Scientists plan to melt moondust to make lunar roads. Astronauts may have to do more moon-driving than moon-walking during future missions.::If we want space missions to be successful, we need to build Moon roads. Scientists plan to use lasers and moondust - here’s how.

    • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      My first thought when reading the headline was how pissed is the fuckcars movement gonna be when they find your carbrains are building roads on the moon lol

    • Anti-Antidote@lemmy.zip
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      8 months ago

      As much as I’d love to bike on the moon, our rovers don’t last more than a few hours at most when dealing with lunar regolith - it’s highly abrasive and gets everywhere

        • Anti-Antidote@lemmy.zip
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          8 months ago

          Yes, it’s very irritating lol. Basically, you know how sand is fairly abrasive by our standards? Well, sand has had millennia to get smoothed over by the natural cycles of our planet. As such, it’s fairly smooth all things considered.

          Lunar regolith has not had that same opportunity. It is extremely sharp - sharp enough to cut kevlar. There’s a reason so much engineering goes into making EVA suits for lunar environments.

    • Gladaed@feddit.de
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      8 months ago

      Cars are great, if there are few. Can’t have everyone in one when you live densely.

  • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    Should the headline be “discovered” instead of “plan”? Plan makes it sound like this is in work despite discovering how to do that so recently.

  • pastermil@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    There’s one thing they seem to be forgetting.

    How the fuck are they gonna send that many people to warrant the road-building? I mean, they could, but would definitely break their banks.

    • Windex007@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Honestly the number of people required to send is zero, because they’re for vehicles and it isn’t a strict requirement that they have humans in them.

      As long as there is “stuff” that needs transporting, you’ll want vehicles, and if you want vehicles you probably want roads.

  • willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    8 months ago

    And what’s going to protect the lens from the lunar dust?

    They might need a diamond lens or something.

    • DistractedDev@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Just put the laser high enough above the ground, like in orbit, and nothing will ever reach the lens.

  • friend_of_satan@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I wonder if those light stands are going to fall over when the rocket leaves. Is there enough atmosphere on the moon to blast them down?

    Edit: great job downvoting me for being curious about physics in space! We sure don’t want people wondering and asking questions about the world we live in.