Word: moons
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...landed on the moon, and none is likely to for a long time. This dull fact does not keep interplanetary enthusiasts from planning what they will do when they get there. In the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Draftsman Paul L. Sowerby solemnly furrows his brow about lunar construction methods. In this small field alone* he finds enough practical difficulties to make the glittering lunar cities of the space romancers look like hashish visions...
...cope with odd conditions. Surveyors, wearing space suits, might have trouble looking through their instruments. He suggests that the eye piece of their transits and levels be built into their helmets. When used in shadows, leveling staffs would have to carry their own lights, because shadows on the moon are pitch black...
Underground City. Such difficulties are minor. The moon has feeble gravitation, which would be a help in moving from place to place, but the lack of atmosphere presents a problem to both architect and builder. Sowerby does not favor the large pressurized domes above the surface that are so popular with space illustrators. In the vacuum on the moon, the upward pressure of their interior atmospheres would be enormous. A domed "tent" only 10 ft. in diameter would pull against its moorings with a force of 50 tons. If big enough (100 ft. across) to hold a fair-sized habitation...
Cement would be needed in large amounts, and it would be advantageous not to have to bring it from the earth. If the moon has rocks containing the equivalent of lime and clay, cement might conceivably be made from them. There is a chance. Sowerby thinks, that the fierce heat of the unshielded sunlight may have disintegrated lunar rocks into ready-powdered oxides. This should simplify concrete-making in one small detail...
...Even if space flight is mastered, the logistics of earth-moon transport are not encouraging. According to the calculations of one optimistic authority, Dr. Wernher von Braun, more than 2,000 Ibs. of fuel must be burned to land each pound of cargo on the moon. If half the fuel is hydrazine, at $2.50 a lb., the fuel cost alone of transporting a 10-ton machine to the moon would be more than $50 million. The space vehicles themselves would add even more to the cost...