The Moon's Magnetic Umbrellas

eldavojohn writes "When it comes to space exploration, there are things that are good for humans (water) and things that are bad for humans (radiation). In order for exploration of the moon to occur, its lack of a global magnetic shield to block solar radiation must be addressed. Luckily, scientists have discovered that there are highly magnetized areas of the moon's crust that could shield settlements." From the article: "Current evidence suggests that impact-basin ejecta materials [material blasted out by huge asteroid or comet impacts] are the most likely sources of many or all of the magnetic fields ... These ejecta contain microscopic metallic iron particles that are the carriers of the magnetization."

hmmm...

[operato (782224)]

can't we just hide underneath some rocks? or can radiation get through moon rock since it's made of cheese?

Re:

[by Anonymous Coward]

It takes work to hid under rocks. Not as much as it takes to use a shift key, but it still takes some work.

This is ridiculous

[Timesprout (579035)]

How the fuck can cheese possibly be magnetic!

TMA-1

[$RANDOMLUSER (804576)]

I understand there's a large magnetic anomoly in the Tycho crater...

Re:TMA-1

[Speare (84249)]

The parent was a reference to the "Tycho Magnetic Anomaly 1," the discovery of the second Monolith in the novel and movie, "2001: A Space Odyssey."

The first monolith was temporarily positioned near the early homo erectus tribes, giving them a sort of gift of wonder and exploration, which immediately translated to tool usage and subsequent dominance over their competing tribes for resources.

The second monolith was a simple beacon to indicate when mankind was ready to travel away from its home planet. It was buried under the crust of the moon, and the ONLY indication it gave to humanity was that it disturbed the natural magnetic flux of an inert rocky ball. Tycho itself may have even been shaped to help lead mankind to it. Once exposed to the vacuum of space, it sent a loud radio signal that would be heard by the likely discoverers as well as lead them to the next monolith breadcrumb.

Of course, Dave Bowman found the third monolith despite the psychotic interference of a computer with competing secret directives.

Re:

[networkBoy (774728)]

Great. You spoiler you. you just ruined it for me, not there's no point in watching the movie. Haven't you heard of ROT-13 encoding for spoilers?
.
.
.
insensitive clod.

-nB ;)

Re:

[Amazing Quantum Man (458715)]

He was trying to be super-secret with his spoilers, so he used double ROT-13.

Re:

[gEvil (beta) (945888)]

Proof that "evolution" is nothing but science fiction...

Terraforming

[Pink_Ranger (1024741)]

So does that mean that terraforming is out of the question? I mean, even if we could create and hold an atmosphere (impossible for lack of gravity), would the moon remain uninhabitable due to a weak magnetosphere?

Re:Terraforming

[Apocalypse111 (597674)]

Pretty much. The Earth is habitable primarily because of its strong magnetosphere. This magnetic field deflect a large amount of the harmful radiation (and other particles in the solar wind) that would otherwise blow away our atmosphere and fry us all. Now, the whole domed-city concept is still possible, if impractical, and there's always the possibility of building underground and using the lunar surface as a radiation shield - but terraforming? Not really.

Re:

[jmichaelg (148257)]

The Earth is habitable primarily because of its strong magnetosphere.

Showing my ignorance here but I thought the atmosphere was the key shield against radiation. The magnetic poles switch every so often and while they're switching I thought the magnetosphere pretty much collapses. Yet life appears to go on.

Re:

[Apocalypse111 (597674)]

True - the atmosphere does stop some of the radiation, such as how the ozone layer stops UV light. The majority of the radioactive particles are stopped by the magnetic field, with part of it coming in to the atmosphere in the form of the Arora Borealis.

At least, this is how I remember hearing it from that Discovery channel special about the history of the earth.

Short List

[richdun (672214)]

Other things that are bad for humans in space:

Vaccuum
Lack of hospitable worlds within a light-lifetime of Earth
Space junk in LEO
Lack of food/flora/fauna
Lack of easy return trips
Metric/English conversions
Klingons
Frakking toasters
Pod bay doors
Random ion storms which give superhuman powers
Maniacal dictators who for some reason want to use their newest Deus Ex Machina on Earth ...

Re:

[Apocalypse111 (597674)]

Random ion storms which give superhuman powers

I thought you said these things were supposed to be bad for humans... if that's the case sign me up, I'll take one for the team here.

Re:

[ScentCone (795499)]

I thought you said these things were supposed to be bad for humans... if that's the case sign me up, I'll take one for the team here.

OK, Dr. Von Doom.

Ah ha!

Re:Short List

[Matimus (598096)]

...superhuman powers

...I'll take one for the team

I don't think giving superhuman powers to a guy named Apocalypse111 is the best move.

