238
submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

Moon mining gains momentum as private companies plan for a lunar economy::A number of entrepreneurial groups have shared their strategies to turn the moon into a hustle and bustle world of marketable services.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The difference is, there is no natural life to kill on the moon, and if it turns out to be possible, maybe even easier, to mine for necessary metals on the moon then Earth-side mining won't be necessary

Also, being able to get resources on the moon without having to ship them there from Earth will make it much easier and cheaper to launch spaceships to the rest of the solar system.

[-] HurlingDurling@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago

So I have two questions from that.

  1. How much mass can we remove from the moon until we affect it's rotation around earth?

  2. What will the ecological impact on earth be if a dozen companies start launching rockets at the moon on a regular basis?

[-] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Mining enough to alter the orbit of the moon would require a pretty ridiculous amount of time and effort. Much more than our global mining efforts combined and multiplied and on a timescale of thousands of years.

And we only have to launch a few rockets, enough to set up a self-sufficient base which can then produce more rockets and fuel from resources on site. Not to mention it's much easier, and even feasible with existing materials, to build a space elevator on the moon.

[-] BlovedMadman@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Would it not be super cool to have all those minerals until we have extracted that much from the moon that it's orbit becomes unstable and then spirals into earth?

[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

First, figure out how much the Moon weighs. The find out how much we mine form the Earth each year.

Second, the impact of dozens of flights a day will be much less than the impact of mining the Earth

this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
238 points (98.0% liked)

Technology

58143 readers
4431 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS