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Dolgobinda

InActive

From: India

Registered: 2007-11-11

Posts: 3

Re: Terraforming on the Moon

Dear All,
Please see a paper of Das on terraforming at the website of "Rutgers symposium on Lunar Settlements".

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Terraforming on the Moon

Hi, Dolgobinda, and welcome to the forum

this is the site: http://www.lunarbase.rutgers.edu/index.php

...But I can't find the paper

Dolgobinda

InActive

From: India

Registered: 2007-11-11

Posts: 3

Re: Terraforming on the Moon

Hi Rxke!

Please go to symposium presentations, then click on Das (Paper). If you click on Das it is a PPT presentation and if you click on Paper you will find details.

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Terraforming on the Moon

Ah. Ok, I overlooked it.

Will read it this evening, if I have time to spare

Antius

Member

From: Cumbria, UK

Registered: 2007-05-22

Posts: 1,003

Re: Terraforming on the Moon

Interesting paper.  Most of the silicon on the moon is in the form of aluminium silicates, are there species of diatoms that can break this down into silicon dioxide polymers and aluminium oxides?

Whilst interesting, I do not see how diatoms like this are going to be useful terraforming the moon.  Most of the mass of their bodies is carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.  The first two are not found on the moon in quantities that are likley to be sufficient for terraforming.  Oxygen can only be produced by chemically decomposing rocks.

Most of the hard work in terraforming the moon consists of getting the enormous amounts of water, carbon and nitrogen to the moon.  After that, an oxygen atmosphere can be produced slowly by biological organisms or rapidly through photo-dissociation of water vapour or direct thermochemical dissociation of water or lunar rock.

Dolgobinda

InActive

From: India

Registered: 2007-11-11

Posts: 3

Re: Terraforming on the Moon

Hi Antius!

In the paper it has been mentioned that these organisms can grow in presence of trace amounts of carbon, utilizing more silicon in their body. At least one paper indicates that diatoms can utilize aluminium silicate. Fachini A, Vasconcelos MT. Effects of zeolites on cultures of marine micro-algae: A brief review. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2006 13(6):414-7. Review.