Jim has dispaired of ever whacking a hole through the planet... he figures the extra cooling to the earths core will advance the onset of extinction.
Anyhows he figures whacking a hole through the moon is a great substitute... His list of uses for the moon tunnol include the longest unhindered free fall in the solar system the largest rocket launcher in the solar system the ....
Jim ponders-- madness, Nov 08 2005 Why Put Up With The Full Moon Why_20Put_20Up_20With_20The_20Full_20Moon [theircompetitor, Nov 08 2005] There are some interesting applications for a cavity at the center of a planetary body. But I don't think you'll have an easy time getting there. And I'm not sure you'll be able to preserve your tunnel once you've dug it - doesn't the Moon still have quakes?-- DrCurry, Nov 08 2005 gawd, that sounds filthy.
"During several of the Apollo missions, astronauts set up seismic instruments on the lunar surface to measure moonquake activity. The data from these instruments revealed that the Moon is very reverberant, with oscillations continuing for one hour or longer." lord knows where I found that...-- po, Nov 08 2005 For transportation porposes, it is sufficent to mearly drill a cord. (the geometric type)-- my-nep, Nov 08 2005 \\the longest unhindered free fall in the solar system\\. Well you probably wouldn't land, so I suppose it's true.
Anyone else noticing a sudden influx of space related ideas?-- hidden truths, Nov 09 2005 I think the moon oscillates because it rings, like a bell. It is solid,with no jelly center to absorb energy. Without magma,or plates, could it have quakes?-- bungston, Nov 09 2005 I dont think so.-- Antegrity, Nov 09 2005 *I* think it oscillates because the Venusians use it as a venue for line dancing.-- moomintroll, Nov 09 2005 If you aren't careful you are going to tunnel right through the secret base on the side we never get to see.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 13 2005 Moonquakes are caused by the friction between the wobbling vs jiggling of its custard centre.-- JoeyJoJoShabadoo, Nov 13 2005 You can't fall through it, because there would be nothing on the bottom to pull you through! You could however walk down it, side ways on the moon would become down, and the gravity would increase once the closer you got to the center. Let's see if the school hasn't blocked image shack so I can draw a crappy Paint picture and show you what I'm talking about...
Nope, it's blocked.-- EvilPickels, Nov 14 2005 //During several of the Apollo missions, astronauts set up seismic instruments on the lunar surface to measure moonquake activity. The data from these instruments revealed that the Moon is very reverberant, with oscillations continuing for one hour or longer." // [po] They dropped whole booster stages at orbital speeds or the jettisoned ascent module to get these reverberations.-- coprocephalous, Nov 14 2005 //Actually, credible sources at Area 51...//
I don't know about the moon, but the oxymoron at the beginning of that sentence could reverberate for hours.-- zen_tom, Nov 14 2005 Damn, you [zen], ya beat me to it!-- coprocephalous, Nov 14 2005 Lets see, we have oxymorons, why not hydromorons? Nitromorons? Had to say it...-- DesertFox, Nov 14 2005 //Nope, it's blocked.//
Oh, the irony.-- moomintroll, Nov 14 2005 You'd need a really long pin and big hammer to whack a hole through the moon. And, after you do so, it'd be in a different orbit. Let me know when you start, so I can get out of Jim's way.-- sophocles, Nov 14 2005 You could fall through just fine. After you passed the center you would slow down as you neared the exit. You would pop right out at a fairly slow velocity and land right on your feet. I envision something like the beginning of Teletubbies, where they pop up and out of that hole then shimmy around.-- bungston, Nov 14 2005 Shimmy? Is that what they were doing? I never could figure those odd little things out. Did the tubbytoast power their televisions?-- sleeka, Nov 14 2005 I pictured a rainbow You held in your hands I had flashes But you saw then plan I wondered out in the world for years While you just stayed in your room I saw the crescent You saw the hole through the moon!-- neilp, Nov 15 2005 I was about to post this very idea, except my moon-tunnel features a giant lens at each end to make the largest optical telescope in the known universe.-- simonj, Nov 12 2007 //the largest rocket launcher in the solar system...//
How? Why? You stick a rocket at one end of this tunnel and light the blue touchpaper. It hurtles toward the moon's centre, gaining a bit of acceleration due to gravity (less so as it gets closer to the centre). It then has to go out the other side, thereby going back up the gravity well and losing any advantage. No point.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 12 2007 //No point.// [MB], that's what I thought at first too... but re-thinking: On a big rocket you absolutely need a tremendous amount of thrust at launch because you have to lift all of the fuel that you're going to burn later. Here, getting all the fuel mass traveling is a freebie - you can burn the fuel before you ever have to lift it against gravity.-- lurch, Nov 14 2007 //Here, getting all the fuel mass traveling is a freebie - you can burn the fuel before you ever have to lift it against gravity.// Errr, yes. I'm sure there's some problem with this, but I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 14 2007 \\the longest unhindered free fall in the solar system\\ Theoretically, if someone fell into said hole and there was no resistance, they would fall to a point on the opposite side of the moon the same distance from the moon's center of gravity as the starting point. Then the same thing would happen repeatedly, forever. There actually would be some resistance (falling dust, solar wind, hitting the sides) but it would be small.
[EvilPickels]Think before you post stuff like that. There wouldn't have to be anything directly under you for you to fall - the mass from the sides would still pull you down. Also, if you walk down the side of the hole, the pull from the two halves of the moon would be nearly the same - almost cancelling each other out (the would be some difference between the two attractions, because you would be closer to the half you're walking on, but they would be pretty close).-- apocalyps956, Nov 14 2007 //...they would fall to a point on the opposite side of the moon the same distance from the moon's center of gravity as the starting point.//
This could be used for nearly costless transportation to the opposite hemisphere of the moon.-- apocalyps956, Nov 14 2007 [apocalyps] Actually, the technique doesn't have to pass directly through the center, which is I think is what [my-nep] was saying. As long as you can produce a sufficiently low friction transport vehicle (mag lev anyone?) any chord through the planet will work. And it can thus be used for transportation to any point on the planet(oid).-- MechE, Nov 14 2007 //And it can thus be used for transportation to any point on the planet(oid).//
Only if you turn the moon into swiss cheese.-- Loris, Nov 15 2007 random, halfbakery