The moon: not so dry anymore (MORE SCIENCE!)

[13_CBS]

"“Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn’t find just a little bit. We found a significant amount,” said Anthony Colaprete, the principal investigator for Nasa’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, holding up a white water bucket for emphasis. (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091115-236337/Thrilling-discovery-Lots-of-water-on-moon)

:smalleek:

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

You're a day slowhttp://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131593

Edit: A couple of days.

Anyways, I'm waiting for the Moon Aliens to declare war on us.

[lobablob]

You're a day slowhttp://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131593

Edit: A couple of days.

Anyways, I'm waiting for the Moon Aliens to declare war on us.

I wouldn't worry about moon men (http://www.basicinstructions.net/?p=875) too much.

[EmeraldPhoenix]

I personally choose to belive it is either bullcrap, or not as interesting as they make it out to be. Keep in mind, there are lots (http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/24/2079015.aspx) of (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11736311/) places (http://www.solarviews.com/eng/europa.htm) in the solar system with water.

[Astrella]

Well, the moon would be a nice jump-off point for exploration further into the solar system. And with water present, you got fuel (hydrogen) available already.

[Gamerlord]

My pointy things will protect me from the moon men's soft skin...

[CapedLuigiYoshi]

My pointy things will protect me from the moon men's soft skin...

Won't protect you from the moon rabbits. They're psycho, and they have glowing red eyes, and sharp teeth, and they can fly around like a so-bad-it's-good special effect, and they can decieve people by looking ordinary until someone goes to lop their silly little heads off. Better stock up on holy hand grenades...

Why yes, I did just see Monty Python for the first time, why do you ask?:smalltongue:

[13_CBS]

Won't protect you from the moon rabbits. They're psycho, and they have glowing red eyes, and sharp teeth, and they can fly around like a so-bad-it's-good special effect, and they can decieve people by looking ordinary until someone goes to lop their silly little heads off.



Now that's mean. You've gone and made poor Reisen cry.

http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/86578807/10881129

[CapedLuigiYoshi]

Now that's mean. You've gone and made poor Reisen cry.

http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/86578807/10881129

Exception, not rule. (Though she can use the glowing red eyes.)

And I was really thinking people would only get the Monty Python reference... I'm such a geek for being a half-geek.:smalltongue:

[kamikasei]

I personally choose to belive it is either bullcrap, or not as interesting as they make it out to be.

Er... why?

I mean, they've found there's water on the moon. That's not bullcrap, unless you think for some bizarre reason that they're lying. As to "not as interesting as they make it out to be", I don't find NASA themselves overselling their discoveries too often, and if some media reporting is blowing it out of all proportion then that's just the sad state of science journalism in general.

Your attitude puzzles me. (That said, the OP's ":smalleek:" also puzzles me.)

[Closak]

Meh, if the moonmen comes we just nuke them.

We have a lot of nukes, and they need to be used for something.


...*Starts firing nukes at random asteroids*

[potatocubed]

We have a lot of nukes, and they need to be used for something.

World's most dangerous game of Jenga.

[Khanderas]

World's most dangerous game of Jenga.
I guess something has to be done to make Jenga intresting and/or fun.

[Mercenary Pen]

I guess something has to be done to make Jenga intresting and/or fun.

Yeah, but it's cheaper to just make the players do it whilst balancing a bag of sugar on the back of their hand whilst taking their turn.

[Lost Demiurge]

This is pretty good news.

The moon's easy to get to, and a good launching point for spreading out to the rest of the solar system. The presence of water makes a colony look a lot more feasible, and hydrogen for fuel means that we won't have to waste fuel pushing heavy liquid up Earth's gravity well.

This news means we may just possibly start spreading out from this world before I die. This makes me very, very happy. Maybe I won't make it to space, but one of my kids might have the chance someday...

[Another_Poet]

http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/86578807/10881129

Best. .Gif. Ever.

[Anuan]

Am I the only person that reads it and thinks 'hey, this reduces the water crisis' before I think 'hey, space-stations!' ?

