> Michael Wallis wrote: > > > > Henry Spencer wrote: > > > > > NASA looked at this for SEI, and concluded that supplying one lunar > > > mission a year with LOX/LH2 required a 400kW electrolysis plant running > > > continuously in LEO. > > > > They decided what? Are THEY daft? How big a settlement are they > > looking to supply? How much recycling are they expecting to do > > on-site? This is ridiculous. And even if you needed that much, ship it > > to Luna as water and split it on the surface. You'd need a decent > > power plant on the moon anyway, and you've lots of space to set out > > solar arrays if you don't like SNAPs or GE's 300kW refrigerator sized > > power plants. > > > > > The practical way to ship hydrogen at room temperature is probably as a > > > metal hydride or related compound. There are hydrides which have slightly > > > more hydrogen per kilogram than water does, *and*, more important, will > > > decompose on mild heating. > > > > Now if they just had lots of oxygen too they'd be useful. 8-) > > Lunar soil has silicon, oxygen, and a couple of useful metals. > No carbon, nitrogen, or hydrogen, though.
Didn't the Neutron Spectrometer aboard the Lunar Prospector probe detect Hydrogen? (Suspected in water ice form) If there�s ample water ice, then one only need get there with the correct processing materials/tools/initial power supply. I think flying a small modular initial habitat in pieces to be assembled on the surface is the way to go. You could then launch Progress style freighter ships to provide the materials, tools and supplies/consumables needed. > > You could _build_ stuff with local resources; > you would need imports to actually establish a > biosphere. > > -dave w > _______________________________________________ > ERPS-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
