Wendell Mendel on the Lunar Environment

“Dr. Mendell’s presentation addresses a multitude of aspects of the Lunar Environment. The first section reviews the many external factors that act upon the Moon and how their effects that need to be understood by the lunar designer or explorer. He chooses to discuss the environmental factors through their connection to the Moon’s location in the universe, in the Milky Way Galaxy, in our solar system near the Sun, and in proximity to the Earth. The effects of the solar wind plasma, meteoroids, and solar insolation are important on the Moon because it lacks a magnetic field and a substantial atmosphere. He describes the Earth-Moon system as a “binary planet” and discusses the Lunar Coordinate System and the importance of the Moon’s polar regions. The second part of Dr. Mendell’s presentation covers the implications of the environment for living and working on the Moon. We have little to no experience in habitat design for a low-gravity planet. The Moon’s ‘lumpy’ structure introduces irregularities in its gravitational field, increasing the cost of maintaining low orbits. He goes on to discuss the Moon’s tenuous atmosphere, its unusual surface reflectivity, ejecta from surface impacts (why we need to worry about this), lunar seismic events (moonquakes, impact events – even ours), and lastly emanations of gases from beneath the surface.” [^ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/moon101/#environment]

Presented at the NASA Johnson Space Center: June 18, 2008

Video:

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/moon101/mendell/

Slides:

https://spudislunarresources.nss.org/moon101/moon_101_enviro.pdf