Re:

[Lord_Slepnir (585350)]

Frakking toasters

You'll find that's a hazard on Earth as well. And it leads to some embarrassing questions from the EMTs, let me tell you...

Re:Short List

[cruff (171569)]

You also forgot:

Self-aware planet destroying bombs
Aliens that look like beach balls with funny feet

Re:

[ObjetDart (700355)]

Maniacal dictators who for some reason want to use their newest Deus Ex Machina on Earth ...

Don't you mean maniacal directors?

Lunar Magnetic Anomalies?

[Soong (7225)]

That'd be much more interesting if the story played out like Mr. A.C. Clarke wrote it. <queue music="Also Spracht Zarathustra" />

Never going to happen

[Reality Master 101 (179095)]

We might as well face it... settlements on planets is never going to happen. Couple of reasons:

1) The moon is too ugly and the gravity too light.

2) Mars is ugly too, but even beyond that, it won't be allowed because we won't want to screw up the natural environment for study.

The future of space settlements is space stations floating in space. We can have any environment we want (including green), we can simulate natural gravity via spinning, and we can engineer shielding. Settling other planets is romantic, but impractical, and arguably very few people would want to live on a dead rock anyway.

Re:

[$RANDOMLUSER (804576)]

Hear! Hear! Hollow out an iron asteroid, move to desired orbit, rinse, repeat. Why climb out of this gravity well to climb down another?

Re:Never going to happen

[Tx (96709)]

1) The moon is too ugly

I guess one man's ugly is another man's beautiful
 
...and the gravity too light.

A plus for most Americans - instantly lose 5/6 of your weight just by relocating

2) Mars is ugly too, but even beyond that, it won't be allowed because we won't want to screw up the natural environment for study.

Can't study it properly if we don't go there. Studying Mars will likely be the justification for any first settlement.

Re:

[Reality Master 101 (179095)]

I guess one man's ugly is another man's beautiful

I'm sure there's *someone* how would enjoy living on a cold, dead rock, just like there are people who choose to live in Antarctica... wait, does anyone choose and/or desire to live in Antarctica? Sure, it's a nice place to visit...

The beauty you speak of is the romance of living on another planet. After the romance is dead, we'll see how many people really want to live there.

A plus for most Americans - instantly lose 5/6 of your weight just by reloc

Re:

[Heem (448667)]

It simply won't be allowed. Mark my words.

Allowed by who? Seriously. If I happened to have the technology in my backyard, right now, to go to and survive on mars, who is stopping me from settling there or even claiming ownership of part or whole planet?

Re:

[Reality Master 101 (179095)]

If I happened to have the technology in my backyard, right now, to go to and survive on mars, who is stopping me from settling there or even claiming ownership of part or whole planet?

What, do you think your going to just load up your ark spaceship with a pair of every animal and supplies that will last forever? Any sort of settlement is going to need Earth support for centuries before it could be self sustaining, if it EVER could be self-sustaining. And it's not like an undertaking like that is going t

Re:

[fossa (212602)]

"Get off this estate."
"What for?"
"Because it's mine."
"Where did you get it?"
"From my father."
"Where did he get it?"
"From his father."
"And where did he get it?"
"He fought for it."
"Well, I'll fight you for it."

-- Carl Sandburg, "The People, Yes"

Re:

[Lord Ender (156273)]

A plus for most Americans - instantly lose 5/6 of your weight just by relocating

Huh? Oh, I get it... you are inferring that many Americans are overweight! Ha! That's so clever! And looking around the office right now, it seems you're right! There are overweight people working here! What a hoot! You should do your own comedy bit. Such a funny guy...

Re:

[fossa (212602)]

Maybe he was referring to the fact that other folks talk about weight [sic] in kilograms, which won't change on the moon ;-) How much do you mass?

Re:

[El Torico (732160)]

Mars is ugly too, but even beyond that, it won't be allowed because we won't want to screw up the natural environment for study.

I don't see why Mars should have it easier than Earth. We have a whole universe to mess around with; fire up the ion drives and let's start sending our genetically modified progeny to start terraforming! Yee-haa!

Great settlement idea.

[hal2814 (725639)]

Let's build our moon colony in the areas where there are strange magnetic readings. And when those colonists disappear mysteriously, we can send in a crack commando team to investigate. This would lead to entertaining action, some mild humor, and perhaps even a little romance.

Metamaterial Shielding

[w33t (978574)]

Please excuse my highly uninformed and profoundly speculative conjecture here.

But in regards to radiation shielding, could the recent advancements in metamaterial technology possibly offer a solution?

After all, there has been recent success with microwave radiation (albiet at a very limited and precise wavelength) - could meta-materials be concieved which block the other popular radation types?

What would be the major hurdles to overcome?

