Would the spacesuits and spacecraft stand up to the intense heat and radiation? Shouldn't this be a consideration for any moon base?
2006-12-18 22:33:30 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
There is no daytime side of the moon.
It has days and nights.
Only, we always see one face of the moon because it has a "captured" revolution with regards to the Earth.
Which means that its revolution happens in exactly the same time (~28 days) as its orbit around the Earth, so that the same face is always facing the Earth (not the Sun!).
The radiation for the astronauts during lunar day time will be comparable to what they experience in orbit outside the space station.
As a matter of fact the astronauts of the Apollo missions did land on the illuminated side during the lunar day.
2006-12-18 22:45:01 · answer #1 · answered by PragmaticAlien 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All the moon landings sites can be seen from Earth. That means they were all on the daylight side of the moon.
Heat doesn't travel through vacuum, so while the Moon's surface does get very hot at lunar noon it doesn't tranfer to the astronauts very well. Their suits more than handle the increased load.
The moon landings lucked out, as there wasn't a large solar flare during the flight which would have caused major problems, if not ended it. Also they weren't on the surface for very long and so weren't exposed to the solar radiation for long periods of time.
-The metal of the lander provided some shielding.
If we have a moon base there is going to have to be some form of shielding. How much and what form it will take isn't yet known.
2006-12-18 23:27:52 · answer #2 · answered by dropkick 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It would be virtually impossible to land on the dark side of the moon.
Imagine an airliner flying across Africa at night with absolutely no lights visible and trying to make a landing!
They would probably end up in a big ball of flame!
2006-12-19 01:39:27 · answer #3 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They did. There is no "daytime side" of the moon. The moon has daylight over the entire surface at one time or the other. The moon's days are 28 earth days long.
2006-12-18 23:33:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can and they did. All the Apollo landings were on the daytime side of the Moon.
2006-12-19 01:12:48 · answer #5 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They already landed on the sunlit side.
2006-12-18 22:47:12 · answer #6 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They all landed on the sunlit side.
2006-12-19 07:29:25 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, if you can land on a lunar eclipse.
2006-12-18 22:41:59 · answer #8 · answered by Bao L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