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Cover author: Michał Kałużny http://astrofotografia.pl/

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Terraforming: why the Moon is a better target than Mars (bigthink.com)

submitted 1 year ago by btaf45@kbin.social to c/space@kbin.social

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The first world that humans should inhabit beyond the Earth is the Moon, not Mars. Here's how to terraform our lunar neighbor.

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[–] Sir_Osis_of_Liver@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Moon regolith is pretty nasty stuff. It's chemically reduced due to the lack of O2 to react with, and becomes corrosive when exposed to moisture. The absence of atmosphere, means that sharp edges of the dust particles aren't rounded off by erosion, making the dust/soil particularly abrasive. It's also positively charged, so sticks to everything.

None of that is insurmountable, but it does stack up mitigation costs.