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Old 03-December-2008, 03:47 AM
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showboat showboat is offline
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Default Electrostatic planitary and moon hazards.

http://www.allesoversterrenkunde.nl/...w_records=Zoek

Seems to me that if the moon has electrostatic dust hazards why not Mars.


And if a mars like planet or the moon has only dust, but with a constant dependable orbital energy input [electrostatic]:

Why couldn't there be electrostatic lifeforms based on dust?

But most people like to think of practical ways of a human [presence in outerspace] but it seems to me a very hostile place.

I keep thinking of the old Sci Fi Movie called 'The increadible melting man'

About a astronault got hit by a Sun cosmic ray burst.

There apparently some sort of plans to get a shield for that.

But lets say one was on the moon and a electrostatic charge was the normal at every full moon, the situation should be able to be used a power source for power storage rather than as a problem.
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Old 04-December-2008, 01:09 PM
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Quote:
I keep thinking of the old Sci Fi Movie called 'The incredible melting man'

About a astronaut got hit by a Sun cosmic ray burst.
You might be better off reading Stephen Baxter's book Titan, which has a realistic account of an astronaut who is irradiated during a solar flare; he doesn't melt, but the medical consequences are not pretty. On long haul missions, any incapacitated or ill crew member would cause severe problems for the rest of the crew, especially if there are few of them to start with.
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Old 04-December-2008, 01:11 PM
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What worries me about moondust or Marsdust is that it could get into the seals of the spaceuit helmet, wearing them away untill they leak, slowly. Spacesuits could have a limited useful life on a planet's surface.
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Old 04-December-2008, 02:00 PM
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Originally Posted by showboat View Post
http://www.allesoversterrenkunde.nl/...w_records=Zoek

Seems to me that if the moon has electrostatic dust hazards why not Mars.
There could be, but not as severe due to the atmosphere. Even on the moon, though, we know how to handle static buildup, it's just a matter of knowing we'll need to. It's a problem here on Earth...personal electronics must be protected against it, and you can be hit with quite a discharge if you touch something hanging from a helicopter that hasn't been discharged to the ground...they build up an electrostatic charge while in flight.


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Originally Posted by showboat View Post
Why couldn't there be electrostatic lifeforms based on dust?
Lack of diversity in the interactions between charged particles (no quantum effects to form discrete orbitals and make interesting chemistry). Not saying it's impossible for complexity to emerge from other effects in combination with electrostatic forces...but it does not seem like a promising medium.


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Originally Posted by showboat View Post
But most people like to think of practical ways of a human [presence in outerspace] but it seems to me a very hostile place.
Very hostile in some ways, in others, one of the most benign and predictable environments you can find. There are satellites still in operation that were launched over 40 years ago. No weather, no atmospheric corrosion, temperatures that remain constant or change in extremely predictable ways...


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Originally Posted by showboat View Post
But lets say one was on the moon and a electrostatic charge was the normal at every full moon, the situation should be able to be used a power source for power storage rather than as a problem.
What you suggest is similar to suggesting that we harness the static built up on people walking across carpet. High voltages build up because there's no path for them to discharge through. Given such a path, even one that is so high resistance it appears non-conductive without instruments designed specifically to measure very high resistances, it won't build up. There's not enough power there to do anything with.
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