Terraforming: why the Moon is a better target than Mars
Terraforming: why the Moon is a better target than Mars
The first world that humans should inhabit beyond the Earth is the Moon, not Mars. Here's how to terraform our lunar neighbor.
The first world that humans should inhabit beyond the Earth is the Moon, not Mars. Here's how to terraform our lunar neighbor.
You're viewing a single thread.
I always just assumed it'd be easier because it's closer...
Yes, the moon is closer. On average it is 1,000 times closer than mars but you only need about 2.3X the rocket power (DeltaV: Moon: 2,635m/s vs Mars: 6,268m/s ) to get there compared to the moon.
But they are both far enough away that is doesn't really matter.
A colony in either place cannot rely on outside assistance to come and help them.
But they are both far enough away that is doesn't really matter.
The difference is huge. The moon is practically right next door to us (384 megameters). Mars closest point to Earth is 54000 megameters.
It's like having a friend living 384 meters down the road vs living 54-150 kilometers away.
Right. So the trip to set up shop on the moon would be a little less than half as expensive as the one to set up shop on Mars. Since they're both far enough away to be necessarily independent, I just assumed the closer cheaper one.
Not really. The extra thrust involved would be a rounding error in the total costs.
If I need a buy car to drive to the shops to get food, the extra added cost in fuel if the shop is 10 km away vs 30 km away is nothing compared to the cost of the car.
if the shop is 10 km away vs 30 km away
It's nothing at all like that. The moon is 384 megameters away. Mars is 54000 to 150000 megameters away, depending on orbits.
So it would be like 384 meters vs 54-150 kilometers.
Escaping the gravity well on the moon is also much cheaper.
[In terms of infrastructure and accessibility, it’s really no contest. The Moon is closer, always has a view of Earth, can exchange signals and deliverables hundreds of times more quickly than can be exchanged between Earth and Mars, and is easier to land on and take off from. Certain infrastructure could be easily shared between the Earth and the Moon, such as the internet, whereas Mars would likely, due to its remote nature, need its own standalone infrastructure.]
Your focussing on distance too much, you should focus on energy required.
Getting from Earths surface to Low Earth Orbit requires 7.5km/s of Delta-V. Leaving LEO for the Moon/Mars requires 3.2km/s of energy.
That 3.2km/s means to send a decent amount of mass will require you to park something in orbit and fuel it.
Actually making Low Lunar Orbit only requires 0.6km/s vs 1km/s for Low Mars Orbit.
While Mars is 1-9 months away, the Moon is
