Our camp is inspired in bubbles. It has seven divisions for sleeping, eating, farming, exercising, communicating, making materials and research. The laboratory is divided in two: one part for the experiments and one for the 3D printer to 3D print objects such as bricks. We will use a solar shield to protect the camp from the weather, asteroids and also the sometimes harsh lunar temperatures.

Shackleton crater

We choose this location because, in Shackleton Crater the sun shines all day long, so we get a lot of solar energy available. There is also a lot of ice, which if we can melt to obtain liquid water. It is also where the temperatures are nicer as they range between -50º and 0º.

We have decided to divide our colony into six parts: a place to sleep, one to eat, a laboratory, a communication centre to communicate with Earth and store information, a greenhouse and a gym. To build our colony we will bring certain parts of the lunar camp from Earth and the rest we will print with a 3D printer!

The water recycling system that is used in the International Space Station will supply us the water and also recycle it. Other options will be extracting the underground frozen water, possibly with very sharp shovels or heated drills, or to heat the soil and consequently filter and store the oxygen produced.

We built a greenhouse, with curtains, and then plants. Plants only need 8 hours of sun per day. As we are in the Crater, at the pole, where the sun shines all day, we close the curtains after 8 hours. During the 8 hours of sun we will use automatic sprinklers to water the plants.

The sun is always shining in Shackleton Crater, which makes it a very good place to install solar panels and produce solar energy. We will place the panels in multiple locations and store energy in fuel cells, so that we never lack energy, even during eclipses.

We take advantage of the plants’ greenhouse for food to capture the oxygen they produce. We will also build aquaponics systems, to grow algae. We will also have available reserves of breathable from Earth.

As the sun on the moon is not at all friendly, we will need a sun shield made of polyethylene, a material which must be compressed into a plastic so strong that it is able to stop bullets. We will build it 10 to 20 centimeters thick, in order to be protected against meteorites and radiation. Then we will build a thicker water shield to protect us.

Astronauts will have different functions in the camp. While some will do research on subjects such as astrobiology, physics or astronomy, other will be responsible for maintaining the camp infrastructure and equipment in good working conditions. Two times a day, astronauts will have to exercise and measure their vital signs such as blood oxygen level and heart rate. The astronauts sleep in shifts being the light in the dorm manually regulated to resemble Earth’s day times.