moon_camp

Moon Camp Explorers Gallery 2020-2021

In Moon Camp Explorers each team’s mission is to 3D design a complete Moon Camp using Tinkercad. They also have to explain how they will use local resources, protect astronauts from the dangerous of space and describe the living and working facilities.

Team: GKO

Ellinogermaniki Agogi  Athens    Greece 13

External link for 3d

Project description

We decided to name our moon base Perseus4 because we wanted to honour our nation by using an ancient name taken from Greek mythology. Moreover, we made it more scientific using a number.

Our major issue was the survival of the astronauts, their research and their safety, all the other matters were minor.

We were inspired by the last winning team (VOJA), whose base was underground. With the help of our teachers, who gave us useful ideas and information we concluded that Perseus4 should be underground inside a moon crater, so that the astronauts are protected more effectively.

The main base consists of the kitchen / living room area, the gym, in which we are going to gain energy while the astronauts exercise by charging batteries, the laboratory and the conference room.

There is a list of the most important constructions of Perseus4 below:

Moon lander
Shelter (main part of the base)
Full shelter equipment (modern, good quality furniture)
Astronauts’ personal habitat
3D-printing robot
Communications antennas
Electrolyser
Oxygen, hydrogen and water tanks
Greenhouse (food supplement through hydroponics)
Exploration vehicle
Ice – mining rover
Regolith – collecting rover
Solar panels

  We decided that the ideal number for our moon base is six astronauts, after considering all the benefits and drawbacks. Perseus4 will be constructed in eight hours, which is really difficult and requires proper organisation. What is more, the autonomy time of our base is six months.

Where do you want to build your Moon Camp?

Inside a crater on the moon between the lunar poles and the lunar equator (for maximum benefits).

Why did you choose this location?

We chose to build our moon base between the lunar poles and equator, in order to combine both the advantages of the poles for ice cubes and the lunar equator for sunlight. This way, there will be a sufficient amount of water and sunlight, so that electric energy is produced.

As far as the base itself is concerned, it is placed inside the crater because of many factors, that is to say that most of the buildings are underground.

The crater offers the following:

Protection against micrometeoroid impacts
Protection against radiation
Insulation
Contribution to temperature stability

How do you plan to build your Moon Camp? Which materials would you use?

We will use both moon and earth’s materials, because it is impossible to transfer all the necessary materials from earth.

Here is a list with all the materials:

Regolith
Metal (buildings, machines)
Pyroclastic– glass (greenhouse, windows)
Soil (greenhouse)
Basalt (greenhouse)
Synthetic materials (equipment)
Wood (equipment) 

We will use special techniques, such as taking advantage of the regolith. Lunar soil is collected by the automatic regolith – collecting rover and is electrolyzed for its precious components. Our buildings will be erected with regolith bricks to keep astronauts warm and collect solar power.

Moreover, we will begin building the substructure of our edifices and then continue constructing their skeleton.

Explain how your Moon Camp will provide the astronauts with:
Water
Food
Electricity
Air

Given the need for water consumption by our astronauts who are living in the base we have built water tanks in order to store the water supplies.
The initial water supplies will be brought from earth and stored to the tanks.
Afterwards, in order to increase our water supplies, we are going to search for deposits of lunar ice cores in order to mine them, via the ice – mining robot and then filter them to get water.
Also, we have built a special water recycling device which will be used in order to make used water reusable.

Considering food, our astronauts will be trained in order to know about all the details of greenhouse crops and the products that can be grown effectively in it.
A variety of fruits and vegetables as well as cereals that contain the necessary nutrients will be grown in the greenhouse.
Of course, they will have the seeds with them in order to experiment by cultivating different varieties of plants, trying to find the best possible solutions to feed the base’s crew!
The carbon dioxide exhaled by the astronauts and the inhabitants of the base will be inserted into the greenhouse helping the plants photosynthesize.

As far as the power and energy is concerned, the power source we have selected for our moon base is the sun. Hence, 23 solar panels, as well as a solar concentrator will be installed, in order to collect as much energy as we can.
Energy from sunlight will be mostly transformed into electric energy, during the night. It will be used for every single one of our base’s machines to work. In the case of the ice – mining rover, mirrors are going to reflect the sunlight straight towards the rovers’ solar panel.

The need of air in the base will be covered by the following methods:
Firstly, we will use the process of electrolysis that is an electromechanical reaction in which water is broken down into its basic components, hydrogen and oxygen with the help of electricity. The reaction produces high purity oxygen covering the needs of the base’s inhabitants.
Also, we are going to use the oxygen produced by the photosynthesis of the plants which are cultivated in the greenhouse.
Lastly, we are going to extract oxygen from regolith, better known as lunar soil by the procedure of heating it, or even electrolysis.

Describe a day on the Moon for one of your Moon Camp astronauts

A day on the moon is very busy and exhausting due its long period of time. A moon’s day lasts for 27 earth’s days 7 hours and 43 minutes.

To begin with, the astronauts wake up and prepare for a hard day. They eat breakfast together and decide what they are going to do. After they have discussed all the topics and they have assigned tasks, they start working.

A lot of duties need to be carried out. They have to collect ice using the ice – mining rover and regolith using the regolith – collecting rover. Fortunately, the machines make the work easier, but an operator is still essential. It is also of great importance, that the astronauts exercise regularly, because they have to keep fit.

After they have secured their survival, they have to start working on what they are there for, namely the study in the laboratory. Their goal is to find out more about the moon and if humans can live on it.

Every day, they study the lunar rocks and provide important information concerning them. For example, they test their characteristics. Moreover, the astronauts do research on the environmental circumstances, such as the composition of the air and the ice. Furthermore, they must find out, if there are harming microorganisms.

They also examine if life could exist or has existed on the moon. If the astronauts succeed in providing information for all these sectors, scientists will conclude whether we can use moon’s materials frequently, or even live on the moon.


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