Difference between revisions of "Roads"
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| + | ==Galactic wheeled vehicle speed record== | ||
| + | On Luna it is possible for wheeled vehicles to go faster than on Earth or Mars because there is no air resistance. One reaches a limit caused by wheels flying apart from centrifugal force at high speeds. That limit can be circumvented by having a large diameter hub, such as about sixty kilometers in diameter, and a wheel in the shape of a ring of perhaps three meters thickness supported from a magnetically levitating track on the hub. The hub would orbit Luna at the equator rotating once per orbit to keep the same part of the hub down constantly. The wheel would run on the track at 1635 meters per second relative to the hub and stationary relative to Luna wherever it is at the bottom of the hub. It would touch Luna's high spots. The wheel would experience 92.31 meters per second squared (about 9.42 g's) including centrifugal and tidal forces. The hub would experience the stress from supporting the wheel and 0.0816 meters per second squared tidal force near Luna's surface and 0.0784 meters per second squared at the top. Tidal forces are zero at an altitude of 30 kilometers. The hub can be made as thick as it needs to be to support the wheel without calling for any super strong materials because the added weight from the hubs thickness is based upon the weak tidal forces it must resist. Initially it would be possible to use just a small ark of the wheel and spin it up to soft land cargo on Luna and pick it up. Eventially mountains could be lowered and valleys filled in so a wheel would be constantly rolling down the road maintaining orbital speed and altitude for the hub while two other wheels would spin up and spin down on the same hub to transfer cargo to and from the first wheel or directly to and from Luna. --[[User:Farred|Farred]] 02:26, 4 May 2008 (UTC) | ||
Revision as of 18:26, 3 May 2008
Because of the major problem of lunar dust, roads will be required in order to reduce exposure of humans and equipment to the hazards of lunar dust.
A simple way to make roads on the Moon is using microwaves to heat the top layer of lunar regolith. At a relatively low temperature this will cause the dust to melt and fuse into a hard surface[1].
References
- ↑ Solving Settlement Problems: Dealing with Moon Dust Ad Astra By Edward D. Flinn, posted: 23 February 2006 07:11 am ET
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Galactic wheeled vehicle speed record
On Luna it is possible for wheeled vehicles to go faster than on Earth or Mars because there is no air resistance. One reaches a limit caused by wheels flying apart from centrifugal force at high speeds. That limit can be circumvented by having a large diameter hub, such as about sixty kilometers in diameter, and a wheel in the shape of a ring of perhaps three meters thickness supported from a magnetically levitating track on the hub. The hub would orbit Luna at the equator rotating once per orbit to keep the same part of the hub down constantly. The wheel would run on the track at 1635 meters per second relative to the hub and stationary relative to Luna wherever it is at the bottom of the hub. It would touch Luna's high spots. The wheel would experience 92.31 meters per second squared (about 9.42 g's) including centrifugal and tidal forces. The hub would experience the stress from supporting the wheel and 0.0816 meters per second squared tidal force near Luna's surface and 0.0784 meters per second squared at the top. Tidal forces are zero at an altitude of 30 kilometers. The hub can be made as thick as it needs to be to support the wheel without calling for any super strong materials because the added weight from the hubs thickness is based upon the weak tidal forces it must resist. Initially it would be possible to use just a small ark of the wheel and spin it up to soft land cargo on Luna and pick it up. Eventially mountains could be lowered and valleys filled in so a wheel would be constantly rolling down the road maintaining orbital speed and altitude for the hub while two other wheels would spin up and spin down on the same hub to transfer cargo to and from the first wheel or directly to and from Luna. --Farred 02:26, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
