Window Shielding

If we're to have windows in the side of our moonbase, we'll want to keep the window area clear of debris. What I'm thinking of here is to build some sort of shed dormer, which will support the regolith shielding and leave a mininum area exposed.

           ..................................
        ..........................................
      ........   ======= _______.......................
     ........  //       \\      \__________...............  <- regolith
    ........  // window-->|        |X|      ................     shield
   ......... ||           ||       |X|       ..................
   .........  \\         //        |X|        ...................
   ........... \\       // ....... |X| ...........................
   ...........   =======  ........ |X| <-- shed support .............
   ........... XXXXXXXXXXX........ |X| ........... ....................
   =========================================== moon's surface =========

           Cross Section View of Moonbase With Regolith Shield

With this sort of arrangement, the crew can get a look out at the lunar surface without exposing them to much radiation or risk from meteoroids. If the module is not aligned with the windows pointing directly east or west, we should be able to prevent direct sunlight from impinging on the windows. This also greatly reduces the number of meteoroids which will impact the window's outer pane because the range of trajetories that get all the way to the window is a very narrow cone.

With the moon's gravity in the equation, meteoroid trajectories are even more limited.

We still need to analyze how low a trajectory angle a chunk of rock can have and still avoid hitting the moon before it gets to our precious window pane. There are a lot of data Out There Somewhere on the range of velocities for meteoroids. It is unlikely that there can be many particles orbiting just a few feet off the surface -- if by some miracle a rock found a trajectory that avoided the mountains, any perturbation would cause it to smack into the lunar surface. This is a place where the lunar gravity well works to our advantage.

Radiation and ions moving near the speed of light have a much better chance of getting through, though, because at the speed they travel they're much less impressed by gravity. If the window looks out at some mountains without too much sky in the view, we'll stop them, too.