Science and Theories

So, who is writing about Lunar Colonies?

I have some interesting data to share; it seems there are a couple of large underground caves in the moon, according to India’s Space agency lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1, coming in as more than one mile long and 393 feet wide, and the other, albeit smaller, one at 213 feet across and 289 feet deep discovered by the Japanese Space Agency Jaxa in 2009. While more of a hole than a cave, it is a part of a collapsed lava tube formed years ago in the Marius Hills Plateau. Their main attraction of a cave is their steady temperature of -4° F Whereas the lunar surface temperatures swing wildly from 262° F to a chilly -292° F. This could also protect astronauts from solar radiation, micro-meteoric impacts, and dust storms.

URL https://theweek.com/…/gigantic-underground-moon-cave

URL https://space.stackexchange.com/…/constant-lunar-sub…

URLhttps://sciencing.com/importance-earths-atmosphere-5070.html

My own theory is that it would be best to dig horizontally into the side of an existing crater, preferably in one of the polar regions as there has been recently been evidence of water found there. In addition to that, the polar region has the most constant sunlight which is important in maintaining a constant power supply. By digging into a crater wall, you would quickly be into a shelter from the elements and have the ability to custom build your facility according to your needs and available supplies. The caves mentioned above are located in the equatorial zone and experience longer times of darkness. This would require more alternative power sources or heavy dependence on storage batteries of some kind to get through the dark periods. You would also have to spend a lot of funding on resources in either partitioning off the huge spaces or supplying that space with an atmosphere. There are many day-to-day considerations whichever design is chosen. All of the recycling, power consumption, air replenishment, heating, cooling, and food resources that are used aboard a spacecraft in flight are quite similar to the logistical problems of a lunar colony. You cannot just step outside and grab a breath of fresh air, everything has a cost. TANSTAAFL. With a nod to Heinlein.

Gravity and loss of pressure aboard a ship during a space battle: are they related?

I recently had a discussion with an author regarding this subject in a book that he had written . There was a team of Space Marines in their hardened battle gear, fighting in and around a ship, and during the epic fight scenes some of the compartments were explosively vented to space. Now, as the Space Marines entered the ship they experienced a lack of gravity in these now airless compartments, only to fight their way through the ship to interior airlocks and, finding pressurized chambers they once again were fighting in gravity. I explained to the author, that whatever was supplying gravity to those compartments prior to them losing pressure, be it the spinning of the ship, or some as yet undeveloped gravity plate technology, simple lack of air would not affect the force of gravity. If power to those same gravity plates or whatever tech was supplying gravity was cut off only to those damaged compartments, perhaps then lack of gravity would be a localized event. The book was revised. The author was not embarrassed after printing. Whew!

Exposure to space: is it like the movies?

In case of temporary exposure to vacuum, a human may survive a short time by opening their mouth to allow the air in their lungs to exit. Holding their mouth shut would cause the tissues in the lungs to burst, causing more damage than letting the air out.  Exposure takes 3-6 minutes to actually kill, so it would be possible to for instance transfer to an open airlock without your suit as long as it closed and fresh air cycled rapidly enough into the lock for you to recover. Extremely painful but possible to survive.  The eyes, being 90% fluid are the first parts to freeze solid, ( in the first 2 minutes) but would not disintegrate as some authors have suggested.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/survival-in-space-unprotected-possible/

https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2012/08/how-would-you-die-in-outer-space.html