: Also, to answer Nicks anti-lunar base stance: if you buy the theory, any of
: them, that the moon was part of the earth, or was formed with it in the early solar system, then there is no reason that both bodies are composed of the same elements in similar quantities. Read: it has signifigant amounts of Si, Fe, C,
: O etc. Is it mineable? Well we won't know until we get there(personally or through probes).
:
: C'Ya
: Joe
I'm no expert on this, and you can beat me about the head with a wet flounder
if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the moon would have the same
proportion of elements that the earth has only if the earth was completely
homogeneous when separation occured. If, however, the moon was sheared off
after the earth's heavier elements had sunk to the centre, then it seems that
the moon would be lacking in these heavier elements. And given that in a
molten moon heavy elements would sink toward the centre, it might be a
difficult job actually finding a vein of heavy metals near enough to the
surface to be mined.
I'm not sure about aluminium, but I'd not be too hopeful of finding appreciable
