One Small Step

In article ,
Pete Lynn wrote:
It would be better to take an MLI blanket or an
aerogel slab as a door...

Assuming that one is using a fabric tent covered in regolith, then the
tent would presumably be covered in pockets to hold the regolith in
place...

The simplest approach is to land a rigid shell and heap regolith on top of
it. A tent is one step up in complexity, although possibly not a large
one. A tent with pockets is a considerable step up in complexity -- now
the regolith handling has to fill pockets rather than just heaping up a
mound. The added complexity may not be a good idea.

One also has to watch out for a problem that plagues highly effective
insulation: anything at all that penetrates the insulation -- like the
walls of the pockets in this scheme -- becomes a major heat leak.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

Using the 'big battery' option would allow for smaller rovers that
could run a charge deficit, the heat from rechargeing their batteries
would be efficiently used during the lunar night. The stationary
battery reduces the deadweight of batteries that rovers would need to
keep warm. Being compact and low profile would make the 'B2' easy to
cover with an insulating layer of regolith.
The rigid shell alternative may be simple but it introduces structural
weight and dramatically increases the amount of material that must be
heaped on top of it.

Another possibility is to use aluminum-air batteries. Any lunar base
is likely to develop mining/refinig capability which would necessarily
produce the aluminum and oxygen these batteries run on. The batteries
are refreshed by replacing/recycling oxidized aluminum which would
dovetail well with the refining activities. If vapor phase separation
is used for refining using concentrated sunlight, no photovoltaics are
required at all.
Steve Mickler