@ghost-of-a-duke saidBased on that article a moon base should be built under ground on the moon for the best protection from cosmic and solar radiation. Anything on the surface would have to have thick walls to be safe, so an underground dwelling just makes sense. Otherwise nobody could stay on the moon for long stays without health risks.
Here you go, knock yourself out.
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/284275main_radiation_hs_mod3.pdf
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@metal-brain saidNASA is pretty good at problem solving (with deep pockets). But I don't really envisage humans 'living' on the moon for long periods, just using it as a base camp to launch further space exploration. The base though would have to have good exposure to sunlight to power all the needed equipment while also being well located. (For example, near to areas of complete darkness to access water ice). Indeed, far from being under ground, I'm pretty sure I read NASA favoured a base camp with elevation (such as a crater rim, that would allow good access into the dark crater itself to hopefully harvest water).
Based on that article a moon base should be built under ground on the moon for the best protection from cosmic and solar radiation. Anything on the surface would have to have thick walls to be safe, so an underground dwelling just makes sense. Otherwise nobody could stay on the moon for long stays without health risks.
@ghost-of-a-duke saidI didn't say solar panels would be underground. They don't have to be anywhere near the underground base. And have you heard of fiber optic lighting?
NASA is pretty good at problem solving (with deep pockets). But I don't really envisage humans 'living' on the moon for long periods, just using it as a base camp to launch further space exploration. The base though would have to have good exposure to sunlight to power all the needed equipment while also being well located. (For example, near to areas of complete dark ...[text shortened]... a crater rim, that would allow good access into the dark crater itself to hopefully harvest water).
You need protection from radiation. For that underground is the best option. Or you could move the ground over your walls and roof I suppose, but you need the thickness of something to absorb the radiation well. Thick is better than thin.
@Metal-Brain
They can also use strong magnetic fields to divert radiation to some common dump that would get a huge dose of radiation but would be away from living quarters. The same technology could also be used on Mars which has a pathetic remnant of bits and pieces of magnetic fields here and there, to make a planetary wide field with superconductors wrapped around Mars equator, a few turns of that and 50,000 amps would make a planetary field stronger than Earth's field which would save whatever future technology bringing some kind of atmospheric pressure up to human norms and retain that air for a long long time since once the current flows in a superconductor, it doesn't stop except for losses occurring from interactions of the field with solar storms so the current would have to be maintained but that would not be a huge deal whenever they make such a field in the future.
@sonhouse saidDoesn't a magnetic field attract the radiation at the poles? That is what causes the northern lights at the north magnetic pole, right?
@Metal-Brain
They can also use strong magnetic fields to divert radiation to some common dump that would get a huge dose of radiation but would be away from living quarters. The same technology could also be used on Mars which has a pathetic remnant of bits and pieces of magnetic fields here and there, to make a planetary wide field with superconductors wrapped around Mars ...[text shortened]... ve to be maintained but that would not be a huge deal whenever they make such a field in the future.
@Metal-Brain
The point is for planetary protection, you don't live at the poles where the radiation converges, you live anywhere else just like on Earth and besides, the radiation load at the poles isn't that great unless a solar flare hits or corona mass discharge slams into Earth. In that case the whole magnetic field of Earth squashes down and depending on how strong it is, could push the field right to the ground but such events are rare and when they do happen it is all over in a few hours so the net load maybe like a couple Rems. If the radiation reaches a Sievert you would get 100 rems and that is a large does, close to lethal but the field will protect from most any such attack.
@sonhouse saidWhat happens to the radiation after you attract it to the poles of an artificial magnetic field? You said something about dumping it. How would that be done?
@Metal-Brain
The point is for planetary protection, you don't live at the poles where the radiation converges, you live anywhere else just like on Earth and besides, the radiation load at the poles isn't that great unless a solar flare hits or corona mass discharge slams into Earth. In that case the whole magnetic field of Earth squashes down and depending on how strong it ...[text shortened]... rems and that is a large does, close to lethal but the field will protect from most any such attack.
