MODEL STUDIES OF EFFECTS ON LUNAR SOIL OF CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS. DISCUSSION AND CLOSURE

A discussion of a paper with the aforementioned title by Lin, Goodings, Bernold, Dick, and Fourney, published in this journal (Volume 120, Number 10, October 1994), is presented. The discussers--Charlie, Taylor, and Brownell--comment on the use of the geotechnical centrifuge to model explosive craters on the surface of the Moon. The discussers state that the six model tests described in Table 7 do not appear to correlate well. The discussers ask the authors if information on benefit-cost ratio for using explosives on the Moon is available. Regarding terminology, the discussers suggest that density replace unit weight. Finally, the discussers report that ejecta may go extremely far on the Moon and could even escape. Discussion is followed by closure from the authors.