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New Method Discovered For Making Telescopes On the Moon
NASA scientists have discovered a way to craft very large mirrors using carbon nanotubes, some epoxy, a little bit of aluminum, and large quantities of lunar dust. They say the technique will allow the construction of massive telescopes on the moon without the expense and risk of transporting the mirrors from Earth. Douglas Rabin of the Goddard Space Flight Center is quoted saying, "Our method could be scaled-up on the moon, using the ubiquitous lunar dust, to create giant telescope mirrors up to 50 meters in diameter." While this breakthrough was relatively cheap, NASA is currently offering up to $10 million for other good lunar research projects.
How cool would it be to design and build huge projects in 1/6 gravity? There would have to be some incredible designs that would just be too fragile to stand up under Earth atmosphere and gravity, and the range of materials you could use would seem limitless. Maybe a nest of lasers to give a long-term boost to an interstellar probe?
There's got to be huge advantages to building in a lunar environment, with raw materials available right there, and the chance to create living space just by drilling and sealing instead of fabricating from scratch.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
More accurately, it would appear to be the first time that we (humans) have manufactured something off-planet with native resources. As noted, we've used extra-terrestrial materials before in the form of meteor/asteroid material. It *is* pretty exciting, if just for the proof-of-concept that we can "live off the land" (so to speak) off-world.
the old method was liquid mirrors http://inventorspot.com/articles/liquid_lunar_telescope_5345
"The space elevator will be built about 50 years after everyone stops laughing." - Arthur C. Clarke ~1980