At Wed, 9 Jun 2010 19:36:17 EDT Alain Fournier wrote:
Let's assume a new program for lunar missions is started.
Let's also assume it is posited as Bush had did it, saying
we are going to the Moon, and should go to more distant
places after.
What technologies could be developed for a Moon mission
that would be useful for a Mars mission and/or a mission to
the asteroids? Or another way to say this, what technologies
that would be needed for going to asteroids or to Mars would
be useful to have for Moon missions, even if the technology
might not be worth the trouble to develop solely for lunar
missions?
For example, a few weeks ago, Fred J. McCall was proposing
to use a cycler for missions to the Moon. A lunar cycler that
would have been developed solely for lunar missions would
not be of much use for going to Mars. But if you know that you
are later going to Mars, then you can put some extras on the
lunar cycler, such as having a garden where crops are grown
and a solar storm shelter. Those would be valuable experiences
in preparing for a Martian or asteroidal mission. It probably
is not worth the trouble to do so if you are only going to the
Moon. But if you are going to develop the technology anyway
for Martian missions, might as well integrate them in the
lunar mission.
Another example might be an orbital fuel depot.
The purpose of my question is to try to find the best way
to return to the Moon and avoid it being Apollo redux. To
make the next "small step for a man", a step towards God
knows where.
Basically it is mostly a matter of thinking not in terms of going to the
Moon (or Mars or ???) as a one shot trip, but we really should be
thinking about living on/in/about these places as a long term thing.
None of this "small step for a man" sort of notion -- the main 'failure'
of the Apollo missions was that nobody was really thinking of going
there and just staying indefinitely. The difference between buying a
tent to go camping in vs. loading up the wagon with ones worldly goods
with the idea of when you get there, you are going to build a house to
spend the rest of your life in and raise a family, etc. Apollo was just
a weekend camping trip / scouting trip. It is time to load up the wagon
train and go stake out a homestead, build a cabin, and start farming the
prairie...
Any sort of long term living on the Moon *or* Mars / asteroids means:
The 'settlers' need to produce their food, air, water, and energy and
construct *permanent* places to live. (It won't be cost effective to
haul all that up the Earth's gravity well.)
This means:
Air recycling: probably some sort of CO2 scrubber and/or some
sort of CO2 = C, O2 conversion: photosynthesis?
Water recycling: solar still?
Food: farming / gardening (Air/Water/Waste recycling on the side...).
Energy: solar cells / solar heating. Energy storage (2 weeks of
day, 2 weeks of night on the Moon, fainter solar radiation on Mars and
asteroids).
Housing: need to worry about solar radiation (no atmosphere or
ionosphere on the Moon, Mars, or the asteroids). Need to hold in the air.
Be meteorite proof...
In most ways, a *long term* lunar settlement is not really going to be
much different than a long term Martian (or beyond) settlement. If we
(humanity) can figure out how to *live* on the Moon, we would then know
how to *live* on Mars (yes Mars will have less sunlight, which just
means there is a greater need to make more efficient use of that
sunlight).
Alain Fournier
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