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Moon Atmosphere?

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posted on Jun, 11 2007 @ 12:52 AM
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What would it take to create a moon atmoshere, is it possible?

Its the right distance from the sun and I think there is water on it. Thats a good start.
What could be done to create an atmosphere? Atomic bombs, some kind of atmosphere machine?

Mars is to far away from the sun, its to cold.



posted on Jun, 11 2007 @ 01:07 AM
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It has an atmosphere, it's just very very thin. As for water, there is no evidence of ice, or it's spread out in very small chunks, not thick sheets as they once thought.


The Moon has an atmosphere, but it is very tenuous. Gases in the lunar atmosphere are easily lost to space. Because of the Moon's low gravity, light atoms such as helium receive enough energy from solar heating so that they escape in just a few hours. Heavier atoms take longer to escape, but are ultimately ionized by the Sun's ultraviolet radiation, after which they are carried away from the Moon by the solar wind. This process takes a few months. Because of the rate at which atoms escape from the lunar atmosphere, there must be a continuous source of particles to maintain even a tenuous atmosphere. Sources for the lunar atmosphere include capture of particles from the solar wind and of material released from the impact of comets and meteorites. For some atoms, particularly helium-4 and argon-40, outgassing from the Moon's interior may also be a source.

www.lpi.usra.edu...

[edit on 6/11/2007 by Zaphod58]



posted on Jun, 11 2007 @ 01:07 AM
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Originally posted by earth2
What would it take to create a moon atmoshere, is it possible?

Its the right distance from the sun and I think there is water on it. Thats a good start.
What could be done to create an atmosphere? Atomic bombs, some kind of atmosphere machine?

Mars is to far away from the sun, its to cold.


I guess we could steer some comets toward it and smash them in. The Moon apparently doesn't have a lot of water on it, so finding a source of water and C02 and nitrogen would help. Comets, maybe. But even that comet impact experiment last year didn't really show up a lot of water. And of course, since the Moon doesn't have a lot of gravity, the atmosphere would bounce away pretty fast. So not only would we have to find a source for all the water and atmospheric gasses, we'd have to set up some system to continuously refresh the atmosphere there.

That sure is a lot of work, and expensive, too. So human beings won't be living in large numbers on the Moon anytime soon. A couple of small research labs, maybe. But mankind terraforming and colonizing the Moon and other planets isn't going to happen for a long, long time, if at all. Humanity as we know it probably isn't going to be around more than a couple thousand years as it is.

We're going to have to be satisfied trimming the human population on Earth by about half, and working to keep the atmosphere here nice and comfy. Because we ain't going nowhere.



posted on Jun, 11 2007 @ 01:28 AM
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Magnetic field would help to protect the planets atmosphere but ofcourse if you can get enough of gasses fast enough you can thicken it but I dont think its really realistic to try something like that on the moon even if there was all the needed resources down there.

Ofcourse depending on who you ask you might be told theres already an breathable atmosphere on Moon. I think its more logical if there is raw materials for it in there a base without actually trying to pump up gasses you could find from there into space in attempt to "make" an atmosphere.

There is, even according to mainstream science, already an "atmosphere" on moon. Its just made of gas we dont really consider something we can manage with.


Moon Atmosphere Wikipedia

I would imagine first thing you would need to do would be to have a way to increase its magnetic field to actually protect it from the harsh space weather thats pretty much slowly destroying anything in there with solar and cosmic radiation.

I suppose if there was way to get enough water vapor and liquid water up there you could increase greenhouse gas effect enough to get high enough temperatures. I think the main problem is the current average temperature of -53c. So I guess if you could get some kinda of gas / water spewing machines going in the parts that are always being heated up by the sun then you could in theory have it capture enough IR to capture the heat and warm up the moon. Not sure if theres everything we need up there to make a breathable athmosphere but heating the place up should be possible if you can get or make the needed machinery and resources up there.



Mars is to far away from the sun, its to cold.


I dont think mars is too far from the sun by any means. Its merely missing the critical gasses from its athmosphere to have a working greenhouse effect going up there. Granted it would be colder on average than earth even with a proper athmosphere but by no means would it be complete imposible to live there. It would seem theres alot more materials needed down there than on moon.

Youre basicly missing all the nitrogen and oxygen we have down here. If you can get those two combined with a proper magnetic field and you got a quite a nice little planet there. There is already an athmosphere on mars which in it self shows that things arent as bad down there as you might imagine. Theres proof of alot of water underground and there is all possibility to have everything you need to make the missing gasses right there on mars. With a thicker athmosphere you would get enough heat to have large parts of mars quite pleasant on the temperature charts.

[edit on 11/6/07 by Gonjo]



posted on Jun, 11 2007 @ 02:39 PM
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We would definately need a magnetic field. The Magnetic Field of Earth is the only thing that keeps all the harmful charged particles of the sun and solar winds from stripping our atmosphere. The question would be how to create the magnetic field on the moon

Of course we would need to create a core inside the moon or restart it if it already has one. Without the core generating the Magnetic Field then the moon will be just the moon. If we can accomplish the core and generate the magnetic field then we're ready to do the rest. Add some water, hydrogen, algae and other parts then we could start living and releasing our own methane into it's atmoshere. If we ever create nuclear fusion and keep it stable then maybe that could be a possible core.

en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

I feel we have along way to go before we can actually terraform a moon or planet. But who knows technology is moving along at a phenomenal rate of speed and 20 years down the road could be the starting point.















