Argon on the Moon? Options

[MorrisJones]

This is a personal theory, explained in the article. Time will tell if I am right or wrong.

http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Argon_On_The_Moon_999.html

I don't know if argon deposits would be as useful as water, though.

[Greg Hullender]

Not sure if anyone has measaured argon narcosis at just one atmosphere, but since it's 2.3 times worse than nitrogen and some people seem to feel effects from nitrogen at less than three atmospheres, I'd guess that using argon instead of nitrogen would make the crew slightly stupider than normal.

An ion drive could use argon instead of xenon for fuel, of course, but it'd have even less thrust (athough better specific impulse).

Seems like more of a curiosity than anything useful -- any time soon, anyway. Someone might find a cool use for it, but I don't see anything obvious that would obviously work. :-)

--Greg

[ngunn]

Not sure if anyone has measaured argon narcosis at just one atmosphere, but since it's 2.3 times worse than nitrogen and some people seem to feel effects from nitrogen at less than three atmospheres, I'd guess that using argon instead of nitrogen would make the crew slightly stupider than normal.

Interesting, though I don't find any mention of toxicity when looking around. For example this is from Wikipedia:

Although argon is non-toxic, it does not satisfy the body's need for oxygen and is thus an asphyxiant. Argon is 25% more dense than air and is considered highly dangerous in closed areas. It is also difficult to detect because it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. In confined spaces, it is known to result in death due to asphyxiation.

And after all we breathe it all the time at 1 percent. Now that the question has cropped up I'm really curious to know one way or the other.