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Main
Date: 21 Oct 2007 03:13:36
From: Greens
Subject: bicycling on the moon, opportunity lost
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First, some old business - Solid tires with a strip of rubber on the
outside.
The Germans are way ahead of me.
http://www.myriadonline.co.uk/likeabike.php
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MAIN TOPIC - BICYCLING ON THE MOON
They brought a go cart up there in the sixties. I think they missed an
opportunity. They could have brought up a specially made bicycle. They
already had the engine - an astronaut. They had the fuel - space food. (back
then eating food out of plastic pouches was only done by astronauts in
space.) All they needed was a properly built moon bicyle or trike.
What would it look like?
How fast would it go?
What special features might it have had?
Why didn't they do it?
Since there was no atomosphere and less gravity, I think it would have gone
faster. Wouldn't there be less friction with the ground in low gravity?
Maybe the bike could have been geared to go further with each stroke.
Jumps would have been awesome!
NASA might have invented the first mountain bike ten or fifteen years
earlier had they sent a bike to the moon.
What would an astronaut on the moon wear cycling on the moon? I don't
remember how hot or cold it was. I think temperatures varied greatly. This
would have determined what they would wear and of course they'd have to
bring air tanks which are heavy.
Astronauts could pedal their bikes 74 miles per hour on the moon.
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Date: 21 Oct 2007 15:52:20
From: Kinky Cowboy
Subject: Re: bicycling on the moon, opportunity lost
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On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 03:13:36 -0400, "Greens" <prbj@adelphia.net >
wrote:
>space.) All they needed was a properly built moon bicyle or trike.
>
>What would it look like?
>How fast would it go?
>What special features might it have had?
>Why didn't they do it?
The surface is reasonably smooth, but quite soft, so wide low pressure
tyres would be needed but suspension can be dispensed with. The Space
suit is restrictive on joint articulation, so an upright position is
also demanded. Finally, to be UCI legal, the bike would have to have a
mass approaching 50kg, because UCI commissaires have no understanding
of science and would therefore want it to weigh 6.8kg on spring
balances calibrated on earth.
Fortunately, such a machine already exists at well below NASA budget
prices; The Surley Pugsley
The difficulty with predicting achievable speed is that most of the
resistance comes from shifting moon dust - we've all felt the sudden
deceleration of hitting a patch of deep, soft sand. Guessing that
rolling resistance is increased by a factor of 10, I think 50km/h at
300W might be feasible.
Kinky Cowboy*
*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary
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Date: 21 Oct 2007 13:26:31
From: still me
Subject: Re: bicycling on the moon, opportunity lost
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On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 03:13:36 -0400, "Greens" <prbj@adelphia.net >
wrote:
>
>They brought a go cart up there in the sixties. I think they missed an
>opportunity. They could have brought up a specially made bicycle. They
>already had the engine - an astronaut.
Talk to that moron GWB - maybe he can add one to his idiotic plans to
visit Mars. Another billion $'s ought to be enough to build a
collapsible bike to go along for the ride.
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Date: 21 Oct 2007 05:52:20
From: Ben C
Subject: Re: bicycling on the moon, opportunity lost
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On 2007-10-21, Greens <prbj@adelphia.net > wrote:
> First, some old business - Solid tires with a strip of rubber on the
> outside.
>
> The Germans are way ahead of me.
> http://www.myriadonline.co.uk/likeabike.php
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> MAIN TOPIC - BICYCLING ON THE MOON
Some more silliness for you: http://www.hook.org/essays/mars.html
Actually some not bad ad copy there.
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Date: 21 Oct 2007 07:37:03
From: Tom Sherman
Subject: Re: bicycling on the moon, opportunity lost
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Ben C? wrote:
> On 2007-10-21, Greens <prbj@adelphia.net> wrote:
>> First, some old business - Solid tires with a strip of rubber on the
>> outside.
>>
>> The Germans are way ahead of me.
>> http://www.myriadonline.co.uk/likeabike.php
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> MAIN TOPIC - BICYCLING ON THE MOON
>
> Some more silliness for you: http://www.hook.org/essays/mars.html
>
> Actually some not bad ad copy there.
"Riders need to arrive first to set a beachhead and a 'critical mass' of
rider positive freedoms."
The Martian M*k* V*nd*m*n will not be far behind!
--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
Beer - It's not just for breakfast anymore!
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