Question: When Roy travels across the Martian landscape, he is in an enclosed buggy. Why aren't these used on the Moon, where they would offer greater protection?
raywest
13th Nov 2024
13th Nov 2024
Question: When Roy travels across the Martian landscape, he is in an enclosed buggy. Why aren't these used on the Moon, where they would offer greater protection?
Answer: Unlike the moon, Mars has an atmosphere, weather, and winds that can reach up to about 60 mph. Mars also has severe dust storms that quickly cover objects in a thick, gritty layer of toxic Martian soil. An enclosed rover protects the driver, equipment, and other sensitive instruments from the elements. This is actually a concern for when humans eventually colonize Mars.
raywest ★
But if there is hostile activity on the Moon, why isn't there more protection?
There are plenty of examples on earth of soldiers and similar being sent into situations with unsuitable or minimal equipment. Most likely hostile activity isn't significant enough to warrant a buggy redesign, and/or given the weapons involved, the only protection that would make any actual difference would be too heavy to be worth transporting to the moon, or impossible to make on-site. As such people take their chances.