RentingForever Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 11 hours ago, Lurkst said: Bit tricky to connect them to the national grid though... Just beam the energy down to Earth via microwave or laser.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehead Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 2 hours ago, RentingForever said: Just beam the energy down to Earth via microwave or laser.. Beam goes outta alignment by 0.000001 radians and now you have a fused-silica-lined drainage ditch 20m deep right through downtown New York. In fact, screw the power generation, just think of the potential for making huge drainage ditches in seconds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgul Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 21 hours ago, Lurkst said: Bit tricky to connect them to the national grid though... The energy would be used to make rocket fuel, so that they could send ships up to the moon to make new reactors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepLurker Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 9 hours ago, Sledgehead said: Beam goes outta alignment by 0.000001 radians and now you have a fused-silica-lined drainage ditch 20m deep right through downtown New York. IIRC the power densities envisaged for beaming power down to earth would be strong enough to fry birds in flight, but not quite "digging holes in the ground" But yes, one big downside of sending power from the moon to the earth is that essentially you're transforming the moon into a death star. The country that built such a system would instantly become the military superpower back on earth. So I can see the other 200-odd countries on earth starting WW3 rather than see this system go live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehead Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 19 hours ago, DeepLurker said: But yes, one big downside of sending power from the moon to the earth is that essentially you're transforming the moon into a death star. The country that built such a system would instantly become the military superpower back on earth. So I can see the other 200-odd countries on earth starting WW3 rather than see this system go live. What is it about these Republican, media-celebs- presidents? We've had Ronnie "Ray-Gun" with his "Star Wars" SDI. Now it sounds like Trump is vying literally to "trump" that idea with some Lucas Arts SFX of his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Bear Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 On 16/12/2017 at 2:47 PM, Gigantic Purple Slug said: The moon is the right place to go, because if properly developed it can become the gateway to space. Launching ships to mars from the moon would be much less costly than from earth. The real target should be to build a self sustainable base on the moon from which we can cheaply explore space. Heading for mars in a pissing contest like we did for the moon would just be another waste of money. The exploration of space (moon/mars/anywhere else included) suffers from one fundamental problem and that is currently there is no compelling short term economic reason to do so. It would be better to come up with a plan on how money is going to be made colonising the moon, and then execute it. As someone once said, 'Earth orbit is halfway to anywhere'. Reducing the cost of getting to Earth orbit is the important bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zugzwang Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 On 13/12/2017 at 11:03 AM, Bruce Banner said: I'm looking forward to it and really hope it happens soon. It will be really interesting to see how they do it with modern technology. The Clinton Foundation will probably scupper it though, like they do everything else . Reckless, out-of-control govt spending is bad only when those on the left do it? The Americans won't be going to the Moon for the same reason the British won't: after forty years of neoliberalism we literally do not have a pot to piss in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletcher Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 On 13/12/2017 at 10:18 PM, dgul said: JFK lasted 14 months after saying that. Just sayin'. Well here's hoping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maynardgravy Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 On 12/16/2017 at 2:52 PM, Errol said: The moon would be great for Tourism as well. Guaranteed sunshine and black skies. On 12/13/2017 at 4:21 PM, Errol said: Russia and China are working together on space exploration and the former plans for a moon base by 2024. Presumably the US is just realising that it needs to keep up! China has plans for its own manned space station by 2019, and later moon bases. So soon we can look forward to turf wars and Nuclear power bickering on the moon. Don't the yanks actually own the moon by the ancient law of first to stick a flag in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 13 hours ago, Maynardgravy said: Guaranteed sunshine and black skies. Don't the yanks actually own the moon by the ancient law of first to stick a flag in it? The entire moon? Don't think the first person ever to stick up a flag on the Earth got the entire planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sPinwheel Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 15 hours ago, Maynardgravy said: Guaranteed sunshine and black skies. Don't the yanks actually own the moon by the ancient law of first to stick a flag in it? They own the sea of tranquility... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maynardgravy Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 3 minutes ago, sPinwheel said: They own the sea of tranquility... Now that would be ironic If anyone's interested: Why no one can own the moon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletcher Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 18 hours ago, Maynardgravy said: Guaranteed sunshine and black skies. Don't the yanks actually own the moon by the ancient law of first to stick a flag in it? No. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehead Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funn3r Posted December 26, 2017 Share Posted December 26, 2017 On 12/22/2017 at 5:08 PM, Fletcher said: No. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty Oh well if they signed a treaty that's the end of the matter. Never in history has anyone ever cheated on a treaty. I bet if some country really did manage to weaponise the moon they would say OK you got a treaty we got a massive space laser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletcher Posted December 26, 2017 Share Posted December 26, 2017 2 hours ago, Funn3r said: I bet if some country really did manage to weaponise the moon they would say OK you got a treaty we got a massive space laser. Just a pity though that the laser in question could presumably only target things on Earth for 12 hours every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkins Posted December 26, 2017 Share Posted December 26, 2017 12 hours ago, Funn3r said: Oh well if they signed a treaty that's the end of the matter. Never in history has anyone ever cheated on a treaty. I bet if some country really did manage to weaponise the moon they would say OK you got a treaty we got a massive space laser. Laser weapons don't even work on Earth, why would you put one on the Moon? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directed-energy_weapon#Problems_with_laser_weapons If you want to throw a load of energy at your enemy you can't beat a good old-fashioned hydrogen bomb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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