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Lunar 'Lawnmower' Devised for Moon Colonists
moon_unit_alpha writes "Future Moon residents may have to mow the lunar lawn. New Scientist Space reports that a planetary geologist has come up with a way to prevent Moon dust from sticking to space suits, getting into seals and damaging electronic and mechanical equipment - the lunar lawnmower. The mower could be hauled behind a lunar rover, generating microwaves that cause iron particles in the dust to clump together."
Yeah, imagine all the species whose habitats would be destroyed
plus it makes a kiler scrambled egg, and warms your innards all in one step, all for the low low price of $19.95
[font size="2"]numbers represented are for illustrative purposes only, and actually are in 000,000's.[/font]
"In place of whirling blades, however, the machine would use microwaves to force dust particles to clump together."
My cat desperately needs one of these.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
and I thought I had it bad when I had to go out, pull the lawnmower from the shed, gas it up, work to crank-start it, and then push it around for a half an hour, emptying the bag as necessary.
So, kids of the future will complain about having to clean up, provision the spacesuit, suit up, run diagnostics on the suit, activate a tracking beacon, depressurize through the airlock, walk/hop over to the seperate hazardous equipment dome, repressurize, run diagnostics on the 'moon mower', perform maintenance if necessary, un-umbilicle the device, push it into the airlock, re-seal the spacesuit and run diagnostics, depressurize, and only then do they get to pushing the thing around the surface for a half an hour...
Somehow I don't think that, "back in MY day!" stories will work on those kids. *sigh*
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
The Moonwalkers found that the stuff clung to everything and on contact with the oxygen in the Lunar Module (LM), gave off a smell like gunpowder, due to the lack of normal oxidation on the Moon's surface.
The stuff was also fine and gritty and was like liquid sandpaper. It would scratch camera lens and wore away at lunar geology equipment. It could also cause fittings to not seat properly, a very important problem if you're counting on the seals on your spacesuit to remain airtight.
Of course if we're going to have people up there more or less permanently, they're going to working in the stuff every day, and the wear and tear on equipment may lead to some dangerous situations. The last thing an astronaut needs to have happen is to lose suit integrity when he/she is nowhere near shelter.
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
'Lunar lawnmower' to deal with Moon dust menace
I've felt menaced by Moon Dust for years. Thank God our government's clumping technology will finally put an end to my sleepless nights
i got ball this is my adress 108 20 37 av corona come n do it iam give u the sidekick so I can hit you wit it