littering the moon

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khaoz
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23 Apr 2014, 3:43 am

We are already turning our home planet into a giant landfill. Now it turns out our waste is beginning to accumulate on the moon. Some people think thing s should remain on the moon as a testament to history. When are we ever going to learn? Why do we need to scatter our crap all over another planet to prove we were there. There is enough evidence that the event occurred, I say we should pick up after ourselves wherever we may travel in the world or the universe. Citizens of earth may actually find a way to resource the moon some day. They should not have to clean it first.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/pro ... on/5403652

Arcanyn
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23 Apr 2014, 5:07 am

What harm does it do, and how is it worse than the asbestos-like dust already present in abundance on the Moon?

Raptor
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23 Apr 2014, 9:18 am

1. It doesnt affect the form, fit, or function of the moon
2. There's no current program, vehicle, funding, or desire to retrieve 110 metric tonnes of space junk
3. What would we do with it after retrieving it?

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Misslizard
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23 Apr 2014, 10:11 am

Scrap iron can bring a good price.Once enough accumulates a scrapper will try to find a way to get at it.

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envirozentinel
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23 Apr 2014, 11:07 am

Yeah, I wish the Jawas from Tattooine could come and clean up the mess; I'm sure they would fine a use for it and be able to sell it!

Pity we couldn't put it into orbit.....

Willard
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23 Apr 2014, 11:56 am

Raptor wrote:

3. What would we do with it after retrieving it?

Fire it into the Sun.

naturalplastic
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23 Apr 2014, 12:10 pm

With all of the conspiracy theorists out there who think they faked the Moon landing Im kinda glad that there is tangible evidence left up there.

A more serious problem is the junk in low earth orbit. It ranges from old defunct satelites as big as greyhound buses down to countless thousands of tiny loose nuts and bolts moving around the earth at 12 times the speed of a rifle bullet. Even things that tiny would explode like an artillery shells if they hit a new spacecraft.

When stuff collides it increases the number of objects in orbit because of the broken pieces resulting from the collision.

We could reach a saturation point in which we wont be able to launch anything new because near earth space will become one big impenetrable shooting gallery.

Last edited by naturalplastic on 23 Apr 2014, 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

khaoz
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23 Apr 2014, 1:09 pm

About as I figured. Apathy. We are humans. Puny moon. We turn our own planet into a giant garbage heap, we might as well trash the rest of the universe. So much for social responsibility. Whatever consequences we suffer from our apathy, I think we well deserve.

RetroGamer87
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23 Apr 2014, 1:53 pm

That junk is historical. I'd be more concerned about future tourists tramping out the historic footprints.

chris5000
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23 Apr 2014, 3:14 pm

naturalplastic wrote:

orbit decay stops things from getting too bad
left alone the stuff falls out of orbit after a few years. even if we hit the saturation point it would solve its self over time

TallyMan
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23 Apr 2014, 3:22 pm

Misslizard wrote:

Scrap iron can bring a good price.Once enough accumulates a scrapper will try to find a way to get at it.

I've heard the UK Pikeys are already planning a moon mission to retrieve the scrap metal. All the copper will be gone before you can blink. They are also planning to lay a tarmac drive on the moon too - half price, they've got some tarmac left over after building the canals on Mars. :wink:

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ruveyn
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23 Apr 2014, 3:38 pm

khaoz wrote:

The amount of stuff we put on the moon is small in comparison to its surface area.

Rocket propelled vehicle are expensive to build and launch.

Probably less that 500 vehicles from Earth have landed or crashed on the Moon's surface.

If you want to fret about littering think of the climbing paths up to the peak of Mt. Everest.

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trollcatman
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23 Apr 2014, 3:45 pm

Willard wrote:

Raptor wrote:

3. What would we do with it after retrieving it?

Fire it into the Sun.

Firing heavy elements like metals into the sun actually shortens the life of the sun. Better to fire it in a random direction if for some reason we don't want it on earth.

Misslizard
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23 Apr 2014, 4:33 pm

ruveyn wrote:

khaoz wrote:

Aren't climbers having to bring some of that down now when they leave?I don't know about trying to pack out one of those freezes dried bodies,kinda creepy,but it probably wouldn't weigh much.Its always seemed disrespectful to me that people litter there,I guess they don't mind packing it up the hill,but they can't carry it down.

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