[meteorite-list] trips to the Moon (Moon bases and meteorite recovery)

From: Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2011 22:07:58 -0400
Message-ID: <BANLkTi=yYqp+pZaAb+rSf7-R+Vg0P-mVMg_at_mail.gmail.com>

Sorry for all of my typos - I meant to say :

Well taken, and I agree. Part of their mission was to retrieve lunar
samples, but imagine how many meteorites could be found if a team was
put on to the lunar surface with the primary focus of finding
meteorites and ignoring native lunar materials. :)

I'll stop posting now, I am having typing issues and developing
blabber mouth. LOL


On 6/27/11, Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi James,
>
> Well taken, and I agree. Part of their mission was to retrieve lunar
> samples, but how imagine meteorites could be found if a team was put
> on to the lunar surface with the primary focus of finding meteorites
> and ignoring native lunar materials. :)
>
> Maybe Acme H3 Industries, Inc, will have the spare room in their
> underground base to lease out space to a meteorite hunting team, and
> the necessary scientific equipment to use for the mission (modified
> rovers, infrastructure, etc).
>
> Heck, the mining teams might "unearth" (unlune?) buried meteorites
> from under layers of regolith.
>
> Best regards,
>
> MikeG
>
> --
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber (Michael Gilmer)
>
> Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
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> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> On 6/27/11, James Beauchamp <falcon99 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> " The Apollo astronauts were not meteorite hunters, nor did they have any
>> specific mission or training involving meteorites."
>>
>> Mike, I don't think that's quite correct. The Apollo crews were well
>> versed
>> in the expected geology, and were looking for quite a diverse lot of
>> rocks.
>> They spent many months training with geologists. Certainly, Dr. Schmitt
>> was no exception on Apollo 17. "From Earth to the Moon" episode 10 was
>> an
>> excellent, even a bit romanticized focus on the geology focus.
>> I think the focus was (and should have been) more anti-meteorite. We had
>> plenty of those. But we didn't have verified lunar samples - to include
>> cores and other different types. We needed more of those to verify the
>> origins of our companion, and very little time and resources on-hand to
>> get
>> them.
>> Just my thoughts on the matter. Obviously, I fully admit I should stay
>> in
>> my engineering corner, but couldn't help poking a little. :)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Mon, 6/27/11, Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> From: Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] trips to the Moon (Moon bases and meteorite
>> recovery)
>> To: "Edwin Thompson" <etmeteorites at hotmail.com>
>> Cc: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> Date: Monday, June 27, 2011, 7:43 PM
>>
>> Hi Edwin, Sterling, and List,
>>
>> I love a good science-fiction, science-fact, trip into speculation
>> land. It reminds me of the old pulp sci-fi novels from the 50's and
>> 60's that I have read, with rocketships and moon bases.
>>
>> Cosmic rays are not the only threat, there are also micro-meteorites
>> and meteorites. The Late Heavy Bombardment is long over, but there is
>> still a lot of debris peppering the Earth and Moon on a regular basis.
>> With no atmosphere, the lunar surface is basically naked to incoming
>> impactors. A base facility on the lunar surface would be subject to
>> high-velocity impacts on a random basis.
>>
>> Now we can all imagine how the lunar surface is probably littered with
>> plentiful meteorites. The Apollo astronauts were not meteorite
>> hunters, nor did they have any specific mission or training involving
>> meteorites. The first meteorite recovery team to be stationed on the
>> Moon would be the very first people to hunt the surface - the opposite
>> of being "hunted out". The problem is the lethal environment
>> involved. It would be a death-trap full of meteorites if not handled
>> properly. The Apollo astronauts could not stay out for the extended
>> periods necessary to walk a grid or do a meaningful amount of
>> searching for suspect rocks. Although we have made some advancements
>> since then, the lunar surface is still the most hostile, alien, and
>> lethal environment that an Earthly meteorite hunter could imagine.
>> Our modern day meteornauts on the Moon would have to rely on radar,
>> remote rovers, and man-operated rovers.
>>
>> To have any permanent presence on the Moon, the surface would need a
>> warning system for incoming impactors. We can assume an early-warning
>> detection system, partially automated, that consists of satellites and
>> surface-based radars, telescopes, and other sensors. This warning
>> system would detect potential impactors that are large enough to
>> damage facilities or personnel. So, we could have a lunar rover that
>> could carry a small team of 2 individuals over a long distance with a
>> meaningful duration (say, several hours, or even "overnight" in some
>> cases.). These individuals would be dispatched to retrieve
>> large/heavy meteorites that smaller unmanned rovers could not pick up.
>> They could safely travel the surface (relatively speaking) and they
>> could be warned to evade/avoid a potentially deadly strike by the
>> warning system. They would still have to worry about the rare fluke
>> micro-meteorite or one that slips through the detection system, but it
>> would be slightly better odds than a crap-shoot.
>>
>> The bulk of the searching and retrieval would be accomplished by
>> robust remote-operately rovers. These would be larger than the
>> current Mars rovers we know so well (thanks for the always reliable
>> updates Mr. Baalke!), but small enough to be produced on a low to
>> modest budget. Essentially it would be a "wander and grab" rover with
>> a sophisticated optical system than can scan the lunar surface in high
>> resolution and provide a "first person" view to the rover operator who
>> is located miles away in an underground facility. It's main
>> attributes would be quickness (to cover larger amounts of real estate
>> in a much shorter time span than today's rovers), keen eyes (cameras),
>> and economy of travel (able to stay afield for extended periods of
>> time).
>>
>> The rover would also have a robotic arm and a collection bin than can
>> be hermetically sealed. The operator would use the rover to locate
>> and retrieve all meteorites within the operating range of the rover.
>> Those meteorites which are too large, too heavy, or too numerous for
>> the rover to recover, would be assigned to a manned rover mission to
>> recover the specimens.
>>
>> I don't think there would be a lunar base built just to retrieve
>> meteorites. However, one can envision a scientific base that is an
>> all-purpose facility to house a number of teams that are based there
>> for extended periods of time and are rotated in and out. Astronomers,
>> chemists, physicists, geologists....the potential uses for a lunar
>> surface facility would be many and varied, and meteorites could be one
>> of those missions.
>>
>> Instead of ANSMET, we could have MOONMET - now who is going to apply
>> for the first expedition?
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> MikeG
>>
>> --
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber (Michael Gilmer)
>>
>> Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
>> Facebook - http://tinyurl.com/42h79my
>> News Feed - http://www.galactic-stone.com/rss/126516
>> Twitter - http://twitter.com/galacticstone
>> EOM - http://www.encyclopedia-of-meteorites.com/collection.aspx?id=1564
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>> On 6/27/11, Edwin Thompson <etmeteorites at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> http://www.space.com/1111-private-moon-trips-forecast.html
>>>
>>>
>>> Dear fellow listers, for only 100 million dollars you can go to the moon
>>> and
>>> gather your own Lunar specimens. It could be a very profitable
>>> enterprise.
>>> But the rumor mill has it that China will be going to the Moon next. If
>>> you
>>> go there be sure to dodge those nasty cosmic rays.
>>>
>>> There is a society of brainiacs that has designed a substantial Moon
>>> base.
>>> Sadly that facility must be built beneath the Lunar surface in a
>>> volcanic
>>> cavern to shield the inhabitants from cosmic ray exposure.
>>>
>>>
>>> Cheers, E.T.
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>

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Received on Mon 27 Jun 2011 10:07:58 PM PDT