[sihnfahl]

Am I the only person that reads it and thinks 'hey, this reduces the water crisis' before I think 'hey, space-stations!' ?
What brings you to that conclusion?

[BRC]

Am I the only person that reads it and thinks 'hey, this reduces the water crisis' before I think 'hey, space-stations!' ?

Except there is extra water on earth, and it would be significant easier to ship water to places that need it (Which is, in of itself, a very difficult undertaking considering the amount of water we would be talking about) than to gather and ship it from the Moon.

[Anuan]

Yes, but which would you rather drink? Homebrand Refiltered Seawater (99% less salt!) or Phase's MOONWATER (tm!)? >.>

[Inhuman Bot]

Meh, we have peashooters and reshirts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCOM)

No aliens worry me.

[Lord of Syntax]

I welcome our OLDMEME overlords

[Ashen Lilies]

Yes, but which would you rather drink? Homebrand Refiltered Seawater (99% less salt!) or Phase's MOONWATER (tm!)? >.>

...
*opens mouth*
...
*closes mouth*
...
I'll take my chances with the seawater, thanks. >.<

[Haven]

Am I the only person that reads it and thinks 'hey, this reduces the water crisis' before I think 'hey, space-stations!' ?

There's already quite a bit of water on Earth. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Understatement) (Enough that, really, it's the other way around...)

[chiasaur11]

Meh, we have peashooters and reshirts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCOM)

No aliens worry me.

We deal with the Martians.

When it comes to moon-men, you're on your own, pal.

[centuriancode]

This is pretty good news.

The moon's easy to get to, and a good launching point for spreading out to the rest of the solar system. The presence of water makes a colony look a lot more feasible, and hydrogen for fuel means that we won't have to waste fuel pushing heavy liquid up Earth's gravity well.

This news means we may just possibly start spreading out from this world before I die. This makes me very, very happy. Maybe I won't make it to space, but one of my kids might have the chance someday...

Easy to get to? Well, comparatively... to Mars. It's not quite as easy as you think though, despite how long we've been able to get there, it's still not especially easy and it's ridiculously expensive.

Oh, and to further crush hopes and dreams, we are very UNlikely to leave the planet's surface on mass in any of our lifetimes. Among other things the moon has no breathable atmosphere and nice as water is, breathing it is still drowning. Honestly, a colony ship (something with a couple of thousand people so as to maintain viable gene pool and being able to get away from relatives) is much more likely than lunar cities because we won't have to create an impossibly large atmosphere. Science Fiction may love living on the Moon, but science fact don't.

[hamishspence]

The issue isn't so much the Moon itself, as the cost of leaving the Moon, compared to the cost of leaving Earth.

A mining colony on the moon, which builds and launches the ships that leave to the rest of the Solar System, will be cheaper overall than launching everything from the Earth, and building the ships in Earth orbit.

As for atmosphere- given the radiation flux, it probably makes more sense to burrow into the lunar rock, and build the bases underground.

Terraforming the Moon itself is implausible because of the low gravity- all bases would need to be enclosed.

[BRC]

People seem to be assuming there is lakes and puddles on the Moon. This in incorrect.
I'm in a class about Colonization of Space, and we've been discussing this.

What they mean is that they found Moisture on the moon, spread out throughout lunar material. It's less "Lakes" and more "Moist Dirt". That said, the water can be Harvested from said Moist Dirt.

That said, according to this class, our spacefaring progress has been stunted a good deal. During the Space Race, most shuttles were built using "Cost Plus" Contracts, where the government would promise to pay the company whatever the shuttle/rocket whatever it cost to build, plus some more. This meant that these technologies were built in a cost-unconstrained environment, so when the Space Race ended and the Government didn't feel like spending so much money on space travel, we had all these technologies that were too expensive to be practical. We currently have (or could gain with proper funding) all the technologies we would need to begin basic Martian colonization.

[hamishspence]

Still, the discovery of Moist Dirt raises interesting possibilities.

The idea of underground seas of Luna does stir the imagination.