboration
- The only real quote from the Russian put the ESA at-parity with the other two, but you would never know from the title
- NASA's official position is that the Moon isn't the next opportunity. HEO or Lagrange points have been placed FAR above building bases on the Moon.
- While we are at it, where is the ESA or Roscosmos corroboration?
... I suppose the discussion is good for conjecture...
Sounds like your describing Benidorm maybe?
On that note, I hope that daily mail reading, carlsberg swilling expat scousers are involved in no way in colonising the moon. The last thing we need is a f****** Benidorm in outer space.
That mob colonising the solar system....doesn't bear thinking about.
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