Timeline for Would it be possible to terraform the moon?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
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| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:40 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://physics.stackexchange.com/ with https://physics.stackexchange.com/
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| Nov 6, 2015 at 17:38 | comment | added | Spencer | You're missing the part of the answer you quoted from which states that the moon could host a breathable atmosphere for some time. That time would be very short geologically (thousand years) but very long for a human's reckoning of time. It could be possible to sustain a Moon atmoshpere indefinitely with the right equipment pumping in new gas or by bombarding the moon with comets in safe areas. | |
| Oct 31, 2014 at 15:14 | comment | added | JasonWilczak | I'm marking this answer as accepted. I think it answers the physics side of things, that it isn't possible without some artificial device, which is fine. I wonder if there is a way to increase the density, through some artificial core, as discussed, but, simultaneously counteract that affect through an external technology, for lack of a better term, like an anti-gravity dyson sphere | |
| Oct 31, 2014 at 15:12 | vote | accept | JasonWilczak | ||
| Oct 31, 2014 at 14:35 | comment | added | superluminary | Because the moon is solid right through, drilling to the core would be an solvable engineering problem. | |
| Oct 31, 2014 at 11:13 | comment | added | trichoplax is on Codidact now | Making the moon's core dense enough to hold a breathable atmosphere would destroy Earth's coastal cities with high tides and change the climate with increased volcanic activity and earthquakes. Unless you also move the moon further away from the Earth, making the tides normal size again, but now less frequent, and making the moon appear smaller in the sky. | |
| Oct 30, 2014 at 21:32 | comment | added | Random | Rather than size, it's the mass that's important. The physics site has some complex equations relating to that (physics.stackexchange.com/questions/45494/…). Also related to atmosphere loss are things like temperature and vulnerability to solar wind. | |
| Oct 30, 2014 at 20:43 | comment | added | Twelfth | Good answer. I wonder what the minimum size a body needs to be to support an actual atmosphere with Earth like composition. @JasonWilczak - An artificial core, in the form of heavy iron, would increase the moons density and increase the moon's escape velocity. No clue how that it would be accomplished, increasing a body like the moon's mass is no easy feat. | |
| Oct 30, 2014 at 20:19 | comment | added | JasonWilczak | I really like this answer and the technical explanation. So, based off of our current physics it simply is not possible and it really comes down to the fact that it needs to be able to hold an atmosphere with some type of external (or internal) assistance. | |
| Oct 30, 2014 at 19:20 | history | answered | Random | CC BY-SA 3.0 |