@Metal-Brain
We would have zero control over that part just like we have zero control over what radiation is diverted to OUR poles, how would you go about doing that anyway?
You just don't live in the pole areas and who cares how many Rads hits that part of the planet? It's not like you would be destroying an ecosystem, there is nothing there but sand and rocks. It turns out helicopters can work just fine in Mars, already proven by the one flying around there as we speak. That means in the future, whatever, 100 years from now say, a really big helicopter can carry the thousands of miles needed to lay several turns of superconductor around the planet and it is not like you would be destroying an ecosystem since there is none on Mars right now.
There are experiments ongoing to try to use Martian regolith to make soil capable of growing plants but right now that is just in the labs, we won't know about stuff like that till there is a significant population already living and working there. Talk about 'one small step for a man', this would be huge if we can make a Mars colony totally independent from Earth so if anything happened to make humans extinct on Earth we have a backup plan where humanity goes on. That is one big point of getting humans off Earth, just a backup plan to not be made extinct by some action on Earth, whatever that would turn out to be, giant volcanism, big asteroid hit, total nuclear war, some man made or natural pathogen, whatever, we would still have the Mars colony to keep humans alive and eventually repopulate Earth after the shyte has hit the proverbial fan.
@Metal-Brain
You don't have much imginational ability. The design would be like a long cylinder where the radiation would be guided to the center of the tube where there is nothing to be hit by the radiation. Long cylinder or a giant donut shape so the radiation just gets guided to where there is nothing there and much less to deal with inside living quarters.
I imagine the first ships would rely on speed to get to Mars in a few days, a nuclear supply powering 24 hour a day thrust say at one g if that is ever possible, would get you to Mars in a week and the fact that the thrust would be there for weeks, it could get to Pluto in a couple weeks, thrust half way, to max velocity then the thrust is reversed to slow you down to get you there with zero relative velocity. The math is very simple for such journeys.
@sonhouse saidAll you are doing is redirecting the radiation in higher concentrations closer to people in the space craft. That would expose them to more radiation, not less.
@Metal-Brain
You don't have much imginational ability. The design would be like a long cylinder where the radiation would be guided to the center of the tube where there is nothing to be hit by the radiation. Long cylinder or a giant donut shape so the radiation just gets guided to where there is nothing there and much less to deal with inside living quarters.
I imagine t ...[text shortened]... ow you down to get you there with zero relative velocity. The math is very simple for such journeys.
You have solved nothing. If you had much imaginational ability you would come up with a real solution.
@Metal-Brain
Like I said, you have a limited imagination, the radiation follows the magnetic field lines. In know that full well because I did Ion Implanters for near 20 years and magnetic fields are part and parcel of controlling ion beams, direction and concentration of the ion beams, radiation is the same, they curl around magnetic field lines and follow them and if the spacecraft is a cylinder or donut shape the radiation is guided to where there are no people and get expelled out the ass end of the donut. Why don't you do even a tiny bit of searching that effect but of course you won't since you already think you are intellectually above ALL scientists.
@sonhouse said" the radiation is guided to where there are no people"
@Metal-Brain
Like I said, you have a limited imagination, the radiation follows the magnetic field lines. In know that full well because I did Ion Implanters for near 20 years and magnetic fields are part and parcel of controlling ion beams, direction and concentration of the ion beams, radiation is the same, they curl around magnetic field lines and follow them and if the ...[text shortened]... effect but of course you won't since you already think you are intellectually above ALL scientists.
You are lying. You have suggested no such thing. The poles would be on part of the space craft and people are in the space craft. You need to explain where the radiation is going and where the people are. How are you going to create distance from the poles and people? And when the radiation is attracted to the poles where does it go from then?
@Metal-Brain
You really don't understand a thing about magnetics. If you have a field that coils in a row, there will be a concentration of field lines in the center of the coil. This is not rocket science.