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posted by
martyb
on Wednesday June 08 2016, @09:17AM
from the build-a-space-elevator-on-the-moon dept.
from the build-a-space-elevator-on-the-moon dept.
NASA seems hell bent to go to Mars, but can't afford to on its own.
Its international partners have no stomach for that — they would would rather return to our moon and build a base there for further exploration.
Doesn't going back to the moon make more sense? Build a base on the moon, and use its low gravity and possible water at the poles as propellant for further space exploration?
Why not the moon first?
http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/7/11868840/moon-return-journey-to-mars-nasa-congress-space-policy
Links:
From NASA itself, in 2008: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/series/moon/why_go_back.html
The all-knowing, ever-trustworthy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
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Should We Skip Mars for Now and Go to the Moon Again?
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Chinese saying: "He who speak with forked tongue, not need chopsticks."
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday June 08 2016, @09:03PM
Or skip the 3D printing entirely as too much gratuitous complexity. Inflate habitat-sized balloon. Slather with concrete. Install airlock. Habitat created by a bunch of people with a high-gradient air pump and some shovels in a couple of days. We do it on Earth all the time. For added durability integrate some sort of high-strength "net" into the early layers of concrete to help balance the pressurization of the interior.
The balloon could even be reusable - once the structure is in place you only need to coat the interior with some sort of gas-impermeable layer. Nanocellulose maybe? The airlocks are really the only particularly sophisticated technology required.