CAN THE MOON BE OF ANY EARTHLY USE?

LOOKING down at the pitted surface of the moon from a height of 70 miles last December, Apollo 8 Astronaut Frank Borman described it as "vast, lonely and forbidding--a great expanse of nothing." But looks can be deceiving. As desolate as the moon appears, scientists have little doubt that man will soon work, play, and perhaps even prosper on his bleak satellite.

The environment that makes the moon so hostile to terrestrial life is, paradoxically, precisely what makes the moon so potentially valuable. The absence of atmosphere, which exposes any life on the moon to deadly radiation and the inhospitable vacuum of space, also makes the moon an ideal base for observatories and some industries. Meteors which have battered the lunar surface for eons have probably also endowed the moon with immense mineral wealth. Although lunar days and nights are each two weeks long and accompanied by deadly extremes of temperature (ranging from 240 degrees Fahrenheit above zero to 250 below), both the unshielded rays of the sun and the numbing cold of the night can be turned to the advantage of human settlers.

A Leisurely Look

Man's early visits to the moon will be largely taken up with exploration and scientific studies of the lunar substance and structure. But man will not long be able to resist making practical use of his closest celestial neighbor. As soon as they are able, for example, astronomers will be competing to book passage to the moon. There, freed at last from the obscuring mantle of terrestrial atmosphere, they will immediately get a clearer, more revealing and more leisurely look at the universe around them.

On the atmosphereless moon, optical telescopes can be used continuously; no clouds, air currents or air pollution can impede viewing. Were the giant, 200-in. optical telescope at Mt. Palomar to be duplicated on the lunar surface, for example, it could observe stars that are 10,000 times too faint for it to detect through the earth's atmosphere.

Because the moon rotates on its axis only about one-thirtieth as fast as the earth, stars move slowly across the lunar skies, making it easier to track and photograph them. Because lunar gravity is only one-sixth the earth's, structural distortions caused by the sheer weight of large telescope mirrors and their supports will be dramatically lessened. Some scientists have estimated that telescope mirrors as large as 2,000 in. in diameter (ten times the earth's largest) could be used effectively on the moon.

The moon has equally great advantages for radio telescopes, which in recent years have greatly expanded the observable universe, locating quasars and discovering pulsars and other strange celestial objects. Not all radio frequencies can penetrate earth's atmosphere; on the lunar surface, radio telescopes will be able to pick up the entire spectrum of these frequencies. Furthermore, by building radio telescopes on the back side of the moon, astronomers will be able to escape completely from the radio interference caused by earth's increasingly electronic civilization. Without the background "noise" to contend with, radio astronomers will be able to detect much fainter radiation from space, perhaps even the weak signals of a distant civilization.

Unsuspected Galaxies

California Institute of Technology Astronomer Fritz Zwicky believes that observations from the moon will quickly yield answers to two major astronomical problems. With telescopes on the moon, scientists can take more definitive spectrums from the light of remote stars, and perhaps obtain decisive data about the universal "red shift" of light (caused by the speeding outward of distant galaxies). By precisely measuring the shift--and thus the speed of recession--of these galaxies, scientists should be able to determine whether the universe will continue to expand eternally or eventually stop and then begin contracting. "It could settle once and for all the question of the evolution of our universe," Zwicky says, "and give us some understanding of its large-scale structure." In addition, he notes that with a view of the far infrared range, "we shall not only be able to see down to the central nucleus of the Milky Way system, but we may see right through the Milky Way and observe galaxies about which we are not even aware today."

Scientists acknowledge the obvious difficulties and great costs of transporting large telescopes and other heavy equipment to the moon. To obviate the problem, Rand Corp. Researcher George Kocher suggests actually building a large mirror on the lunar surface, using quartz produced from silica--if it exists on the moon--and giving it a more accurate surface than terrestrial mirrors by shaping it with ion beams (which are effective only in a vacuum) instead of abrasives. Several astronomers have pointed out that round lunar craters lined with chicken wire would make ideal reflectors for radio telescopes similar to the 1,000-ft. Cornell University radio dish, set in a rounded valley near Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

The moon is also a natural, orbiting Cape Kennedy. To blast off, a spacecraft need overcome a pull of gravity only one-sixth as strong as the earth's, and does not have to expend any energy to push through a thick atmosphere.

