‘’Horizon’’ is our moon base name. We have a crew of 8, consisting of engineers, doctors, scientists, etc. Our base isn’t money efficient, nor weight-efficient but it contains everything to be sustainable and self-sufficient, and maybe economically productive by sending resources back to earth. We are using whatever resources the moon has such as melting down lunar ice for water to use it not just for drinking but also for hydroponics, for meat production, as rocket fuel after we separate hydrogen from oxygen. We have supplied and pressurized the dorms with oxygen from the molten and purified lunar ice. We also have recycling stations to recycle wastewater, so we don’t waste our limited resources. There is a gym for astronauts and scientists so that they can train regularly to avoid muscle fatigue and bones weakening due to the low gravity. There is also a games room for entertainment. There are sealed tubes made of lightweight material (reinforced plastic) so astronauts don’t have to wear their suits as they travel from facility to facility whereas for long-distance transportation there are moon rovers with good suspension and large wheels to overcome the rocky and sandy surfaces. Moreover, the moon base is expandable i.e., new durable buildings would be constructed with the moon’s regolith. Additionally, there is a rocket with a landing pad to receive and send cargo from and to earth with resources, scientists, discoveries, and even investors trying to get rich with lunar resources.

Lunar lava tubes

We are going to build our first camp in lunar lava tubes, because there’s no atmosphere to protect us from cosmic radiation and meteorites, it’s also easier to use the walls of the lava tubes/caves as support for future buildings. It’s going to be cheaper to use underground lava tunnels than digging our tunnels and that’s the main reason for picking this location. This location will help in freezing nights of -189°C, since it’s a closed place, it can trap heat and that will help keep the base warm. 

We are using carbon fiber and steel to offer the best support, maximum strength to the structures on the moon, and it is lightweight. The corners are made up of reinforced steel to maintain the differences in pressure because angles are weak points in pressurized rooms. The tunnels connecting our facilities will be made of lightweight reinforced plastic. We will build durable buildings using lunar sand, gravel, and crushed rocks. All electric devices will be imported from the earth, only the structure of the building and tunnels will be 3D printed. We will import the materials and the printer to the moon.

Water from lunar ice, we melt it down, purify it and clean it then pump it for drinking and showering and all watery needs. Ice will be mined from the ground and heated to melt it down, we will then disinfect it. This water will be used in multiple parts of our base. Such as the kitchen (for cooking), the bathroom (for bathing), the 3-D printer (for printing and expanding base), drinking, hydroponics (for farming), etc. There are endless uses for water, that’s why we consider it one of the most important materials on the moon.

The base contains a variety of food to make a complete diet. The plants are produced using hydroponics and aeroponics methods under the aid of artificial light and the crops produced are tomatoes, potatoes, green leaves, and fruits. There is a meat production lab for animal tissue culturing with a meat storage area. One of the crew members will be a nutritionist to ensure quality food and provide a healthy diet to the entire team. In addition to this, the astronauts will be supplied with the missing vitamins through extra supplements. Our high-tech facilities are all monitored by our computers.

The electric power will be generated from solar energy in the day through the solar panels on the surface of the moon. Along with this, there are big batteries to store excess energy to use during lunar nights. Additionally, for redundancy, there is a nuclear reactor. Here, the radioactive isotope releases a lot of heat (it is controlled by our control rods) which will convert the water into steam. The steam spins the turbines, which in turn rotates a generator. Thus produces electricity which is sent to the transformer to safely distribute the current.

Using the electrolysis method water is split into gaseous oxygen and hydrogen in the lab and it is then stored in tanks. The dorms and labs for the scientists to work in are pressurized so that they can breathe with no suits on them. The room will be pressurized, and the pressure will be monitored by computers. Oxygen is like a diamond in our base camp. We are extra precautious to use it efficiently. Oxygen is used in our camp for plenty of reasons, such as: for our astronauts to breathe, to make rocket fuel (if needed), etc.

Our astronauts are well protected from harmful radiation and meteorites as the base will be underground in lava tunnels, we will have a suit storage area to protect our scientists at the surface and outside the pressurized areas. Our suits are made with ortho-fabrics, neoprene-coated nylon, aluminized mylar, urethane-coated nylon, tricot, nylon, stainless steel, and high-strength composite materials.

Scientists will have good working days as they wake up and get food from their farm and meat lab. They start their day with a one-and-a-half-hour workout in the gym. They perform their R&D work. The astronauts will be supplying earth with helium 3 (the isotope of helium needed for fusion reactors). In the future, scientists could harvest metals from asteroids, as they pull them into the moon’s orbit. This allows the base to continue growing and expanding without more funding from earth’s investors. 

Our astronauts will be following the Central European Time (CET). All our astronauts will be trained to survive in our base camp alone. But we have different professionals for different jobs. We will have a nutritionist to make sure all our astronauts get nutritious, tasty food to fuel them up, three scientists to run mission-specific experiments, a doctor to ensure the wellbeing of all our astronauts, an inspector to inspect (daily) and build any new parts for our base (only one person because we have a lot of robots), an astrophysicist to gather data on celestial bodies and finally a manager to manage the whole group.

We believe entertainment is as important as the other activities to do on the moon. So there are a variety of games for our astronauts to play. For example UNO, business, a never-ending game of monopoly, etc. All our games do not need electricity to play. Our astronauts can have fun and save electricity at the same time (win-win).