Lunar Dragger

Additional comments

I think that the dragger should be sacrificial, however, it should be of a
raw material that is rare needed for lunar industry. (Carbon)

Although you did the preliminary calculations for Kevlar, it would be nice
if we could get some calculations for carbon nanotubes (although km plus
lengths are probably some time off... ). This would give double benefits as
a sacrificial material, because carbon is one of the many elements that is
rare on the moon, and is one of the most necessary. I don't like the use of
steel, because iron can be extracted from the moon, and thus would be
largely wasted mass.

I had initially conceptualized a flail design to a lunar dragger. The
advantage (I would think) would be that a flail has a higher surface for the
same amount of mass. (however then you need a 'spreader bar', plus
headaches about tangles, and rotation problems, so probably isn't as
attractive as I'd initially thought...)

The jerkiness problem had occurred to me, but I wasn't being clever and
didn't even consider playing out line. Very nice.

Tom M.
TomM@...