See current Analog magazine

[Beryllium Sphere(tm) (193358)]

Artificial magnetic shielding is surprisingly economical. Big weak fields do a fine job deflecting charged particles, and you can generate them with a superconducting cable around the rim of a crater. Polar craters (where the ice might be) are plenty cold enough for today's high temperature superconductors.

Are the sites ideal for other necessities?

[Scothoser (523461)]

The article is great, because it does outline the major problem facing permanent settlement on the Moon: radiation. But there are some other necessities that need to be addressed, like reinforcing of the magnetic field during solar flares, the crater's proximity to other elements for the production of power and water, and the need for solar power.

While it's a great start, it doesn't answer all the questions, which leaves scientists and future lunar explorers with a great question: Do they build up a complex network of sites, or continue to try to find the ideal spot?

With increasing pressure from other countries to get to the Moon first, as well as additional programs to settle the moon as a research outpost, the pressure is on. So while this is a great find, and will augment any magnetic solution that mankind could come up with, it's only part of the puzzle. That being said, it is an important part of the puzzle.

I must be a freak then...

[nick_davison (217681)]

there are things that are good for humans (water) and things that are bad for humans (radiation)

Being a fan of light and heat but not drowning, does that make me a weird human?

As the old saying goes: all things in moderation. Radiation's pretty useful, just as water is. Overwhelm my body with either though and things start to go wrong. In the history of humanity though, I'm guessing more people have died from too much water than too much radiation - if only due to the convenience of access to excess of one and not the other.

Magnetic Anomalies on the Moon

[ettlz (639203)]

To: Lightspeed Traveller <[e-mail]>
From: Ascended Super Thingy <[e-mail]>

I still maintain the point that designing a black monolith in 2001 is
a fundamental error. Be thankful you are not my student. You would not
get a high grade for such a design :-)

AST
Head of Alien Protosocietal Development

Re:

[Amazing Quantum Man (458715)]

Mod parent funny.

A very good joke on the Tanenbaum-Torvalds debate [wikipedia.org].

Extend the Earth's Shield?

[Migraineman (632203)]

Couldn't we just get one of the guys in the engineering drpartment to extend the Earth's magnetic shield out around the moon? I'm quite certain tht I've heard that idea proposed before ...

Is it just me?

[DiamondGeezer (872237)]

Or can anyone else see a small dark oblong in the middle of the picture? Kind of like a monolith...

Alternative explanation

[Rob T Firefly (844560)]

Those fields are obviously pollution left behind by some fool leaving his Cavorite sphere idling in park. Will someone please think of the Selenites?

Wait

[nizo (81281)]

I thought the moon got knocked out of orbit 7 years ago?

The best part of building near a crater is you are safer from future meteor strikes; it sort of follows the whole "lightening never strikes twice" principle. Speaking of which, I wonder how lightening rods work.....

Magnetic umbrellas?

[smitty_one_each (243267)]

Magnetic umbrellas?
Listen, fellas.
Stop the rays
Or so they tell us:
Burma Shave

Not a good idea

[Hoi Polloi (522990)]

Don't you know what happens when you mix a magnetic field and iron-nickle asteroids floating by? Haven't these scientists ever watched cartoons? Oh, it makes me so angry!

Re:Three words

[2nd Post! (213333)]

It's a good thing you can't spell ridiculous, or we would have to take you siriusly.

Re:

[Apocalypse111 (597674)]

REdiculous? I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to rIdicule you for that one.

Re:

[hal2814 (725639)]

No, no, no. It's REDiculous. As in the Reds or Commies. It's not just bad, it's Communist.

Re:

[Apocalypse111 (597674)]

The magnetic fields in question don't have to be all that strong to defend against radiation - no stronger than the one you've been sitting under for your whole life that is doing the same for you now.

Re:

[Apocalypse111 (597674)]

I'm not prepared to say that strong magnetic fields are totally harmless (more a reservation about making a statement of absolute fact rather than any belief or proof to the contrary), but at least in so far as the myth that magnetic fields cause cancer, then yes, they're harmless. Magnetic fields are not ionizing radiation.

Re:

[Apocalypse111 (597674)]

Do we really need astrounauts to procreate anyway?

Meanwhile, at the astronaut training center...
Fry: Ow, my sperm!
Bender: Wow, neat. Mind if I try that again? [Points radiation gun at Fry again]
Fry: Huh! Didn't hurt that time.

Re:

[iamlucky13 (795185)]

All astronauts are given a budget for allowable total exposure to radiation (I'm not sure if it's broken down by approximate wavelength or not) over their lifetimes, and also for rate of exposure over shorter time periods. These are correlated to estimated increased risk of developing cancer over their life. For example, an astronaut is allowed something like 6 months of contiguous duty on the ISS and up to 1.5 years over their life. I'm not sure if those are the actual numbers, but they're in the ballpark.