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thatcrazycajunThis article by Vince Beiser in the latest Wired issue recounts NASA's recent staging of the Regolith Excavation Challenge. The object: to derive breathable oxygen from the dust covering the Moon's surface, which is at least 40 percent O2. The challenge involves building contraptions capable of scooping up enough dust to make 150 kilos—using no more electricity than your PC's monitor in sleep mode.
There's also this piece on the Wired website about what we can realistically expect from nanotechnology in the near future.
So...my Lunapolis colonists (see Fanfic Samplers #1-5 previous) will need oxygen, and plenty of it. They'll also need to dig out tunnels and rooms beneath the surface for at least part of the settlement habitat. How about nanites to eat away at all that yummy regolith (Wikipedia informs me it's 4-5 meters deep in maria, deeper in so-called "highland" areas; more than deep enough to shelter them) and convert it to O2? Or genegineered bacteria? Seems to me we could kill two birds with the proverbial single stone here (not to mention lightening the load of heavy equipment they'd have to bring on the initial flight). Plus there'd be no messy piles of dirt to move around. And the mining applications...!
Anyone knowledgeable enough to tell me if this is a reasonable extrapolation from current tech? Or if I'm simply typing out my ass and better find another solution?
There's also this piece on the Wired website about what we can realistically expect from nanotechnology in the near future.
So...my Lunapolis colonists (see Fanfic Samplers #1-5 previous) will need oxygen, and plenty of it. They'll also need to dig out tunnels and rooms beneath the surface for at least part of the settlement habitat. How about nanites to eat away at all that yummy regolith (Wikipedia informs me it's 4-5 meters deep in maria, deeper in so-called "highland" areas; more than deep enough to shelter them) and convert it to O2? Or genegineered bacteria? Seems to me we could kill two birds with the proverbial single stone here (not to mention lightening the load of heavy equipment they'd have to bring on the initial flight). Plus there'd be no messy piles of dirt to move around. And the mining applications...!
Anyone knowledgeable enough to tell me if this is a reasonable extrapolation from current tech? Or if I'm simply typing out my ass and better find another solution?
