Ben Brockert | Lunar moon ice hardness experiment slomo high speed @bbrockert | Uploaded September 2009 | Updated October 2024, 10 hours ago.
1/10th speed video of smashing ice frozen to liquid nitrogen temperatures. No audio. Sorry about the fluorescent light flicker, it's night in Mojave.
There was a discussion on ARocket regarding the hardness of possible ice on the moon. Some people were suggesting that lunar ice would be very very hard, due to the low temperature. To me, this experiment says that while it may be hard, it is also quite fragile.
The freezing method will obviously impact the final strength of the material. The first and last samples were frozen by dumping water on top of water, then left under liquid nitrogen for a while. The middle conical sample was made by freezing the water outward in, by making a cone of aluminum foil, filling it with water, and slowly immersing it in liquid nitrogen.
Ice created by depositing molecular water, creating a single crystal without cracks, may be much less fragile. But I'd want to see proof.
1/10th speed video of smashing ice frozen to liquid nitrogen temperatures. No audio. Sorry about the fluorescent light flicker, it's night in Mojave.
There was a discussion on ARocket regarding the hardness of possible ice on the moon. Some people were suggesting that lunar ice would be very very hard, due to the low temperature. To me, this experiment says that while it may be hard, it is also quite fragile.
The freezing method will obviously impact the final strength of the material. The first and last samples were frozen by dumping water on top of water, then left under liquid nitrogen for a while. The middle conical sample was made by freezing the water outward in, by making a cone of aluminum foil, filling it with water, and slowly immersing it in liquid nitrogen.
Ice created by depositing molecular water, creating a single crystal without cracks, may be much less fragile. But I'd want to see proof.
