NASA's More Obscure Lunar Research

MickDownUnder writes "Ever wondered what the moon smells like (and no it's not like wensleydale) ? Or how good the skiing is there? If you do decide to hit the lunar slopes you may want to take a torch with you in case you run into your own shadow."

Lunar Snowmobiles?

[AKAImBatman]

It's extremely interesting how the Apollo 15 astronauts went skiing on the moon. It might suggest a better mode of transport than the buggy they used. Instead of bothering with four wheels, perhaps they really need a Snowmobile? (Or would that be a lunarmobile? Perhaps a dustmobile?) Skiing along like that might allow them to expend less battery power on locomotion, and move from place to place much faster. Having retractable treads so that they can glide might not be such a bad idea either.

I'll have to patent this now and then charge megabucks for the idea when Moonbase Alpha goes in. At least I'll be able to collect up until the moon gets blown out of orbit. :-P

On a more serious note ....

[DoraLives]

if we presume that people are eventually going to establish a permanent presence on the moon, and their numbers increase as the colonies become well-established and fully self-sufficient, then a point will eventually be reached where the "skiers" will have successfully managed to push all the best "powder" downhill to where it no longer resides on a "skiable" slope.

Since the weather on the moon will not replenish the "powder" upslope in anything resembling a useful timeframe on the scale of human lives (or even human civilizations), that will be the end of that. No more "powder" on the slope and no more "skiing."

Which, I suppose, is by way of wondering what other unwitting long-term effects the presence of people on the moon may wind up causing.

Re:On a more serious note ....

[dmatos]

They'd just need to invest in groomers, like there are on terrestrial slopes. The same problem happens on earth-based snow-skiing mountains. At the end of the day, a lot of the snow has been pushed around, and there isn't a nice surface to ski on. The snow machines level out the bumps, smooth out the surface, and push snow to places where there is no snow.

Of course, the dust would be compacted a bit, and it wouldn't be nice powder per se, but I'm sure if that's what the moon skiers really want, it won't take too long for a moon ski resort to think of a way to put fluffy powder back on the slopes.

Re:Moon dust formed by violence?

[JohnFluxx]

I was going to mod this funny, thinking it was just a random ID attack, then I realised you were referring to http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/0 6/0540246 [slashdot.org] as well. Depressing more than funny :(

Ahh, secret project A119

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, we will never know if Project A119 [wikipedia.org] was indeed fact or fiction, but it remains a good story nonetheless...

Why NOT go back to the moon, or to Mars?

[tsa]

Many people in my surroundings tell me I'm mad when I tell them that we msut certainly send people to the moon and to Mars, just because it's cool and we can do it. They tell me that it is risky and costs a lot of money. Sure they are right, but we wouldn't be where we are now if we didn't undertake expensive and risky projects now and then. In my opinion going to the moon is the coolest thing humans have ever done, and I can't wait until people will travel to Mars, or back to the moon. Apart from the coolness factor, maybe it's good to have an event that will be followed worldwide by people of all religions and backgrounds, just to bring us a bit closer together again. The world needs that.