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Birth of a Notion.
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The elder kid had exams while the younger's holidays began, so I spent time with her making soap bubbles, to keep her quiet. We did all sorts of bubbles: floating, on a plate, multiple, Atlas holding the globe, inside a soap bubble, inside a soap bubble. They look very beautiful, shimmering, iridescent,
streamers of colours chasing each other, turning black for an instant before demise.
I'd like to lie on a hammock one full moon evening, chilled beer in hand, and watch the moon come up wrapped in a soap bubble.
Soap bubbles are only a few molecules thick so the amount of material needed would be (relatively) small. A solution will have to be developed which would stand up in space without evaporating, and with the requisite surface tension to withstand handling on that large scale.
A large ring is placed on one side of the moon, wetted with this solution. It is folded into a semicircle and opened out, making a disk of film. It is then quickly passed to the other side of the moon, and closed again. The film will tend to stay where it is, due to inertia, and so the result will be one spherical bubble enclosing the moon. Gas released at the surface of the moon will help inflate this and keep it aloft.
Even if the above prove impossible, I still like to think of lying on a hammock one full moon evening, chilled beer in hand, and watching the moon come up wrapped in a soap bubble.
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And floats on like a soap bubble.
And no, that beer does not need to have any acid in it.
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL.
E.g., http://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)
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If we can use a ceiling fan to set the bubble rotating, using a falling column of air as propellant, the lack of atmosphere around the moon would ensure atmospheric drag would be cancelled totally from the equation, allowing the bubble spin faster and faster with no impediment. |
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Freezing of the bubble will not be a problem, as the temperature in areas exposed to the sun in open space at this distance from the sun is about 7deg C, from memory. |
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Eventually, the PE (potential energy) of the rotating soap bubble will be sufficient to counteract Earth's gravitational pull on the moon, allowing astronauts to steer the newly inhabited moon to another galaxy, as a living ark. |
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The source of air required for this could be from the heel cavities of old Nike sneakers. This is a renewable resource, it just requires a willingness by athletic shoe vendors to contribute used Nikes to the cause. |
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UnaBubba forgot to mention that if you fill the bubble with helium it'll float up to the moon, and then you just have the problem of powdering the moon and injecting it thru a straw into the centre of the bubble, which I think can be done with nanobots. |
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Part of the beauty of the moon in your soap bubble probably came from the iridescent reflection of the moonlight itself. |
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So be sure to factor a giant mirror into your design. |
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Reminds me of Mel Brooks' "Space Balls" where a planet keeps it's precious air locked within a shield.
I'm not sure if this idea was thought up for terraforming, since most planets' gravity is too weak to hold an atmosphere. This sounds like a few steps beyond having Lunar colonies of domed cities nested within craters. |
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I really like the whimsy of the idea and the involvement of beer. And I can whole heartedly support any plan that involves chilled beer. But without air inside the bubble, your bubble would collapse ( or even fail to form ). |
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Now I feel bad, I burst your bubble. Time for another beer, have one on me. |
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Fill it with air and you could colonize the moon. |
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P.S. Love SpaceBalls. "Yes sir, they're combing the desert as we speak. [camera pans over. you see soldiers dragging giant combs through sand]. |
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