Thus an escape velocity of little more than 5,000 m.p.h. (v. 25,000 m.p.h. from earth) and the use of a relatively small amount of fuel will be sufficient to launch moon rockets toward the earth and more distant planets.

Lunar gravity is relatively so weak, as a matter of fact, that some scientists have suggested launching spacecraft by simply accelerating them with electrical power along a track. Unimpeded by atmospheric friction, the vehicles could accelerate very rapidly, limited only by the maximum gravity that their cargo could withstand. An unmanned craft designed to take a force of 50 G's, for example, could reach escape velocity on a track only four miles long. Manned ships, whose passengers could not be exposed to so high a G-force, would need a track considerably longer.

Near Perfect Vacuum

Manufacturers, too, may eventually find the moon economically irresistible. Anywhere they choose to locate on the 15 million square miles of lunar surface, there is a near perfect vacuum--a condition that is obtained on earth only with thick walls and elaborate pumps, and at great expense. As the need grows for "hard" vacuums in industrial processes on earth, the day may come when certain lightweight, easily transportable items that require a vacuum in their production--electronic tubes, computer components, hearing aids --can be made more economically in lunar factories.

Metallurgical research would also benefit from the moon's vacuum, in which pure metals with maximum densities could be produced. Manufacturers who need elaborately protected "clean rooms" on earth for their production processes would find that the moon itself is a huge clean room, with no atmosphere to circulate dust and other contaminants around assembly areas.

The lunar environment is also ideal for cyclotrons and other devices that accelerate subatomic particles in a vacuum. For the same reason, electron beam-welding--which also requires a high vacuum--would be facilitated on the moon. Another joining process, cold-welding, could become an important part of lunar industry. In a vacuum, two perfectly clean and smooth metal surfaces--uncontaminated by oxides that are formed in the earth's atmosphere --can be welded solidly together without heat and with little pressure.

Even the lunar vacuum itself may some day become a salable commodity. Says Industrial Research magazine: "It is conceivable that a simple sealed pressure shell containing literally nothing inside, or an insulated package of a material cooled to --441DEG F. or lower, with suitable 'vacuum locks,' could be shipped to earth ports intact--for a price less than evacuation or helium cooling on mother earth."

Valuable as the moon's vacuum may be, there are more palpable treasures. Some scientists, assuming that the moon was created when the earth was, some 4.5 billion years ago, calculate that about 10 trillion tons of meteors have fallen on the lunar surface. From their analysis of the composition of the relatively few meteors that reach the earth's surface (most are burned up by the atmosphere), they estimate that meteors have deposited 450 billion tons of iron, 30 billion tons of nickel, 10 billion tons of phosphorous, 9 billion tons of carbon, 6 billion tons of copper and 3 billion tons of cobalt on or near the lunar surface. If their figures are correct, the meteor fall would also have contributed 300 billion tons of carbonaceous chondrites, containing about 30 billion tons of water chemically locked in crystals with other compounds.

