Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!godot!ima!ISM780!chris From: chris@ISM780.UUCP Newsgroups: net.space Subject: Lunar Colony Message-ID: <135@ISM780.UUCP> Date: Sat, 2-Mar-85 01:05:32 EST Article-I.D.: ISM780.135 Posted: Sat Mar 2 01:05:32 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 4-Mar-85 07:52:56 EST Lines: 39 Nf-ID: #N:ISM780:33300003:000:1779 Nf-From: ISM780!chris Mar 1 10:19:00 1985 I've been wondering about how much mass would be needed to get a small colony started on the moon. I'm assuming that the colony would be 4 to 8 people living on the moon for a couple of years. There would be flights from earth, but they would not (because of cost) be able to bring each and every item that was needed. What i suspect they would bring is complicated manufactured items (like chips, carbon mono-filament, carbide tipped machine tool bits) that would be too difficult to manufacture on the moon. It seems like one of the first orders of business would be to start some type of farm, because food is high bulk, and people need a lot of it every day. Water and oxygen would be broken out of the rocks, and metals smelted using solar mirrors. Living arrangements would almost certainly have to be underground to provide cheap protection against sunlight, radiation, micrometeorites and big tempreture changes. One housing technique might be to dig a hole, put in a big ballon, and cover it with foam in place plastic to provide a rigid shell. This would then be covered with lunar soil as an insulator. Here is the list of stuff (by no means comprehensive) that looks necessary: a lathe Food for ~1 year plastic monomers solar mirror pieces (don't have to be very good) plastic tents digging equipment (vacuum version of small cat) water fertilizers, seeds, farming tools electronic repair kit medical equipment and drugs explosives wire, lights, general electrical contractors stuff air renewer (and spares) pressure suits This is looking like quite a bit of mass. How do we get it into orbit, and how do we get it down to the lunar surface? chris kostanick decvax!vortex!ism780!chris