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Definitely. The problem of propulsion is a big one, which is why there is such a money sink in techs like space elevators and such they're trying to come up with. The one saving grace would be some tech that could refurbish air/water and such. Since O2 is converted by people into CO2, some sort of electrolysis of the CO2 into it's component Oxygen2 and Carbon would be intriguing. The amount of energy available to the moon is "limitless" since there is little standing between collectors and the sun. The only problem I'd see is what to do with all that carbon. I'd not like to think of it as a waste product, but it could somehow be recycled and useful. Water recycling isn't so tough, again just break it down into Hydrogen and oxygen, burn it for heat or something recoup the water, it has the lovely effect of spitting out pure water and the contaminants removed via whatever process you split the molecules up with. I mean something along these lines would be the only alternative. In a captive environment with only so many resources one should cease thinking in terms of water, oxygen, etc, and think more about what atoms you got laying around and how you can convert them into whatever it is you need at the time.

<blockquote data-quote="r0beph" data-source="post: 24228" data-attributes="member: 355"><p>Definitely.&nbsp;&nbsp; The problem of propulsion is a big one,&nbsp;&nbsp; which is why there is such a money sink in techs like space elevators and such they&#039;re trying to come up with.&nbsp; The one saving grace would be some tech that could refurbish air/water and such.&nbsp;&nbsp; Since O2 is converted by people into CO2, some sort of electrolysis of the CO2 into it&#039;s component Oxygen2 and Carbon would be intriguing.&nbsp; The amount of energy available to the moon is &quot;limitless&quot; since there is little standing between collectors and the sun.&nbsp; The only problem I&#039;d see is what to do with all that carbon.&nbsp;&nbsp; I&#039;d not like to think of it as a waste product,&nbsp; but it could somehow be recycled and useful.&nbsp;&nbsp; Water recycling isn&#039;t so tough,&nbsp; again just break it down into Hydrogen and oxygen,&nbsp; burn it for heat or something recoup the water,&nbsp; it has the lovely effect of spitting out pure water and the contaminants removed via whatever process you split the molecules up with.&nbsp;&nbsp; I mean something along these lines would be the only alternative.&nbsp;&nbsp; In a captive environment with only so many resources one should cease thinking in terms of water,&nbsp; oxygen,&nbsp; etc,&nbsp;&nbsp; and think more about what atoms you got laying around and how you can convert them into whatever it is you need at the time.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="r0beph, post: 24228, member: 355"] Definitely. The problem of propulsion is a big one, which is why there is such a money sink in techs like space elevators and such they're trying to come up with. The one saving grace would be some tech that could refurbish air/water and such. Since O2 is converted by people into CO2, some sort of electrolysis of the CO2 into it's component Oxygen2 and Carbon would be intriguing. The amount of energy available to the moon is "limitless" since there is little standing between collectors and the sun. The only problem I'd see is what to do with all that carbon. I'd not like to think of it as a waste product, but it could somehow be recycled and useful. Water recycling isn't so tough, again just break it down into Hydrogen and oxygen, burn it for heat or something recoup the water, it has the lovely effect of spitting out pure water and the contaminants removed via whatever process you split the molecules up with. I mean something along these lines would be the only alternative. In a captive environment with only so many resources one should cease thinking in terms of water, oxygen, etc, and think more about what atoms you got laying around and how you can convert them into whatever it is you need at the time. [/QUOTE]

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