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Re:Powering the moon: Designing a microgrid for future lunar... by stewjacks on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @01:09PM (#31657309)
I remember reading a (not so tongue in cheek) proposal for powering the moon on diesel. The justification was how complicated solar and storage would be given our current state of the art. Does anyone know the blog post I’m talking about? I can’t find it
Re:Powering the moon: Designing a microgrid for future lunar... by Arrath on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @01:25PM (#31657508)
My kneejerk reaction is that it doesn't seem wise to run your previous breathing gas through an ICE but surely its not as boneheaded as it seems at first glance?
Re:Powering the moon: Designing a microgrid for future lunar... by mgsouth on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @02:43PM (#31658473)
I've wondered how heavy construction equipment would work. Bulldozers trailing thick power cables seems... problematic. Yes, I'm aware of huge draglines connected to power sources with cables, but they aren't very mobile and you don't need to worry about other equipment cutting the line. Don't think batteries would do, either. So, ICE with compressed oxygen?
Re:Powering the moon: Designing a microgrid for future lunar... by perilunar on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @09:49PM (#31662317)
I would think the weight of batteries would be helpful in the case of bulldozers, especially given the low g.
Re:Powering the moon: Designing a microgrid for future lunar... by perilunar on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @09:29PM (#31662218)
Well there's likely to be surplus rocket fuel available, either RP-1 (kerosene), methane, or liquid hydrogen, and LOX, so burning some in an (non-rocket) internal combustion engine is not so crazy. Fuel cells would be more efficient though.