These vast resources are important not only for their potential use on earth, but also for their value in making a lunar colony self-sufficient. Although engineers hope eventually to reduce the cost of shipping payloads to the moon by using simple, unsophisticated boosters and flyable stages that can be returned to earth and used again, it now costs $22,187 per lb. with Saturn 5. The key to tapping lunar resources, Zwicky believes, is energy from the sun, which beats down directly on the moon's surface, unfiltered by atmosphere. Solar furnaces could be constructed, consisting of mirrors that focus the sun's fierce beams on a target. Using these, Zwicky suggests, man could work wonders with lunar rock. The furnaces could melt lunar gravel and soil, which could be cast into bricks for building shelters. They could also be used to heat moon rocks enough to release their locked-in water. Even the proverbial pig's squeal could be used. Water vapor steaming out of the heated rocks could drive power turbines before being condensed into drinking water. When lunar water is finally available in ample supply, it could even be used for rocket fuel. Moon technicians will decompose it into hydrogen and oxygen gases by electrolysis, then feed the gases into a lunar cryostat, a device that can reach extremely low temperatures during the chill lunar night without using power. The resulting products would be liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, familiar space-age fuels.

Zwicky would also produce carbon dioxide by focusing the rays of a solar furnace on rocks containing calcium carbonate. The carbon dioxide would be released into the atmosphere of a covered garden to sustain green algae living in a tank of water. The rapidly reproducing algae would not only be an excellent source of protein for humans on the moon but would also produce vitally needed oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis.

Astronomer I. M. Levitt, director of the Pels Planetarium of Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, believes that colonizers of the moon will eventually produce their own water, a contained atmosphere, food and other necessities completely from lunar materials. He envisages vegetables grown from seed, rooted in tanks of water in which the necessary lunar minerals have been dissolved. His moon colonies, complete with farm animals and factories, launch pads and lunar surface vehicles, and the comforts of home, would be located underground--in sealed-off caves and domes--to protect inhabitants against meteors, solar radiation and the extremes of lunar temperatures.

Nor would the inhabitants want for luxuries. Levitt believes that virtually anything man--or woman--might desire can be produced on the moon by combining available minerals with a source of energy to produce chemical reactions. One of Levitt's chemical chains, beginning with carbon and calcium, can lead to the manufacture of medicines, plastics, dyes, food additives, rubber, ceramics, even fertilizers and textiles. "Naturally, we're going to insist that the girls go with us to the moon," grins Levitt, "and when we get there we'll be able to make all of their lipsticks, perfumes, nail polishes--you name it."

An advocate of moon colonies for 20 years, Levitt is no mere dreamer. To help prove his point, he has actually built a working model of a solar still. Using four 20-in. mirrors, he focuses sunlight on powdered pitchstone in a glass laboratory tube until its water of crystallization steams off. The steam is then channeled to an adjacent model still, where it is converted to drops of water.

Lunar Vacations

NASA Administrator Thomas Paine is so confident of continued progress in space flight and the establishment of lunar bases that he foresees vacations on the moon within two decades that will cost the affluent thrill seeker as little as $5,000--round trip. "There is no question," Paine says,, "that we can reduce the cost of travel to the moon to the cost of traveling through the air today. The spacecraft we use will be descendants of today's Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s, married to today's hydrogen-oxygen rockets."

For the price, the vacationer will enjoy some exhilarating experiences in the weak lunar gravity. On a diving board, for example, he will be able to spring six times as high as on earth. When the splash occurs, it will be a veritable gey ser, also six times as high as on earth. Even more remarkable, a visitor to a domed lunar resort will be able to don a pair of wings and flap off like Icarus into the artificial atmosphere, using only muscle power to fly.

Though such notions about the uses of the moon may sound visionary, they are tame alongside some of the really futuristic ideas. A Russian has suggested covering the entire side of the moon that is visible to earth with a reflectant coating to make it a huge thermal power plant. Zwicky theorizes that man may one day actually be able to shrink the moon through nuclear fusion; a smaller, denser moon would have greater gravitational pull, perhaps enough to hold a habitable atmosphere. Levitt speculates that in the distant future the moon may serve as a launching platform for a 1,000,000-ton spaceship (Apollo 11's weight at liftoff: 3,200 tons), an intergalactic Noah's ark that could carry a complete civilization to nearby stars.

Ridiculous? No more so than the visions of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells seemed less than a century ago. Given the remarkable feats already achieved by technology, it would be unwise to bet against almost any possibility.

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