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Why Scientists Are Calling for the Moon to Be Better Protected from Development

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Why Scientists Are Calling for the Moon to Be Better Protected from Development

#51

Post by max-ibel »

palata wrote: post #31
d_burfoot wrote: post #16

There was a similar theme in Kim Stanley Robinson's book Red Mars - a lot of the initial crew of colonists actually wanted to preserve the planet in its pristine state. I thought this was completely crazy. There are no ecosystems to protect, no endangered species, no green living things. Moving development from Earth into space should count as an overwhelming win for the environment.

> “We need to preserve the far side for exciting science that includes measuring magnetic fields associated with potentially habitable exoplanets and uncovering the mysteries of the unexplored Dark Ages of the early universe—using low radio frequency observations” Does that sound completely crazy? Like... the fact that they want to study it before private companies destroy it for their own benefit? > Moving developme…

Nothing will "move". Think of it as "cp", not "mv".

Re: Why Scientists Are Calling for the Moon to Be Better Protected from Development

#53

Post by RajT88 »

nemo44x wrote: post #45
erellsworth wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: What is the difference between telling people what they can and can't do on the moon vs telling people what they can and can't do on vacant land here on earth? If I go out to some remote area in the United States and start building houses, I'll almost certainly get into legal trouble, especially if I don't have any permits and definitely if I don't own the land. Who gets to own the moon? Is it just…

> Who gets to own the moon? The United States of America currently owns the moon as they are the only country to put a flag into it. (In case anyone can't detect the joke - theres a treaty from 1967 that says every nation hsa equal access to the moon)

(In Eddie Izzard voice): "Do you have a flag?"

Re: Why Scientists Are Calling for the Moon to Be Better Protected from Development

#55

Post by Ajedi32 »

So many commenters seem to be missing the point of this article. None of this is about "preserving the environment". Its about how to allocate the moon's scarce natural resources, such as sites with cold temperatures necessary for astronomy, areas with no radio interference for radio astronomy, and mining sites rich in natural resources such as helium-3. Some of these sites overlap with each other and would require coordination to ensure usage for one purpose doesn't interfere with other possible uses for the same site. These are valid concerns definitely worth thinking about now.

Re: Why Scientists Are Calling for the Moon to Be Better Protected from Development

#56

Post by firtoz »

dotnet00 wrote: post #50
tw04 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If someone can cut down the entire Amazon Rainforest, I say let them. What a fantastical technical achievement." Whether you're trolling or not, what a horrible take unless you're hoping the human race just wipes itself out. With our current rate of technological progress, someone having the ability to mine the moon to nothing is at most 500 years away, maybe sooner if they find something under the surface that make…

A species that has the technical capability to mine and transport away ~10^23 kg of mass, is a species that has the capability to replace that mass.

What if they invested too much into greed and not nearly enough into self preservation?

Re: Why Scientists Are Calling for the Moon to Be Better Protected from Development

#57

Post by dotnet00 »

JohnMakin wrote: post #32

I understand study of the early universe has potentially important ramifications in physics - but scanning exoplanets for evidence of life seems pointless to me. Say we found life within 10 LY of our solar system. What would we even do with this information?

10LY is close enough that given a sufficiently motivating factor, like strong evidence of life, we could build machines to study them in more detail. There are concepts for telescopes which are technically feasible with current or near future technology, albeit very expensive and long travel times, that could take much more detailed images of the planet, eg a solar gravitational lensing telescope.

Hell, 10ly is close enough to feasibly do a probe flyby in a hundred years or so if we put more attention on refining relevant technologies like solar sails and nuclear propulsion.

Also, the detection of life that close would have important implications for things like the fermi paradox. If we find any life within 10ly, it becomes more likely that the universe is absolutely teeming with life.

But if that's the case, why isn't it absolutely teeming with intelligent life as well? Even at our relatively basic space travel capabilities, we can see that traveling between stars, or even just communicating between stars is not technically infeasible, especially for machines.

Re: Why Scientists Are Calling for the Moon to Be Better Protected from Development

#59

Post by firtoz »

jasonjayr wrote: post #43
tw04 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If someone can cut down the entire Amazon Rainforest, I say let them. What a fantastical technical achievement." Whether you're trolling or not, what a horrible take unless you're hoping the human race just wipes itself out. With our current rate of technological progress, someone having the ability to mine the moon to nothing is at most 500 years away, maybe sooner if they find something under the surface that make…

If there's iron there, then there's the potential for Low-background Steel ...

Well, until we drop some nukes on there.
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