Our camp is named Camp Huygens in honour of Christiaan Huygens who discovered the first Jupiter moon, Titan, as well as in honour of the lunar probe sent by the European Space Agency. Maximum 5 astronauts can live, study, and work on this camp for 2 years.

Camp Huygens consists of four main areas:
1. The Living Areas, including the kitchen, crew quarters, bathrooms, recreational area, and exercise room;
2. The Lab, which includes the observatory, lab room, surface control room, main control room, greenhouse and infirmary and human body study lab;
3. The Storage which stores water, oxygen, dry freeze food, and waste;
4. The Base Mechanics with a water purifier, oxygen creator, launchpad for rocket, nuclear energy generator, concentrating solar power generator, and battery.

Camp Features:
1. The framework of the camp is built by a construction 3D printer which is similar to the Canadarm.
2. Everything can be recycled, including tools and parts which are mostly 3D printed.
3. Using VR and motion tracking technologies, campers can easily control robots to explore the moon surface and maintain buildings safely.
4. Besides the nuclear power generator, there is a concentrating solar power generator which has higher advantage than the regular solar panels as it has a magnifying glass dome and mirrors encasing the receiver, providing protection, easy to clean, and better power generating efficiency.
5. Our camp is a balanced ecosystem with 2 special features, an algae pool for food and oxygen, and a bug farm for protein.

Lunar lava tubes

We chose lunar lava tubes based on 4 reasons:
1. It has a stable temperature of about −20 °C (−4 °F).
2. It provides protection from most Radiation, Meteorites, and Lunar dust (which will be easier to keep out in a lunar lava tube than on the surface through strong ventilation).
3. It might have lava, water, or minerals in them.
4. It saves time digging and building.
We will try to find a lava tube near the North Lunar Pole where there is constant sunlight for solar power, and a chance to find water in the craters.

We will 3D print our camp’s framework by mixing lunar soil (consists of silica), a bacteria called sporosarcina pasteurii, and guar gum to create a cement-like paste. We will then inflate the rest of the camp with a few parts made from materials from Earth.

Additionally, we will have strong ventilation inside the moon camp to keep lunar dust out. There will be two or more tunnels coming from each room to another with airlocks inside in case of breaches or moonquakes. Every module has an emergency case that provides one astronaut with 3 days of food, water, and oxygen.

Some water is made through the compressed liquid hydrogen and oxygen brought from Earth. As the water depletes, urine will be recycled and reused, similar to how water is recycled on the ISS. We will also use the oxygen and hydrogen in the lunar soil to make more water. There are also many ice-filled craters near the lunar poles due to the lack of sunlight in the area. We will use the Aqua Factorem method to extract this water for more water besides the shipments from Earth.

We grow crops such as potatoes, wheat, lettuce, carrots, blackberries, white mushrooms, peppers, and algae for the carbohydrates, cellulose, vitamins, minerals they contain, and growth efficiency. The algae can not only provide a food source, but also produces lots of oxygen, even without light. We breed bugs and worms for protein and fat which will be turned into meat-like substances before eating. These farms are underground for safety, but will simulate Earth’s sunlight. Enough nutritional supplements will be brought for food diversity is hard to create on the moon. Every astronaut can also bring some hobby food from Earth.

Our camp will have a concentrating solar power system on the surface for short term use, as it is effective, easy to deploy and maintain as the only vulnerable part is the central receiver. There is a one-way mirror glass dome to focus and trap more light on the central receiver. This glass dome will be easier to clean than solar panels (moon dust can reduce power generating efficiency). However, for long-term use, we plan to create a nuclear power generator underground. All modules in the camp will have spare electricity stored in battery packs.

We have 4 methods to create oxygen.
1. Algaes (mainly phytoplankton) recycle carbon dioxide into oxygen.
2. Electrolysis to separate hydrogen from oxygen.
3. The lunar soil also has oxygen inside it, which will be extracted.
4. We will also bring liquid oxygen from Earth for storage in case of emergency.
We’ll bring liquid Nitrogen from Earth.
We mix nitrogen and oxygen to simulate Earth’s air. To save oxygen and avoid equipment and materials from oxidizing quickly, only living areas and labs are regularly filled with oxygen, while other rooms are filled with only nitrogen to keep pressure.

CEST time

06:00 Woke up, morning hygiene routine, some free time. 

06:30 Reminder tasks from the AI system. Will extract from the “Eau crater”.

07:00 Yoga and cardio on the 360 VR treadmill. Simulated the hiking trail in my hometown.

08:00 Breakfast: oatmeal, baked potatoes, protein bun, cup of coffee. Chatted with everyone about our morning check. I’ll be checking the greenhouse today. The AI system tells us airlock 38 is faulty. I volunteer to check it.

09:00 Found the faulty airlock; quickly fixed. Went to the greenhouse. Everything is working well.

10:00 Went to the control room to write a report log.

11:00 Remote control robots and moon truck to the “Eau crater”. Start extracting.

12:00 Lunch: burger with chili, powdered milk.

13:00 Check on the working robots. They’re fine. 

14:00 Go to the Lab to study the minerals brought back from yesterday’s extractions.

15:00 Went to infirmary to do the everyday health exam. Talked with Dr. Timothy.

16:00 Start remote controlling the truck and robot back to base.

17:00 Start unloading and separating the extractions.

18:00 Dinner: protein bun with rice, potatoes, carrots, hot chocolate brought from my hometown

19:00 Exercised, focusing on Strength training. Also rode on stationary bikes. Played with colleagues in the Recreational room.

20:00 Contacted Earth about the day. Send them my report log. Contacted family. Nighttime hygiene routine.

21:00 Lights out and good dream.