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Scientists plan to melt moondust to make lunar roads. Astronauts may have to do more moon-driving than moon-walking during future missions. (www.sciencefocus.com)
submitted 2 years ago by [M, B] to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Scientists plan to melt moondust to make lunar roads. Astronauts may have to do more moon-driving than moon-walking during future missions.::If we want space missions to be successful, we need to build Moon roads. Scientists plan to use lasers and moondust - here's how.

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[–] 13 points 2 years ago (1 child)

As much as I'd love to bike on the moon, our rovers don't last more than a few hours at most when dealing with lunar regolith - it's highly abrasive and gets everywhere

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Like sand?

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    Yes, it's very irritating lol. Basically, you know how sand is fairly abrasive by our standards? Well, sand has had millennia to get smoothed over by the natural cycles of our planet. As such, it's fairly smooth all things considered.

    Lunar regolith has not had that same opportunity. It is extremely sharp - sharp enough to cut kevlar. There's a reason so much engineering goes into making EVA suits for lunar environments.

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