From: utzoo!decvax!pur-ee!uiucdcs!barnes
Newsgroups: net.space
Title: Re: Reactors on the moon - (nf)
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.728
Posted: Mon Sep 20 11:34:51 1982
Received: Tue Sep 21 08:02:51 1982

#R:sri-unix:-328000:uiucdcs:12700012:000:1131
uiucdcs!barnes    Sep 19 19:49:00 1982

	I seem to recall from my history classes that back a few
decades we thought the oceans and remote sections of our planet
were big enough to take it.  The World has a slightly different
opinion now.
	In 5000 years I don't think that hunk of rock will mean
anything to us execpt as a museum.  Think of what was happening
on this planet 5000 years ago and if we survive another 5000 years,
we won't be worrying about little star systems like this one.

				uiucdcs!barnes

***** uiucdcs:net.space / mcdaniel /  9:09 pm  Sep 16, 1982

However, Luna is a *B*I*G* rock! There is plenty of room for just
about anything you'd like to do. Furthermore, unlike the earth,
one spot is just about as good as any other (no weather, river,
air pressure, etc. worries -- just land roughness, and that can
be solved with a grader or by going down to one of the "seas".)
Luna's radius is Order(3000 km) (plus or minus 75%!), and
tha surface area of a sphere is 4*pi*r*r (I think), so
the lunar surface has an area of 4*3*3e3*3e3 = 1e8 or so
square kilometers of more or less usable area (give or take a factor
of 100). Plenty of room.
 
----------