Mars Express reveals 'halo' on Olympus Mons — and it's huge
https://interestingengineering.com/scie … smons-halo
Recent images captured by the mission offer more than just breathtaking views of Olympus Mons's peak; they unveil an intricate halo.
It’s Official. No More Astronomy at Arecibo
https://www.universetoday.com/163385/it … t-arecibo/
Earth is Noisy
LuSEE 'Night': The Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment a low frequency radio astronomy experiment that will be delivered to the farside of the Moon by the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program
]]>You would need roads, railways or cable cars to climb the volcano. Although tall, the gradient of the slope is only a few degrees, so a railway would probably work. You need to ascend a height of 22km under Martian gravity, which 0.38g. That 82KJ/kg of potential energy (23kWh/tonne). That is not excessive, especially if direct electrification can be used to power the train.
A while back I investigated an idea for terraforming that would have involved mining Martian brine or ice and pumping or trucking it to the top of Olympus Mons. Here, it would sublime directly into the upper atmosphere. UV light woukd have then split the water into 02 and H2, with the latter escaping into space.
]]>Building telescopes on the Moon could transform radio astronomy because the lunar farside is permanently shielded from the radio signals generated by humans on Earth.
https://astronomy.com/news/2023/04/buil … -astronomy
Yes but not starship masses which is what some will want. I would think that it would lend its self for long distance sub orbital transit flights.
Some Moon enthusiasts and Mars did the math and point out lunar mass drivers are possible but also perhaps possible on Mars, maybe you would need good satellites monitoring everything
According to the Mars Fact Sheet the density of Mars surface atmosphere is .02kg/m3 and the scale height is 11.1 km. Since Olympus Mons is 22 km high, it seems to me the the density at the mountain top
would be e ^ −22/11.1∗.02kg/m3 where e is Euler's number, about 2.72. That gives a density of about .0028kg/m3
stackexchange.com/questions
. Mars orbital speed at 22 km altitude is about 3,540 m/s. Plugging these numbers intoq=.5∗ρ∗v2
I get a dynamic pressure is about 17,268 pascals, or about half of the shuttle's Max-Q.
So at this point I believe Mars' atmosphere wouldn't be a showstopper for an Olympus Mons railgun.
Maybe it could be a kind of rail gunned launch pad
Perhaps Mars settlers might prefer one or the other. Or perhaps launches could be scheduled for daylight?
(th)
Yes I think that's a good idea you could also use one of the many other Mountains, I think Space Agency are taking the idea for putting telescopes on other planets serious, the Chinese Chang'e 3 lander has an ultraviolet telescope and a camera on the Moon, it Seemed to have been doing both Cosmological and Solar/Earth science
Here is a NASA article about the Need for a Telescope on the Lunar Surface
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/space … Telescope/
the Moon acts as a physical shield that isolates a far-side lunar-surface telescope from radio interference from sources on the Earth's surface, the ionosphere, Earth-orbiting satellites, and the Sun's radio emission during the lunar night. We propose the design of a Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT) on the far side of the Moon. We propose to deploy a wire mesh using wall-climbing DuAxel robots in a 3-5 km diameter crater, with a suitable depth-to-diameter ratio, to form a parabolic reflector with a 1 km diameter. LCRT will be the largest filled-aperture radio telescope in the Solar System; larger than the former Arecibo telescope (300 m diameter, 3 cm - 1 m wavelength band, 0.3-10 GHz frequency band) and the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) (500 m diameter, 0.1-4.3 m wavelength band, 60-3000 MHz frequency band). LCRT’s science objective is to track the evolution of the neutral intergalactic medium before and during the formation of the first stars, which is consistent with priorities identified in the Astrophysics decadal survey.
The Olmpus Mons telescope idea is a good one. On Mars, we could presumably build enormous reflector telescopes and as you say, there is no one that would care to object.
Also the heights of Ascraeus Mons, Elysium Mons, Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons all dwarf Mount Everest, even the small mountains of Mars Elevation reach giant elevations.
http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Mars_Express/S … LUG_0.html
The Olmpus Mons telescope idea is a good one. On Mars, we could presumably build enormous reflector telescopes and as you say, there is no one that would care to object.
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SearchTerm:Astronomy from Olympus Mons
This idea might easily win funding for the Mars adventure, if presented to the right people.
Afterthought ... it occurs to me that the combination of rocket launch facility (a) and (b) astronomical facility location is unusual.
Perhaps Mars settlers might prefer one or the other. Or perhaps launches could be scheduled for daylight?
Telescopes seem (to me at least) to be (generally) on the delicate side.
(th)
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