Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)

esa.int

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 288 posts

Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)

#231

Post by jordanb »

dotancohen wrote: post #168
jordanb wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was some concern when Apollo 11 landed that when they repressurized the LEM with moon dust samples inside it would start a fire. I think they had a small test article that they blew a small stream of oxygen over to ensure it wouldn't auto-ignite.

And if the sample did auto-ignite, what was the procedure?

I read it in Buzz Aldrin's book. He mentioned getting rid of all the samples if that happened. I would think the bigger problem would be moon dust all over their suits, but he didn't describe a plan for that.

He said they thought the odds of that happening were remote though, so I guess they decided to risk it with the suits. Apparently he mentioned the problem to his dad who accidentally told a reporter sitting next to him on a flight leading to a big media cycle about "flaming moon dust" prior to the mission.

Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)

#232

Post by aerhardt »

i_love_retros wrote: post #218
consumer451 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My friend, misanthropy is giving last year energy. Don't get so down. In other under-reported news: until the Earth reaches 100% de-population, it can in-fact get worse. Therefore, it's currently not that bad! Let's take a moment to appreciate that we live on a populated planetary body. The Peter Thiel has not yet achieved its ultimate goal. Good times.

> My friend, misanthropy is giving last year energy. Don't get so down. Have you read the news lately?

No - that’s my secret.

Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)

#233

Post by tclancy »

fellowmartian wrote: post #167
SecretDreams wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the thinking of someone on the timescales of a single life. If humanity persists another 1000 years on our current trajectory (US/world politics not withstanding), I think nothing is really a fantasy. Rather, it's all possible but maybe just not in our own lifetimes. But it is also terribly difficult for us to plan for tomorrow, let alone for a future where our descendants are at the helm.

I agree, it’s just a failure of imagination. Some folks correctly foresee not being able to continue what we’re doing now in the exact same way in some new context and conclude everything is impossible. Life isn’t this fickle, it’s adapted before and will adapt again. This is why great science fiction is so valuable, as some people are better at imagining new ways of being more than others, and can show the rest of u…

Well, of course you would say that.

Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)

#235

Post by kortex »

yubblegum wrote: post #215
floam wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stars make it, our sun is made of it, it’s the third most abundant element. Distant third

Somehwat surprised to see there are twice more Oxygen atoms than Carbon.

Carbon + helium fusion is rather favorable, vs carbon production by the triple alpha process (3He), so it's just reaction kinetics essentially.

Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)

#237

Post by cineticdaffodil »

dotancohen wrote: post #168
jordanb wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was some concern when Apollo 11 landed that when they repressurized the LEM with moon dust samples inside it would start a fire. I think they had a small test article that they blew a small stream of oxygen over to ensure it wouldn't auto-ignite.

And if the sample did auto-ignite, what was the procedure?

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome or perish. One of the first man in orbit almost died because his suit couldnt fold its arms in vacuum. The enterprise moment where you encounter something new and unforseen must be scary as fuck.

Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)

#238

Post by OutOfHere »

Terraforming Luna or Mars is a stupid idea due to their toxic dust. It would be a lot easier to just mine them and construct a rotating habitat in space. The space mission I want to see is one that brings out a container full of rocks from the planetary body back to Earth or to a space station for processing and construction.

Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)

#239

Post by rigonkulous »

ItsClo688 wrote: post #154
stonecharioteer wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what trips me up about terraforming. If we learn to create an atmosphere, are we going to instantly poison the oxygen we introduce?

great questionprobably not poison it directly, but you'd lose a significant chunk to oxidation reactions before reaching any stable equilibrium. the surface is essentially a massive reactive sink. mars has a similar problem, the perchlorate in the soil would react badly with a lot of things we'd want to introduce. the optimistic read is that oxidation reactions release energy and eventually reach stability. the pessi…

The realistic read would then be, we'd be better off just blowing a giant bubble of water in any number of lagrange point and having ourselves a brand new water park to play with, bring dolphins to, etc ...

Oh wait no that's a different kind of read.

Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)

#240

Post by lisper »

cornholio wrote: post #170
stonecharioteer wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what trips me up about terraforming. If we learn to create an atmosphere, are we going to instantly poison the oxygen we introduce?

Terraforming is an exceptionally energetic endeavor. Even if you had the perfect combination of icy asteroids with just the right amount of water, nitrogen, oxigen etc. and the means to hurl them towards Mars, this kinetic event would be so energetic that it would take centuries to millennia before the surface would cool to habitable temperatures. it's not physically possible to do it ex in the span of a human lifeti…

Just put a parachute on the asteroid.

;-)

Post reply on HN