Flying on the Moon

[Johnrankins]

There is a story by Robert Heinlein called "The Menece from Earth" in which people fly on the Moon using wings because they are 1/6 their normal weight. How popular would it be if space was much more developed then OTL and you have tourism on the Moon? Personally I think it would make a TON of money.

[tallwingedgoat]

But there's no atmosphere on the Moon.

[Doraemon]

He probably means inside a atomosphere dome or something

[stevep]

Originally Posted by Emperor Akahito

He probably means inside a atomosphere dome or something

Yes it was inside atmospheric domes. Still have the problem of getting travel to the moon cheap enough that a lot of people could afford to do it.

Have seen similar suggestions for near the centre of O'Neill colonies as the effective gravitational forces would be pretty low there. That might be more likely as get a few of them being established and some time and you could get a significant population based off Earth and hence outside the gravity well.

Steve

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Originally Posted by Johnrankins

There is a story by Robert Heinlein called "The Menece from Earth" in which people fly on the Moon using wings because they are 1/6 their normal weight. How popular would it be if space was much more developed then OTL and you have tourism on the Moon? Personally I think it would make a TON of money.

That's a fairly common scene in a lot of the moon colonization stories (and even a lot of the L4/L5 stations) that I've read. Usually there's a central dome/meeting space big enough to fly, but in a few cases, there's an airshaft big enough to provide a space to glide. It sounds fantastic, but I imagine that most people over the age of 12-15 would weigh too much to "fly" in any open space you're likely to find on the moon in the next century or two.

The wingspans needed for adults would require a vast space; probably on the scale of an underground cavern, excavated or natural.

[simonbp]

Yeah, I can only imagine it as a hobby; there are much better (safer!) ways of getting around than gliding...

Also, the giant above-ground domes of classic sci-fi are a really bad idea on the moon because of radiation. The lunar regolith is a pretty good shielding material, so if/when there are large colonies on the moon, they'll almost definitely be underground, with little open wasted space.

On Mars, on the other hand, you could get away with a dome, sufficiently thick to shield the inhabitants (radiation of the surface of Mars is about equal to low Earth orbit). Mars has a surface gravity of 0.38g, which might be enough for some skinnier aerobats...

Simon