Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
 |
Comments on Lunar Dust Fountains Due To Electrostatic Charges
A great article on NASA's website points out how science fiction author Hal Clement predicted in a 1956 short story that electrostatically charged lunar dust particles might actually suspend themselves above the surface: (Read
the complete story)
| "Lunar dust pools also feature in Arthur C. Clarke's A FALL OF MOONDUST. In the Clement story, the astronauts are threatened by the dust electrostatically plating itself over the viewplate of their helmets. They have to resort to basic science in order to save themselves." (Winchell Chung 4/1/2005 6:15:35 AM) |
| "A.C.C. also had another great novel titled 'A Fall of Moondust' which also featured the insulating power of moon dust." (Jeff K 4/4/2005 10:50:57 AM) |
| "The NEAR-Shoemaker Mission to the asteroid Eros found that the bottoms of craters on Eros were flat and filled with fine dust particles. Eros' small mass and low gravity meant that these particles were not collecting at the bottoms of craters due to gravity. It was hypothosized that the dust collected after acquiring an electrostatic charge from solar wind in a slow process that took millions of years." (Ray 4/6/2005 2:10:14 PM) |
| "Interesting...the chief NASA scientist in charge of this is named Stubbs, while "Hal Clement" was the pen-name of the late Harry Stubbs..." (Nekultura 4/9/2005 7:00:42 PM) |
| """Why did you do that?" Wheeler asked anxiously. "We seemed to be getting some where."
"Yes, but we're also getting too hot. This dust is an almost perfect heat insulator..."
There's a problem here. The vacuum on the Moon's surface is a pretty good insulator too.
If you have excess heat to deal with you need some large finned radiators, which should be on the top of the vehicle." (William Carr 1/28/2007 9:50:39 PM) |
| "William Carr - is that from "A Fall of Moondust" or from "Earthlight"?" (Bill Christensen 1/30/2007 1:40:58 PM) |
Get more information on Lunar Dust Fountains Due To Electrostatic Charges
Leave a comment:
Tediously, spammers have returned; if you have a comment, send it to bill at this site (include the story name) and I'll post it.
More Articles
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
Harvest Power From Tears And Blinking With Smart Contact Lens
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
'...a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System!'
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
'With a whir, the Scarab shot from the concealing shadows of the corner where it had hidden itself.'
AI Enhances Images Your Brain Sees
'I could have sworn the psychomat showed pictures almost as sharp and detailed as reality itself'
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
'I made them... with the fine work of the watchmaker...'
Cheap Drunk Driver Detection From UofM
"Look, I can drive... Start, darn it!"
Can A Human Land A SpaceX Rocket On Its Tail?
'If she starts to roll sideways — blooey! The underjets only hold you up when they’re pointing down, you know.'
Robot Snakes No Longer Stopped By Stairs
'...she dropped her hands from the wheel, took the robot snake from his box.'
Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran?
Can one country take another's rain?
