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Astronomy on the Moon : Geological considerations

Author
Taylor, G. Jeffrey
Published
Sep 1, 1992.
Physical Description
1 electronic document
Online Version

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Summary
The Moon is an excellent site for astronomical observations. This paper describes two geological aspects related to astronomy from the Moon. First it evaluates the sources of gases near a lunar base as input to calculations reported in a separate paper on the growth of an artificial lunar atmosphere. The results suggest that mining for He-3 could produce the most gas (1 kg/sec), but rocket exhaust (0.1 kg/sec) and habitat venting (0.5 kg/sec) are also important. Second, the paper discusses criteria that need to be considered when determining the site of a lunar astronomical facility. These are longitude and latitude (equatorial sites are favored), topography (important to be relatively flat for ease of installation), distance from a lunar base (to be free of seismic noise, dust, and gases), the site's value to lunar geoscience (other factors being equal, a geologically diverse site is better), and its value as a materials resource (mining and observatories are incompatible).
Other Subject(s)
Collection
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Collection.
Note
Document ID: 19930008245.
Accession ID: 93N17434.
SOEST-CONTRIB-2399.
PGD-CONTRIB-630.
NASA. Johnson Space Center, The Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, Volume 1; p 183-187.
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No Copyright.
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