NASA Considers Mobile Lunar Base

colonist writes "During the Apollo missions, astronauts explored on foot or in rovers. The next astronauts on the moon may move the entire base instead. Marc Cohen, from NASA's Ames Research Center, proposes a lunar base on wheels or legs, such as the habot (robotic habitat) or the mobitat (mobile habitat). Cohen considers mobile bases superior to rovers: 'To avoid life-threatening or other compromising situations that might occur with only one rover traveling to a remote place, a second rover might travel with the first. But what if the second rover runs into a problem, too - the same or a different problem? Well, that means a third rover. So, why not make the entire base mobile, so that all the resources, reliability and redundancy of the lunar mission move with the excursion crew?' Of course, mobile bases are nothing new. Terran buildings have been lifting off for years."

Comments

To the Moon, Alice

[SolidiusRock]

It's been something of a dream to see us go back to the Moon. Mostly on the basis that we need to support space exploration and without people getting interested, that won't happen. However, with new and unique ideas in contrast to the moon, much like this one, it may ignite even more people to support space travel. On a different note, it would be interesting to see how a mobile base would work let alone fair in some large disaster. Instead of one or two deaths, we now have ten.

- P.S.: I know I just contradicted myself in some fashion, but so be it. :-)

Did any one else

[JRob007]

read that as mobile laser base?

Does anyone else think NASA reads too much SCI-FI

[Claire-plus-plus]

Land trains without tracks, sounds like the trains in the Amtrak wars books by Patrick Tilley. As you may or may not know those books featured a mobile base/habitat on wheels that was set up like a trackless train.

This is a great idea, until....

[sharkb8]

The mobile habitat runs into the same problem that toasted the rovers. It may suck crashing your moon buggy off a crater lip, but imagine wrecking your entire mobile-Moon-house.

Yeah, this is exactly what we need...

[shigelojoe]

Mobile homes on the freaking moon. Dale Earnhardt commemorative posters and a car on cinderblocks are all that's left.

Re:Yeah, this is exactly what we need...

[Waffle Iron]

At least the tornado risk should be minimal.

Re:Inherent problem

[Sampizcat]

So, why not make it underground, and just tunnel everywhere? We could become the Mole People!

Seriously though, it would shield from (some? UV?) radiation as well as help against debris striking the base (provided the debris was small and/or the base & tunnels were deep enough underground).

Plus, the moon rock between you and space would provide some sort of insulation and therefore warmth as opposed to being simply "out in the open", wouldn't it? And how hard could moon-mining be anyway? There's no issue of debris, just shoot it out into space, or even at Earth and it will just burn up (assuming the pieces are small enough). Of course, this could be bad as if they don't make it we could end up with a lovely ring of debris around the moon.

Regardless of what happens, there's some pretty cool stuff waiting in the future. Hope it's in my lifetime.

AAA

[cynic10508]

But, would AAA honor my membership card off-planet for when my mobile habitat needs a tow?

Pictures

[Somegeek]

Here are some links to NASA's concepts of what the mobile bases might look like:

MOBITAT

HABOT

White Trash!

[James Durie]

Oh My God!

Don't you see the real point of this.

The US creates a trailer park on the moon and ships up all their trailer trash.

Leave 'em for a few years and let natural selection work things out. Pretty soon the moon will be overrun with mutants that can shoot a stop sign with deadly accuracy from a mile away.

It Science gone mad I tell you.

Re:As long as

[boicy]

I have a friend in the UK Armed Forces who had a thing or two to say about the US Army's docrine of mobility.

It's a long story so I'll cut it short; he was involved in training some soldiers from the 101 Airborne whilst they were in the UK and got into a conversation with one of their officers:

Bemused US Airborne Dude: "say, why do you brits spend so much time running up and down mountains in training? Can't you just radio a chopper?"
UK Dude: "Well, what happens if it gets shot down?"
Bemused US Airborne dude: "We radio for another one."
UK Dude: "And if the second one gets shot down?"
Even more bemused US Airborne dude: "We radio for another one..."

Train hard, fight easy as they say...