# Is it actually safe to mine the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987 "2008-12-06T12:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/21 "2008-12-06T18:18:01Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Bottom line: We’re moving iron & other minerals around, not consuming them. Yes, but we’re locking up a lot of those minerals into things, and the demand for them is increasing. The steel used in something like Hoover Dam, for example, is effectively “gone” until we tear the dam down. Also, as more parts of the Earth become occupied, that removes access to the materials which are underneath it. Can’t exactly mine for iron (or whatever) under NYC. Additionally, we’ve got large sections of the Earth that are off-limits for mining, etc. because of environmental concerns. Certainly, we can expect technology to improve where the impact is minimal, but getting the _laws_ changed to allow mining there will be difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/22 "2008-12-06T19:15:11Z")
> [@Hap\_Shaughnessy](#): > > I understand why we wouldn’t want go to back to the moon. > > Louis Armstrong went up there in the 60’s… walked around a bit, came home. > > He hasn’t been back since; that says alot don’t it? I don’t blame him. Blowing a trumpet through a helmet must be really hard. “In space, no one can hear you play” * * * Back to the intention of the OP. Disregarding the plausibility of it, how much mass would you have to extract from the Moon for it to have some measurable consequences on Earth? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/23 "2008-12-06T21:50:19Z")
Gravity follows the inverse square rule, so you’d have to remove a substantial hunk from the Moon for us to be able notice anything at all. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/24 "2008-12-06T22:08:34Z")
- saw a documentary awhile back that said that if there were gold bars stacked neatly on the surface of the moon, we couldn’t afford to bring them back. It’d cost more to go and retrieve the substance than the value of the substance. Now, gold is very heavy, but also very valuable, so I think the point is clear. Remember, this isn’t core - but pure gold blocks. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/25 "2008-12-06T22:09:24Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Can’t exactly mine for iron (or whatever) under NYC. Sure we could, it would just be orders of magnitude more difficult than the way we do it now. It would still be orders of magnitude easier than mining the moon. Kind of like terraforming the moon. We could turn the entire Sahara into a rain forest with less effort than it would take to even begin the process of thinking about terraforming the moon. (hyperbole, but you get the point) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/26 "2008-12-06T22:48:21Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > Sure we could, it would just be orders of magnitude more difficult than the way we do it now. It would still be orders of magnitude easier than mining the moon. The first part I can agree with, the second part, not so much. From a technological standpoint it will certainly be easier for a long period of time, _however_ what will be the most onerous part of mining under NYC will **not** be the technology, but the _regulations_. You’ll have all kinds of strict regulations on how you can dispose of things like tailings, etc. On the Moon, nobody’ll care that you’re dumping 100 tons of mine tailings 300 feet from the mine entrance. And now that I think about it, one of the things that you’ll have to deal with, if you mine under NYC (or just about anywhere on Earth) that you _won’t_ have to deal with on the Moon, is pumping water out of the mines. NYC is actually built on a pretty swampy area, and the city’s got huge numbers of pumps working 24/7 to keep the water under control. > [@](#): > > Kind of like terraforming the moon. We could turn the entire Sahara into a rain forest with less effort than it would take to even begin the process of thinking about terraforming the moon. (hyperbole, but you get the point) Yes, but there’s also the point where you don’t _want_ turn too much of the Sahara into a rainforest, as it could cause unwanted climate effects (believe it or not, but things like the size of the Sahara can affect the climate in the US) and desert creatures probably wouldn’t do all that well, living in a rainforest. So you’d _want_ to keep at least a portion of the Sahara desert. Admittedly, you could transform an awful lot of it into rainforest before that ever became a worry. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/27 "2008-12-07T00:03:45Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > I don’t blame him. Blowing a trumpet through a helmet must be really hard. > > “In space, no one can hear you play” That wasn’t the problem so much. It’s just that the place had no atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/28 "2008-12-07T01:25:33Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > That wasn’t the problem so much. It’s just that the place had no atmosphere. _golf clap_ ---
**Author:** ![Skylark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Skylark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skylark)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/29 "2008-12-07T01:42:26Z")
Yes, for the first 80 or 90 years or so. Then the computer and them will rebel against the Authority. Bunch of crouched-out Loonies, they’ll be so hocked up on that zero-g they’ll start throwing rocks at us. And then will we see an end to the lunar menace? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/30 "2008-12-07T02:06:16Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > _golf clap_ I see what you did there ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/31 "2008-12-07T02:08:11Z")
I recall reading somewhere that the earth and moon are slowly gaining mass due to meteorites. So maybe a little mining might be a good idea. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/32 "2008-12-07T02:31:15Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > I recall reading somewhere that the earth and moon are slowly gaining mass due to meteorites. So maybe a little mining might be a good idea. > 😃 Meteorite flux on earth is estimated to be 10[sup]7[/sup] to 10[sup]9[/sup] kg/year. The moon, being smaller, would get much less. Proportionally speaking, you get much heavier by walking in the rain. Mining them wouldn’t do squat as a diet aid. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987/33 "2008-12-07T11:32:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Meteorite flux on earth is estimated to be 10[sup]7[/sup] to 10[sup]9[/sup] kg/year. The moon, being smaller, would get much less. Are you sure? I recall reading somewhere that the moon acts as an important meteor shield for the Earth. So a billion years or so of meteorite flux on the moon might add up to a decent amount compared to what might be taken away by mining. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-actually-safe-to-mine-the-moon/475987.md?page=1)