[BartSimpson]

raydan wrote:

BartSimpson wrote:

There is water on the moon and if you crack the water you'll have oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for power. Also, living in 1/6 gravity might not be a bad thing especially for older people and people with limited mobility. Frankly, such people would be ideal volunteers for such a mission because the benefits of lunar living to these people would outweigh the hardships.

They could never come back, though.

If you're 70 years old and crippled by rheumatoid arthritis and then you're on the moon where suddenly you can walk around again I'm betting you'd never want to come back anyway.

[DanSC]

JessFeckum wrote:

-all the evidence is on the net do a little googalin in your past time and see how they paid of Russia to keep quiet.

You think the that the Soviet Union, in 1968 (when Apollo 8 orbited the moon), could have been paid off to keep quiet? Only six years after being embarrassed during the Cuban missile crisis?

There wouldn't have been enough money in the world to keep the Soviet Union quiet.

[QBall]

BartSimpson wrote:

Also, living in 1/6 gravity might not be a bad thing especially for older people and people with limited mobility. Frankly, such people would be ideal volunteers for such a mission because the benefits of lunar living to these people would outweigh the hardships.

Not sure how people that frail would survive the G forces blasting off into space. Most seniors can't stand a minor change in their routine. I can't imagine how they could cope with the thought of never coming back to Earth. Plus I'm not sure how many seniors can afford the $25,000,000 plane ticket!

[QBall]

raydan wrote:

They understand part of what a low-gravity environment can do to the human body, but I doubt they know all of it, especially if they leave someone up there for years. Will he/she ever be able to come back to Earth?

I read about astronauts who lose a bit of bone density (depends on duration in space) while living on the space station (not sure but I think muscle mass as well). Someone who's lived their entire life on the moon I imagine would have the bone density of a bird.

[BartSimpson]

QBall wrote:

Not sure how people that frail would survive the G forces blasting off into space. Most seniors can't stand a minor change in their routine. I can't imagine how they could cope with the thought of never coming back to Earth. Plus I'm not sure how many seniors can afford the $25,000,000 plane ticket!

The 1% crowd would be the obvious pioneers as they could afford it. Then, as the infrastructure is put in place for routine trips the price will drop to become more affordable for others.

As to the g-forces, if there's money in it then someone will find a way around that problem.

[saturn_656]

raydan wrote:

They understand part of what a low-gravity environment can do to the human body, but I doubt they know all of it, especially if they leave someone up there for years. Will he/she ever be able to come back to Earth? What will low gravity do to a pregnant woman and her fetus if they decide to breed up there? What would it do to a growing child?

I'm guessing any children born and raised in a low grav. environment would be more slender and taller than the average human due to the lower lunar gravity.

Any return to Earth for such children wouldn't be practical, our gravity would be brutal for someone who sees lunar gravity as "normal".

[QBall]

BartSimpson wrote:

The 1% crowd would be the obvious pioneers as they could afford it. Then, as the infrastructure is put in place for routine trips the price will drop to become more affordable for others.

As to the g-forces, if there's money in it then someone will find a way around that problem.

The only problem I see with that is that now a lunar colony becomes a political leper because now it's seen as a new fad for the super rich. I know there have to be pioneers for the first new inhabitants, but if that's based on wallet size then John and Jane Public are not going to get behind this (kind of like now). And if the majority of the voters aren't behind this then you know the politicians won't get behind it either (kind of like now).

[Lemmy]

BartSimpson wrote:

If you're 70 years old and crippled by rheumatoid arthritis and then you're on the moon where suddenly you can walk around again I'm betting you'd never want to come back anyway.

Or you could save yourself the quarter of a million mile voyage and just smoke a little pot.