Would it be possible to fly on the moon?

[DavidSmafield]

Just a hypothetical question here. If sometime in the future we made some sort of a giant pressurized dome habitat on the moon would it be possible for me to fly around in it wearing a wing suit like that Icarus guy from the Greek myth.

 

[yevaud]

As in the old Heinlein story? Yes, as long as the gas pressure within the dome was sufficient, why not?

 

[Yuri_Armstrong]

A more interesting question is could aircraft that we use on Earth work normally flying on the near vacuum environment of the moon?

 

[yevaud]

Simply, no. Airplanes are aerodynamic creatures that require atmosphere for lift to keep them aloft.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Yeah, notice the "air" part of air-plane

 

[kelvinzero]

Just a hypothetical question here. If sometime in the future we made some sort of a giant pressurized dome habitat on the moon would it be possible for me to fly around in it wearing a wing suit like that Icarus guy from the Greek myth.

people have gotten peddle powered planes to work on earth so we could certainly do much much better than this anyway:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-powered_aircraft.

 

[James_Bull]

A more interesting question is could aircraft that we use on Earth work normally flying on the near vacuum environment of the moon?

That's not more interesting at all; the answer is a blatently obvious no! I thought you were joking at first...

Would be amazing to be able to fly around in a huge glass dome. I wonder would it be difficult to work and walk/move around in 1/6 gravity, without the encumberance of an extremely heavy spacesuit. I saw a video of a parabolic flight where the flew to simulate gravity on the moon and people just needed to barely tip the floor and they were in the airborne!

 

[Yuri_Armstrong]

Simply, no. Airplanes are aerodynamic creatures that require atmosphere for lift to keep them aloft.

So what would be required for a plane to fly on the moon?

 

[James_Bull]

Simply, no. Airplanes are aerodynamic creatures that require atmosphere for lift to keep them aloft.

So what would be required for a plane to fly on the moon?

Either an atmosphere or an orbit! :?

 

[yevaud]

Simply, no. Airplanes are aerodynamic creatures that require atmosphere for lift to keep them aloft.

So what would be required for a plane to fly on the moon?

Either an atmosphere or an orbit! :?

Yeah. By definition, without atmosphere, it would properly be a rocket. As Wayne said, notice the "air" part in "airplane."

Interestingly, the F-15, for example, would make a swell rocket (it produces more thrust than it weighs, or masses more properly in space). Except, without any atmosphere, it couldn't be controlled in any way (except varying the thrust of the two engines).

Which wouldn't work anyways, because they have no oxidizer without an atmosphere...

Better to stick with rockets that are designed as rockets (and skip the spaceborne airplanes). They work oh so much better.

 

[Boris_Badenov]

In Ben Bova's Grand Tour series they have a relatively large open area in Selene City were they rent out wings to Tourists so they can fly around. I suspect it would be physically demanding but possible.

 

[adrenalynn]

An airplane on the moon outside of an artificial environment?

The moon's atmospheric is about 10[super]-11[/super] Torr. The best your vacuum cleaner could possibly hope for is around 500 Torr, assuming it's an industrial shopvac. Just for a little scale of why that could never work. Airplane's rely upon atmospheric pressure to lift them. Beyond that, the only engine that could work would be a rocket, where a rocket is differentiated by carrying its own oxidizer (versus conventional and jet engines that pressurize the atmosphere around them).

 

[SteveCNC]

are you all reading the same OP I am ?

Just a hypothetical question here. If sometime in the future we made some sort of a giant pressurized dome habitat on the moon would it be possible for me to fly around in it wearing a wing suit like that Icarus guy from the Greek myth.

What part of inside a giant pressurized dome don't you get ? The word pressurized ? implying atmosphere ? or the dome part that contains the pressure ? Maybe it's the word giant thats throwing you all off ? Or are you only reading the title ?

I would think it wouldn't take as much energy to stay aloft as here on earth although I'm not as certain you could manipulate the wings correctly to produce the propper lift without some kind of updraft . My dad used to fly hang gliders (till his 3rd crash) mostly they use up drafts to fly and if you set up the air currents right inside your dome I suppose you could fly around for a long time .

 

[adrenalynn]

A more interesting question is could aircraft that we use on Earth work normally flying on the near vacuum environment of the moon?

Reading comprehension. Not just for breakfast anymore.

 

[adrenalynn]

I'm not as certain you could manipulate the wings correctly to produce the propper lift without some kind of updraft .

Powered aircraft need nothing resembling "updraft"

It's simply pressure differential over the wing surface. That's why they're shaped that way.

Incidentally - it's exactly the same function as a wind turbine or sailboat sailing into the wind.

 

[SteveCNC]

I'm not as certain you could manipulate the wings correctly to produce the propper lift without some kind of updraft .

Powered aircraft need nothing resembling "updraft"

It's simply pressure differential over the wing surface. That's why they're shaped that way.

Incidentally - it's exactly the same function as a wind turbine or sailboat sailing into the wind.

since he was asking about an icarus wing suit , I was responding to the OP's question not talking about aircraft .

 

[adrenalynn]

As long as there is forward momentum, or power through flapping or some pulling mechanism, you've been told how to "manipulate the wings correctly to produce proper lift" sans any kind of updraft.

 

[kg]

Easy!
Just go to Google Earth, pull down the view menu, go down to explore and click on moon. When you get to the moon you can enter flight simulator mode from the tools menu and FLY ON THE MOON! Really kinda cool actually.

 

[3488]

An airplane on the moon outside of an artificial environment?

The moon's atmospheric is about 10[super]-11[/super] Torr. The best your vacuum cleaner could possibly hope for is around 500 Torr, assuming it's an industrial shopvac. Just for a little scale of why that could never work. Airplane's rely upon atmospheric pressure to lift them. Beyond that, the only engine that could work would be a rocket, where a rocket is differentiated by carrying its own oxidizer (versus conventional and jet engines that pressurize the atmosphere around them).

Further to Adrenalynn's correct post,

The total MASS of the lunar atmosphere is a paltry 25,000 KG, that's it. Mind you Mercury has even less, only 8,500 KG!!!!!!!

Lunar atmosphere = 2 x 10 [super]-12[/super] torr.

The vac Adrenalynn mentioned above is strong enough to rip the carpet off the floor with furniture on it in a normal home, so gives you some idea of how tenuous the lunar 'atmosphere' is. :lol: :lol:

So planes or any winged craft will not work there for lifting.

Andrew Brown.

 

[adrenalynn]

Great imagery, Andrew!

I have a shopvac (contractor/industrial) that is roughly in that neighborhood (240v/16A) that will happily pick up 1.5" ball bearings all day long.

 

[yevaud]

are you all reading the same OP I am ?

Just a hypothetical question here. If sometime in the future we made some sort of a giant pressurized dome habitat on the moon would it be possible for me to fly around in it wearing a wing suit like that Icarus guy from the Greek myth.

What part of inside a giant pressurized dome don't you get ?

Umm, the part where I answered the OP in the 2nd post. The rest is just one of our tres' de riguere tangents.

 

[StarRider1701]

I too liked Heinlein's tale, Menace from Earth, Yev. I beleive that with properly designed wings and perhaps a air circulation system to create an updraft as in the story, flying might not only be possible but fun. That might even be a possible mode of travel within a larger dome, given a safe method of propulsion. It'd sure beat walking!