Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science

What's wrong with NASA's concept of a moonbase?

Have you seen images, paintings, drawings, etc.,
commissioned by and for NASA as to how they want
a NASA moonbase to look like?

Sure you have! You've seen plenty of NASA drawings, paintings and
designs for a moonbase since NASA began to seriously to consider a moonbase
way back in the 1960's to start.

What's the problem with those illustrated NASA concepts?

A lot!

For one thing, none of the moonbase habitable structures they've illustrated are "underground"
as they should be and have to be.

Cosmic radiation and meteorites [micro and macro] are problems
that habitable moonbase dwellings and inhabitants need to deal with.

And in fact a covering of 2-3 meters of dust/regolith will protect a module
from a 10-15km/second meteorite upto the size of a marble. Any larger meteorite
will [statistically] likely not directly hit any of the moonbase modules within a human lifetime.
And you also protect the moonbase inhabitants from the effects of a solar flare
and reduce their annual cosmic ray exposure to an acceptable level.

Yet!...NASA has consistently refused to consider such an approach
for George Bush's back-to-the-moon-to-stay project.
Why?

Doesn't anybody at NASA get it?...
You need to excavate the lunar surface,and bury the moonbase modules!
Thus...a lunar backhoe [either robotic, or fitted with a pressurized cabin] will be a vital piece of equipment on the moon for any attempt at establishing a 'permanent' moonbase.
In fact, a lunar backhoe will be more vital for such a moonbase than
say a reliable source of ice on the moon.

There are other problems such as 'dust', that aren't really insurmountable problems;
nothing that a humidifier, soap-and-water and an electrostatic neutralizer can't solve.

In fact the lack of toilet paper maybe a bigger problem on the moonbase than
that nasty dust everybody is so nervous about.

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