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NASA Strikes Gold and Water On the Moon
tcd004 writes "The PBS NewsHour reports: there is water on the moon — along with a long list of other compounds, including mercury, gold and silver. That's according to a more detailed analysis of the cold lunar soil near the moon's South Pole. The results were released as six papers by a large team of scientists in the journal, Science Thursday. [Note: Nature's papers are behind a paywall; for a few more details, reader coondoggie points out a a story at Network World.] The data comes from the October 2009 mission, when NASA slammed a booster rocket traveling nearly 6,000 miles per hour into the moon and blasted out a hole. Trailing close behind it was a second spacecraft, rigged with a spectrometer to study the lunar plume released by the blast. The mission is called LCROSS, for Lunar Crater Observer and Sensing Satellite."
Last I checked, none of mercury, gold or silver was a compound...
realistically if the moon was made of solid gold, it would still not be viable. it costs upwards of $50,000 per kg to get robotic stuff onto the moon. it also costs a metric shitload to mine not to mention run the he3 fusion reactor to power the mining operation. it costs an even more metric shitload to return the material to earth and handle moon launch reentry and terminal guidance. not gonna be economically viable anytime soon. you need something which costs around $1 million per kg for the whole operation to be paid for easily. the only thing that expensive might be computer chips which are best made on earth anyway.
Water? Gold? Silver? Why have we not brought democracy to the moon yet?
screw that, I want to see cities on the moon
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
That's extremely pessimistic. A living module and a couple astronauts could, with a reliable power source (whether solar or nuclear), begin mining the gold. You saw the old moon landing videos, those guys got out and walked around decades before microprocessing was a dirty thought.
Spirit and Opportunity were $400,000,000, and they had no purpose besides observation. A project to begin mining gold on the moon? I'm 100% positive it is not only possible, but extremely plausible that if a substantial amount of accessible gold was located, Earthlings would begin moonmining. It would be a symbol of a nation's advancement and status to be mining wealth from the heavens.
But we haven't even been back to the moon despite it being easier to do than in the 60s.
You're basically correct but the reason we're not back on the moon has little to do with electronics and lots to do with the fact that physics hasn't changed much in those 38 years. Gravity sucks.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Just like when you stand on the moon and look down at the earth you see the landscape we ruined?
Sewage Treatment Facilities - "Our duty is clear."
No wai! Cold ribs are blech, and rewarmed arn't much better
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.
The issue is, the mining of precious metals from the moon will devalue the gold.
Something tells me that the value of fiat currencies are going to plummet to nothing before a major advancement such as mining gold on the moon happens.
History is filled with stories of lands filled with gold, alchemists and the like and yet none of them have ever turned out to be practical.
On the other hand, history is filled with empires and countries that the debasement of their currencies lead to mass poverty for many citizens.
This idea that a currency based on nothing can survive is laughable, our nation's currency is no better off than a gum wrapper with a logo printed on it.
While, eventually, mankind may advance to the point where gold no longer has enough scarcity to be used as currency, I don't see it happening anytime soon considering its worked quite well for the past 4,000 some odd years with a new "breakthrough" is proclaimed every year.
I wouldn't laugh at the doomsday prophets too much, their history is pretty solid.
Its silly to think that the US is immune to the laws of economics, we owe a shitload of money to China, we're fighting two wars which we can't really pay for, we think we need to 'bail out' any large company in financial trouble, etc. Eventually China is going to want payment on our loan, and when that happens because our debt is expressed in US dollars, the only way to settle that debt is to print a lot more dollars just like what happened in Post-WWI Germany.
Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation#Examples_of_hyperinflation do you really think that the US is immune to these forces?
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Of course you're right. After all creation is ours for the taking. It says so right in the Bible.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Obviously the moon contains (actially, consists of) minerals. It wouldn't be there otherwise. Especially seeing as it was a large chunk broken off from Earth a few billion years ago. And sure, earth has been supplemented by asteroids since then, but so has the moon. So the question is not really "Does the moon have minerals?" but more a matter of "How much can we expect to find on the surface?".
Gold and silver are somewhat financially valuable to us now. But from what I understand, they are also relatively common. I suspect the reports highlight gold and silver because that's language that beancounters who pay for the space programs understand. But there are far more valuable resources that we'll desparately need in 25-75 years time.
So, more importantly... because lacking in rare earth minerals could stymie advancements in technology...
What "rare earth" minerals might be "common moon" minerals?
See, it's all nice to go misty eyed, chest out, with the Federation flag flapping in the wind behind you about space colonisation but think of it this way. We are living at the bottom of a deep and steep (gravitational) cliff, though generally, it is pleasant here and we (still) have what we need. The Moon/Mars/Alpha Centauri, with all its riches, gold and hot green women is on top of this cliff. Why should we have to expend money and energy to climb this cliff, to get stuff that we can easier get down here? Factor in the cost of going to the moon, mining it and transporting it back to Earth, it is probably more economical to extract gold from sea water. I'm not saying space colonisation will never happen. It could happen. But then again, I have a dim view of our chances. Also, there is no soil on the moon. In fact, moon dust is very abrasive and would be very hazardous to humans and our machinery.
Your nihilistic noise is pathetic. It's ours for the taking because we're here. There isn't any reason needed.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.
if they decided to just go ahead and destroy Earth.
That would, of course, be accomplished with deep thoughts alone and involve no 'strip mined' baryonic matter. Otherwise your ugly little self-loathing fantasy would lose all its brilliant moral consequence!
Moon is ours for the taking, because there's nobody else around here to make the claim. Strip mining it hurts nobody since it's a dead rock, and has the potential to help people, so it should be done.
Now, do you or do you not have a reason why Moon shouldn't be strip mined? Or was your appeal to ridicule meant to hide the idiocy of your knee-jerk reaction to the thought of humans doing anything at all? Are you perhaps one of those "greens" who oppose everything?
More generally, this kind of thing leaves me in a bit of a bind: I like having clean air to breath, water to drink and food to eat, but if I support enviromental protection, I run the risk of supporting morons like this. What am I to do? Does anyone have a solution?
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
By "ours" do you mean "The United States'"?
By "ours" do you mean "NASA's"?
Or do you mean "Haliburton and Exxon's"?
Who gets the money from the gold?
You are welcome on my lawn.
Gaian Manifest Destiny: life is awesome, we're a part of it, and we all want it to survive, therefore let us spread it throughout the galaxy, because so far, we haven't found anyone else using it.
That's not a bug, it's a feature. Constant inflation is supposed to make investing your money a better alternative than simply sitting on it. This, in turn, keeps the economy growing, rather than stagnating.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
It is in a crew capsule or space station.
Free Martian Whores!