These Companies Are Making Solar Cells Out of Fake Moon Dirt (theverge.com) 23
The idea of using dirt on the Moon to manufacture solar cells, which could power a permanent human settlement, may seem outlandish, but two companies say they've made big progress on that front: they each say they've already made solar cells using fake Moon dirt. From a report: Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin says it's been making solar cells this way since 2021 but just made that information public in a blog post on Friday. Separately, Lunar Resources, which aims to develop technologies for the "large-scale industrialization of Space," told The Verge in a call today that it's been doing the same for the last couple of years. Each company still has to make an enormous leap: from crafting solar cells out of fake dirt in Earth-bound labs to accomplishing the same thing on the harsh surface of the Moon. But this is a dream decades in the making. And if their technologies succeed, they could help make it possible to build outposts on the Moon. The idea of tapping the Moon's resources to support human settlements, called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) in technical speak, has only recently moved out of the realm of science fiction. Now, with its Artemis program, NASA is looking to establish "the first long-term presence on the Moon."
Solar thermal on the moon (Score:2)
It's always seemed to me that solar thermal would work better on the moon.
The sun is much brighter there, hot enough (127C) to boil water. Big parabolic mirrors made from cheap mylar could concentrate the heat without worrying about dust or wind.
The shade on the moon is -184C for an excellent heat sink.
The only problem is getting the working fluid there. Fluoro-carbons work, but there is only 10 ppm of fluorine in lunar regolith.
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The sun is much brighter there, hot enough (127C) to boil water.
In the vacuum of space, my cock is hot enough to boil water.
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In the vacuum of space, my cock is hot enough to boil water.
You wouldn't happen to be a writer for Star Trek Discovery by any chance?
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"Earl Grey. Hot."
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If you're bringing the equipment from Earth, I agree. It's more complicated though, which means more prone to failure. And maintenance in vacuum with razor-sharp electrostatically charged moon dust everywhere is going to be ... inconvenient.
In contrast a solid-state solar cell is practically failure-proof. There's also shipping costs to consider - if you can make solar panels locally they're likely to be a LOT cheaper than mylar shipped from Earth.
And then there's the export market - long-term there's li
Slashdot reruns (Score:4, Informative)
https://science.slashdot.org/s... [slashdot.org]
Question (Score:4, Funny)
Did they get this fake moon dirt from the fake moon landing video set?
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from the Four Seasons Hotel...um, Garden Center.
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Maybe we could ask O.J....no wait that was Mars.
Use the right tool for the job people (Score:2, Interesting)
Solar out of lunar regolith is cool and all. Really it is. Just not for what all these people are trying to use it for.
Knowledge: The moon faces the same side toward earth all the time.
Analysis: Daytime and Nighttime are 2 weeks a pop.
Understanding: Solar from lunar regolith for use on the moon is @%#$%@ stupid.
Long term - potentially useful as a manufacturing area for other things in deeper space....but not on the moon itself.
Re: Use the right tool for the job people (Score:2)
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Next goal batteries from lunar regolith to run your base during the 2 week lunar night.
Look to the future. (Score:2)
What's wrong with an enforced 50% "weekend" when heavy industry has to shut down? Domestic power can be supplied by batteries, small-scale nuclear, and even burning aluminum and silicon produced during the "week".
If you're just looking to reliably power a research base, then Nuclear is pretty much the only option for continuous operation - but it means 100% dependence on Earth for fuel and many parts for the foreseeable future, and lots of maintenance challenges. Meanwhile solar offers solid-state conveni
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It's fairly easy to put solar panels in orbit of the moon and beam the power down. Or put them at the poles and beam the power to where you want it.
Once you can manufacture them in space, it becomes much more attractive to put solar panels in orbit of the Earth and beam power down too.
I feel like it's a race now. (Score:2)
I feel like we're in a race now. Who will win? Greed? Or the boys on top of the greed mountain? If greed wins? We all die. If the boys on top of the greed mountain win? We get some small subset of us transported off this rock, then the rest of us get to die. They'll have plenty of time to lecture us about how our greed killed the planet, while their greed fed not just their egos, but humanity's last outposts. Fun for the whole family!
OK, aside from that cheery note, it is cool to see some of this progress s
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I'm actually hopeful space might be what gets greed under control here on Earth. Simply because the crazy money to be made is out there, drawing the worst (a.k.a most successful) of the profiteers away from Earth, and leaving us to fight against the also-rans instead. Initially gold, platinum, etc. by the mountain-load, and by the time the markets start saturating on those, the developed base in the asteroid belt and beyond should be self-sufficient and growing rapidly.
Earth is reaching its limits, but w
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Agreed. I do think that's about the only hope we have overall. My fear is that the greed monsters will just destroy what's left here back at home in pursuit of their continued riches out there and we'll be left fighting for scraps while the elite live like kings in their new Edens.
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Well, once space infrastructure is in place, getting anything from Earth is going to be ridiculously expensive compared to producing the the same thing elsewhere.
It's basically the same argument as against interstellar conquest - Earth has nothing of interest to offer a robust space-based economy except humanity and the biodiversity of a natural oasis.
And if the "invaders" are human as well, that leaves only the natural oasis, which makes an excellent place for luxury homes (so long as you keep your strengt
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Like I said, if we get there before they're done destroying the environment in pursuit of more profit before they manage to create their homes away from home. You seem more hopeful than I can feel about it. We, as a species, tend to have a propensity for checking ourselves at critical moments in the dumbest ways. Letting the ultra-wealthy do whatever they want whenever they want and take money from the taxpayers when the fuck up is just icing on the greed cake right now. And we're damn good at tearing about
"Simulated" is a better word (Score:4, Informative)