Solar sails to increase the spin of the moon.

[aman]

I was just curious if it would be possible to construct solar sails at the moons equater to increase the moons spin to near the moons escape velocity. It would make mining a lot easier. After all the moon is just one big spaceship up there relative to us. Landing at the poles would be simple and mining ores could be moved to the equater and pushed off the surface to waiting nets for transport. No problems launching bulk ores

Not that we'd ever do it. I was just wondering if it was feasable.:scratch:

Just aman

[TrIVIAL/\bLue]

I think it would be possible. It would be very hard. I dont know if the added material might do somthing to the orbit or change somthing other than spin. Also if you increase the spin wouln't it start to move farther out from earth.

 

But hey, I'll leave the true answer to a scientist

 

 

 

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Be happy and I won't come over there:p

[Radical Edward]

it would be possible, however it would probably be entirely impractical when considering the size of the moon. The moon's escape velocity is pretty low anyway, and it doesn't have an atmosphere to be bothered with, so it's not that hard to get of (this can be seen when we compare the takeoff of the saturn rockets, and the eagle). A much easier solution would probably be to build linear accelerators and power them with the abundant solar energy resourcas that are to hand. (plus if we ever get it working, there is alot of He3 on the moon too, which may be usable for fusion)

 

increasing the spin to such velocities may also have other issues, such as warping and damaging the planet too, which would be a bit of a pain if bits fell off.

 

oh, and if you set the moon spinning, it shouldn't move out from the earth - it is actaully rotating at the moment, only just once a month.

[aman]

A different approach. If I was on the moons equater and started walking west with a whole bunch of helpers from the ghetto. We sprayed white paint from spray cans on every surface facing us all the way around the moon back to our starting point. Then we turned around and walked east spraying the opposite side of every surfac black with spray cans until we reached our starting point again.

Would we effect the spin of the moon over time?:shrug:

Just curious.

Just aman:cool2:

[Radical Edward]

light pressure... yes, it would work. you might do better with mirrors with a black back to them (the momentum change in one direction would be approximately double the other, creating a torque). you would however have to be extremely patient to do this though, and I suspect that the sun would run out of hydrogen some time before it made a big effect.

[aman]

At some point the mirrors might reflect towards the Earth. It could get pretty bright at that point. Maybe settle for 90% reflection. Over eons I think the moon might self destruct but I guess I'll have to do the math to see if it will be before the solar system ends.

Another question though. What spins the black and white tabs in the globes when they are balanced on a pin on those old toys that look like lightbulbs? I don't know how many of you have seen them but as a kid we placed them in the sun and they really cranked.:rant: Or am I just showing my age?

Just aman:doh:

[Radical Edward]

I don't think you'd really want to do it at all, never mind make the mirrors 90% really , as I said, getting stuff off the moon is pretty easy anyway.

 

dunno what those toys were, but I have a suspicion it could be light pressure of exactly the sort we are discussing that made them work.

 

would I be right in saying that they only spun when the light was on?

[dragoon]

Did you forget that the moon also changes the tides in our oceans would increasing the speed of rotation of the moon increase the rotation of the moon around the earth and increase our tides... we might end up swimming.

[Radical Edward]

that would be the speed the moon orbits around the earth, we mean the speed at which the moon spins on it's axis.

[dragoon]

so spinning it on it's axis would not change the speed of it's orbit at all?

[aman]

The only thing we would ever observe on the Earth would be the other side of the moon at times and at some point a good light show as ejecta left the surface of the moon and hit our atmosphere. It might mess with astrologers heads in their calculations but other than public opinion we wouldn't notice a change.

Why I was mentioning this is because someday we may have to divert large extraterestrial masses to keep Earth safe. Maybe we could attach a large solar sail hang glider to an asteroid and point it away from us. We just need to catch it far enough away.

I love hang gliding except that time I broke my leg.

Come up with a design and maybe they'll let you go along and set it up.:bravo: Be a young hero:bravo:

Just aman

[Radical Edward]

that is one proposal to get rid of this one that is going to smash into us in 2019

[dragoon]

So they already know we are going to get smashed???

But they havent done anything about it yet....

Why do we have to wait til the last moment? Maybe half of us will get smashed and the other half can help rebuild noah's ark or something. I just dont understand why the government has to wait considering they dont have the power to just sit here and blast it to pieces in about 5secounds but might takes years to change it's path....

[Radical Edward]

I exaggerate a bit.. they don't know if it will smash into us yet, but 17 years is planety of time. If it is going to hit us, tehy will know in a couple of months, and seeing as it has a nice short orbit, I suspect they will knock it out of it's current orbit when it reaches aphehilion. (the furthest point from teh sun, where it's kinetic energy is least, and hence momentum can be more easily applied in a given direction)

[dragoon]

exxageration can be the end of us as we know it =-)

[aman]

It's August now and they changed their minds. The local newspaper says it's not going to hit us after all.

And I spent all that money stocking the celler with the two most important necessities of life during a crisis. Jack Daniels and toilet paper.

Maybe if everybody took all the toilet paper out of their bomb shelters and piled it where the asteroid was gonna hit it would get a soft landing. Maybe.

Just aman

 

C'mon, You youngsters are gonna have to save the world some day while I'm in a nursing home drooling on my keyboard. I'm counting on ya.:bravo: :bravo: