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Is NASA Planning To "Terraform" Part of the Moon? Not Quite
MarkWhittington writes: A story in Popular Science suggested that NASA is mulling a plan to "terraform" part of the moon. The term is more than a little misleading, as it implies making a portion of the moon livable for humans. The actual plan, being funded by the space agency as part of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program is exciting nevertheless. The idea is to deploy reflectors around the rim of the Shackleton Crater, a region at the moon's South Pole where ice is thought to exist in permanent shadows. The reflectors would focus light onto select areas to provide power for robotic explorers. In this manner, the robots would not have to be equipped with protection against the cold inside the crater and would not have to be powered by plutonium-fueled RTGs. Temperatures inside the shadowed regions of Shackleton plunge to minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mirrors? Really?
WTF. Just make the damn plutonium-fueled RTG's happen instead.
Yeah, I know: :) Why the hell not.)
-Because: launching radioactive evilness will kill everybody. (This time, unlike the last 28+ times we have done it.)
-Because: The DOE or whoever does not have enough refined PU238 these days. Boo Hoo, make some more, damn it.
Are we a first world country with functioning space and nuclear energy programs or not? (Maybe we should outsource RTG's to SpaceX too? Once Elon Musk has some breeder reactors in the corporate fold he is pretty much ready to get the white cat, island fortress, and inscrutable henchmen.
While we are at it, that is: sending mass up and mucking around on the rim of a permanently shadowed crater.
Why don’t we send up some pipe, a thermal fluid, turbine, etc. with reservoirs on the sun side and shade side of the rim. Not sure how efficient a Stirling engine really is, but permanent shade and direct sun sound pretty ideal. We could even beam power to the damn rovers, making Nikola T. happy.
Mirrors, uhg.