Full G on the Moon or other small bodies?

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Combs, Mike" wrote:
in spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Combs, Mike" wrote:
> Easier because...?
>
> We've already established that this structure will require a bearing
> system not needed in the orbital case, so the design is at least
> slightly more complicated.

Ten millions tons of stuff needed to be put in Lunar orbit, versus all
the material already there on the Moon ready to be used.

Only the wheel part of the Stanford Torus would be built.

A Stanford Torus in orbit would require enough structural strength
to support itself at 1 G, whereas one resting on a track on the Moon
would not. The track itself would bear almost all the structural load
presented by the wheel. So the wheel would probably weigh less than a
million tons, possibly quite a lot less.

The one on the moon could be built inside of some pre-existing
structure, be it a dome or an underground cavern. This would allow it
to be built by workers *without* having to wear space-suits. Which
could possibly be a big advantage: try using a hammer from within a
space-suit, compared to using one with your hands.

If it's built inside a pre-existing structure, then no massive
radiation shield would have to be made.

Depending on how big the settlement on the Moon is when the wheel is
getting built, the Moon might provide far more infrastructure--machine
tool shops, for example--so that if something goes wrong it can fixed
that much easier and faster. More redundancy and safety in case
something happens.