[edit on 6/11/2007 by Solarskye]

[edit on 6/11/2007 by Solarskye]



posted on Jun, 12 2007 @ 03:20 AM
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While a magnetic field would indeed prevent solar winds from eroding the atmosphere, it still wouldn’t be able to compensate for the lack of gravity. Even if we had an atmos-making machine it would have to run continuously to replenish gasses from escaping into space. Better off building self contained bases rather than terraforming the moon, imo…



posted on Jun, 12 2007 @ 06:43 AM
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Anybody ever played Milenium 2.2? Classic game available as an abndonware title. A lot of the science in the game was based on the science of the day. If there was a planet that was teetering between uninhabitable and habitable we can certainly create an advantage if we tried. Actually I think we will get a bit of practice.........



posted on Jun, 12 2007 @ 07:18 AM
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Venus has no magnetic field ( you can throw away your precious compass )- but a very, very thick atmosphere!


I am puzzled as why is Moon atmosphere denser during night time?


One curious detail is that the lunar atmosphere is much denser at night (when it is cooler) and also the composition changes: the Argon condenses out at sunset and is only released again in the morning; the small amount of Carbon Dioxide also freezes out and there is a strong tendency for the atmosphere to migrate across the terminator from the day to the night side.

source

[edit on 12-6-2007 by blue bird]



posted on Jun, 12 2007 @ 08:38 AM
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^
^^Good question, blue bird.

I wonder if there is some other gas in the Lunar atmosphere that is too thin to detect during the day, but becomes denser (but doesn't condense out of the atmosphere) during the lunar night. I'm not an astro-chemist, so I don't know what elements can remain gaseous at those cold nighttime temperatures (-280 F).

By the way -- an interesting point -- the Lunar "night" lasts for 2 weeks, as so does the Lunar "day".

[edit on 12-6-2007 by Soylent Green Is People]


Dae

posted on Jun, 12 2007 @ 08:41 AM
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Originally posted by blue bird
Venus has no magnetic field ( you can throw away your precious compass )- but a very, very thick atmosphere!


Venus does have a magnet field, they call it an 'induced' magnetosphere, which basically means it a reaction as opposed to the regular magnetic fields planets have.

Source


Spacecraft observations do show that Venus is not completely inert as a magnetic body. As the solar wind collides with the upper atmosphere, it causes electrical currents to flow in the Venusian ionosphere. These flowing currents generate their own weak magnetism, which spacecraft can detect as a comet-like magnetic 'wake' trailing behind the planet opposite the Sun.







posted on Jun, 12 2007 @ 02:56 PM
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Originally posted by Dae
Venus does have a magnet field, they call it an 'induced' magnetosphere, which basically means it a reaction as opposed to the regular magnetic fields planets have.



I was talking about magnetic field - and Venus does not have one!

'Induced' means: process of creating magnetic OBSTACLE through plasma interaction. Such induced magnetosphere in Venus is in magnetized plasma of the solar wind. Titan for exemple has it in its planetary magnetosphere.


And Venus is a comet


[edit on 12-6-2007 by blue bird]



posted on Jun, 12 2007 @ 03:11 PM
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The moon is too small to hold on to a useful atmosphere, and I don't think its would be at all practical to fiddle with the super thin one that is there already.



It would be far simpler and quicker to put up large Biomes like these. They can conceivably be made to massive proportions, especially in low gravity, and proximity to the sun in the same as earth of course growing vegetation shouldn't be to hard

[edit on 12/6/2007 by Now_Then]



posted on Jun, 14 2007 @ 09:46 AM
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That's exactly how I imagine mankind establishing on Mars actually.

The moon is way too small, and I wouldn't want to live there to be honest.

[edit on 14-6-2007 by ZikhaN]



posted on Jun, 14 2007 @ 11:32 AM
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That stuff that they make the sections from is pretty cool stuff; the steel frame is covered with ethyltetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) I had to look it up at Uni once. Each section is only a minimal weight, cant remember exactly, there are 3 layers of ETFT, 2 ousters and a middle, inflated a certain amount they can easily take a full rugby team in boots jumping on it with no damage!

The actual ETFE its self is amazing stuff - since the day it was created samples have been left in all the worst places on earth (bottom of ocean, top of mountain middle of dessert etc) with no deterioration - its almost indestructible - most importantly it stands up to UV.

I would put money on direct decedents of this stuff will be used in permanent bases, especially the early ones where they are still setting up mining operations.



posted on Jun, 14 2007 @ 02:45 PM
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Originally posted by Now_Then
The moon is too small to hold on to a useful atmosphere, and I don't think its would be at all practical to fiddle with the super thin one that is there already.



It would be far simpler and quicker to put up large Biomes like these. They can conceivably be made to massive proportions, especially in low gravity, and proximity to the sun in the same as earth of course growing vegetation shouldn't be to hard

[edit on 12/6/2007 by Now_Then]


How would they handle a meteor shower I wonder?
Looks extremely cool though.



posted on Jun, 14 2007 @ 06:12 PM
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Originally posted by earth2
How would they handle a meteor shower I wonder?
Looks extremely cool though.


Note the modular design,

Now Imagine large areas populated with these Biomes.

Now imagine several of these areas spread over a much larger area.

Now statistically that would be many baskets for your eggs. Also for each complex underground facilities would be needed (and if your building on a satellite that you also happen to be exploring, underground is gonna be important). I think early detection, and the nature of the structure would allow for a certain amount of loss due to meteors - I mean how often do they occur? Do I have more chance of winning the lottery?
don't answer that one.

Edit: spelling


[edit on 14/6/2007 by Now_Then]




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