nations flock to the cratered south pole and far side of the moon, where critical resources such as water could be mined.
Is capitalism so prevalent, we’re running out of ocean already?
- it landed upright and tipped over
- transporting water to orbit, the moon, or beyond, is expensive. Mining it may be cheaper.
- not everything needs to be a critique of capitalism
No mining of the Moon. Leave it alone. If we are to explore (not exploit) space, do it sustainably.
Getting water in space for making fuel and oxygen, drinking, sanitation and growing plants will be way more sustainable than lifting water off of Earth for use in space.
Water is an absolutely essential resource but it’s heavy and it doesn’t compress (you can’t make it smaller to fit on a rocket). Lifting water mass into orbit is ridiculously expensive in terms of rocket fuel and vehicle use.
The moon is a dead rock. There’s no ecology to disturb. It’s nearby (comparatively), and a much easier target to land on than an asteroid, but also relatively easy to take off from again after you’ve landed. We should get water there if we can.
Probably dumb idea, but what about taking hydrogen and oxygen, both of which can be compressed?
Plus, when you make water with them, they go bang, which definitely has some applications
Sustainability loses it’s meaning in space, or needs a whole different meaning. There are no ecosystems on other planets or moons which we could tip over with unsustainable practices.
Just throwing this out without addressing the glaring differences looks like uninformed romanticism.
It’s not to bring back to earth, it’s to use in space, water is heavy and it’s crazy expensive to put water into space.
Water is:
- a source of oxygen for breathing
- a source of hydrogen for rocket fuel
- a source of hydrogen for fuel cells for power generation
- for drinking (obviously)
- for sanitation
- for growing food
- fantastic radiation shielding (important when you don’t have an atmosphere to absorb solar radiation) - embed water tanks in your habitat walls or just mount them on the outside - nice layer of cancer prevention
So yeah, there’s too many uses for water in space and it’s really difficult to lift into orbit from Earth. Even if some future moon base starts producing an excess of water, it’ll be used to resupply other space habitats or vehicles.
Is capitalism so prevalent, we’re running out of ocean already?
I have to say, I expected smarter takes in a community about space
Certified Kerbal Space Program moment
What a bullshit title. We know exactly why it still works.
I rolled my Toyota. I just rolled it back over with some guys truck and drove it home. It spit all the oil out the intake. Filled it back up and drove it at least another 20k before I killed her. But even then I doubt it’s actually dead.
