danger of putting space station in the moon

Wondering Joe wrote:

The earth's atmosphere is our first line of defense from falling
asteroid. There is no atmosphere in the moon. If you telescope the

Depending on what you mean with falling asteroid, I'd say Jupiter is our
first line of defence, the moon is the next one.

moon you'll see too many craters caused by asteroids falling in the
moon. Unlike the International Space Station it can evade the
asteroid. Space station in the moon they'll need to install missiles
to protect it from dropping asteroids.

There is a possibility that it could be hit by a falling object, or the
ejecta blanket of a nearby inpact, but there are tradeoffs in risk and
progression. The current 1 life lost in space equals xxx lifes lost in
traffic is absurb, especialy considering that exposure to the dangers of
traffic is generaly not a free choice.

Sincerely
Bjørn Ove

Wondering Joe wrote:
The earth's atmosphere is our first line of defense from falling
asteroid. There is no atmosphere in the moon. If you telescope the
moon you'll see too many craters caused by asteroids falling in the
moon. Unlike the International Space Station it can evade the
asteroid. Space station in the moon they'll need to install missiles
to protect it from dropping asteroids.

Nope.

Most of the craters on the moon happened billions of years ago.
There simply arn't that many large rocks hitting the moon today.
Most are pretty small, and would cause little more than tiny holes,
rather than destroying large areas.

Radiation shielding is needed, however this may well do double duty
as debris shielding.
You pile small lunar rocks and dust over your lunar base, so that it
covers it to a few feet depth.

Alternatively, there is good evidence that quite large lava tubes
exist on the moon intact.
You may be able to place your base inside one of these.

"Wondering Joe" wrote in message
om...
The earth's atmosphere is our first line of defense from falling
asteroid. There is no atmosphere in the moon. If you telescope the
moon you'll see too many craters caused by asteroids falling in the
moon. Unlike the International Space Station it can evade the
asteroid. Space station in the moon they'll need to install missiles
to protect it from dropping asteroids.


You think the Station avoids asteroids??

As to an anti-meteor defense system, well, perhaps
if there gets to be hundreds of thousands of people
up there. But for a base, they'll just take their chances.

In article ,
(Wondering Joe) wrote:

The earth's atmosphere is our first line of defense from falling
asteroid. There is no atmosphere in the moon.

True so far.

If you telescope the moon you'll see too many craters caused by
asteroids falling in the moon.

I'll see "many" but not "too many" for any purpose I can think of. The
vast majority of the craters we see are billions of years old.
Occasional strikes still happen, of course, but the odds of any
particular spot getting hit in the next few hundred years are very very
low.

Unlike the International Space Station it can evade the
asteroid. Space station in the moon they'll need to install missiles
to protect it from dropping asteroids.

This is pure nonsense. Do you never go outside in the rain without a
lightning rod over your head to protect you from lightning strikes?

,------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Joseph J. Strout Check out the Mac Web Directory: |
| http://www.macwebdir.com |
`------------------------------------------------------------------'

Space station in the moon they'll need to install missiles
to protect it from dropping asteroids.
Thanks a lot! You just gave the Air Force a reason to install missiles on
the moon - to protect the base from asteroids.
Any base the US builds on Luna is bound to be a military Stars Wars unit. So
don't get excited about the Repugnicans' brilliant new plan for nasa.
^
//^\\
~~~ near space elevator ~~~~
~~~members.aol.com/beanstalkr/~~~

(Wondering Joe) wrote in message . com...
The earth's atmosphere is our first line of defense from falling
asteroid. There is no atmosphere in the moon. If you telescope the
moon you'll see too many craters caused by asteroids falling in the
moon. Unlike the International Space Station it can evade the
asteroid. Space station in the moon they'll need to install missiles
to protect it from dropping asteroids.

The biggest risk to ISS is space junk, which sometimes it can avoid.
There is no risk of space junk on the moon.

The next risk is micro meteorites, which can puncture the ISS. A moon
base could (should - for radiation purposes) be protected by a layer
of regolith, which means it's a much harder base than the ISS.

I know a fellow who is interesting sometimes and frustrating, because
to him all risks seem same size: very, very large. I've thought of
advising him to stay indoors on sunny days, else he may get a terrible
fright from his shadow.

But the point is, if you're alive, you're at risk. As observed up
this thread, Luna's craters are an accumulation over a few millions of
years and the infall rate there seems not terribly dangerous now. And
knowing the risk means you can do something about it.

Concerning those risks, where is the most safe place on Luna?
Sub-Earth? (Earth directly overhead, remember Luna is orbitally
locked.) The leading side near the equator? The trailing side? More
near the poles? Etc etc, and don't forget, a fragment from a meteor
strike could orbit for several years and zip past at 5.5 feet just in
time to take you out if you're standing there.

I think base siting in a Lunar lava tube is an interesting idea,
however, seems to me anybody settling there is going to be doing a lot
of engineering and science on the surface.

Cheers -- Martha Adams