Establishing a Moon Base and Exploring the Universe
2004; Council for Social and Economic Studies; Volume: 29; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0278-839X
Autores Tópico(s)Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
ResumoThe author comments on a recent article by Klaus P. Heiss which advocated the establishment of a human colony on the moon both for tapping the wealth of the moon and as a base for manned space exploration and possible colonization at some future date. But while he finds the idea of a moon base to be plausible he expresses skepticism of human ability to ever establish colonies elsewhere in the universe. Key Words: Space exploration; Manned moon base; Solar power; Extra-terrestrial life. In his article Tapping the Wealth of the Moon, (JSPES, Spring 2004, Vol. 29, No. 1, pages 3-64) Klaus P. Heiss makes an enthusiastic pledge for enhanced space exploration and especially for landings and work on the moon. The relatively short distance of the moon from the earth, its low gravity (1/6 of earth), the enhanced solar radiation (no atmosphere) and richness in 3He (Helium 3) in the soil, are good reasons for regarding Heiss's proposals with favour. Also, the famous SPS (solar power satellite) could be serviced from a Moon-base. As a site for an inter-galactic observation station, the moon would serve as a starting point for a built-up of the SPS2 as well as an observation station around the moon.3 Heiss describes with enthusiasm how the moon, as a firm and near-earth platform, can be used for extended, astronomic and astrophysics data acquisition. Without a dense atmosphere, the far side of this natural earth-satellite is the ideal place for intergalactic space observation through the entire frequency spectrum and with much more elaborate and extended technical means than is possible on small earth bound satellites like the Hubble-spectroscope. Another obvious advantage of a Moon basis is the abundance of energy, either in the form of solar radiation or from the use of the ample supply of Regolith, which is the superficial, stony surface layer that has accumulated Helium 3 over eons of time. It has been pointed out that also the 1.3 kW/m^sup 2^ of solar energy on the moon is more than a thousand times the value on the earth-surface beneath the earth's dense atmosphere. In u-sing the supply of ^sup 3^He for fusion, one could imagine that the Moon would serve as an ideal platform for fusion reactors. The advantage of fusion with ^sup 3^He, Heiss points out, lies in the fact that the by-product is not volatile Tritium but Deuterium. It is to be mentioned here though, that the ignition- or threshold-temperature is about twice as high in the first case: 100 keV as compared to 50 keV in the D + D reaction.4 Heiss points out correctly that a number of important sensing observations for stellar radiation from Gamma-rays to the infrared could best be situated on the Moon surface and operate more safely than in orbiting satellite spectroscope laboratories. It is also true that we may expect to witness a further build-up of earth observatories on the Moon to replace part of the fragile satellite relays, be it for agricultural, atmospheric, magnetic measurements or for information, television or industrial communications. In particular, the operation of an SPS in geostationary orbit could bring energy to the remotest areas of the globe and fill a particular need in the Third World countries, where industrialization and agriculture depend on available energy; this especially with modern compound crystal solar cells with over 30% efficiency.5 But with all the optimism for a power satellite, practical and difficult questions about the best way to transfer this energy to the earth must be answered. There were conflicting views about the system to convert solar radiation to microwave radiation and to use a dipole antenna to beam the microwaves to earth, where a rectifying antenna (rectantenna) on the ground would transfer the energy to lower frequency. Here the difficult question arises: how much of a field strength can he allowed to pass through the atmosphere? There were heated debates about the dangerous effects of microwaves on humans when a microwave uplink facility was built in Rockaway N. …
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