Our moon camp project is built close to the lunar poles. It contains lunar soil, a moon rover, a rocket ship, a lunar orbital space station, a moon base, a lunar lander, and a space suit. Other than that, there will be protection for the astronauts and food, water, and other important lifestyle objects that they need. We want to provide a safe and comfortable place since they will be staying in our moon camp for a large amount of time. Therefore, we ask our astronauts what foods or themes they prefer from a certain number of choices that we provide them.

Close to the lunar poles

We chose to build our moon camp close to the lunar poles, on the south side of the moon, because there is a source of water and, on the coldest part of the poles there is ice which can be explored. Also, on the south side of the lunar poles the day light lasts longer which gives the opportunity to the astronauts to not use as much electricity when they are on our moon camp. Another reason why the lunar poles are a very good location is that scientists have discovered that it is a future location for humans.

Our moon camp is going to be built by a lot of different materials. For starters, the food and other sensitive things and the rooms in which the astronauts will be sleeping in, will be covered by a very strong glass made specifically for space. Also, there will be lunar soils that consist of three basic components. The first one is rock fragments. The second one is the mineral grains and the third is the glass particles. The composition of these three components affects how the lunar soil will work. It depends on the nature of the bedrock.

Water would be obtained from the ice which is kept in the so-called cold traps. Cold traps contain ice from comets and meteorites. The ice stays in these traps because of the thermal behavior of the Moon. There are a lot of these cold traps mostly on the lunar south pole. The lunar rover could reach these cold traps and get the ice.

A lunar greenhouse would help with the food. The idea is that something like a lunar greenhouse could one day supply food to astronauts on the moon. It would be buried beneath the moon’s surface, so it would not be destroyed by cosmic rays and would be operated automatically, so that food could be ready when astronauts arrive. A lunar greenhouse could be extremely useful for colonizing the moon.

For power, nuclear fission reactors, which are used by power plants here on Earth, have been revealed as the best way to generate electricity in space and they could provide a power source for a settlement for several years. Nuclear devices have been used to power spacecraft since the 1960s.

It is quite easy to contain breathable air since the lunar soil is made from 42% of oxygen. Using heat and electricity, oxygen can be contained by robots or lunar rovers. We have developed and tested robots on Earth which could do this job.

One of the ways to protect the inhabitants of the Moon Camp is to use what they call space lifeguards. Space lifeguards will tell astronauts when dangerous radiation is coming their way. One of the ways to protect astronauts from dangerous radiation is to build a thick material barrier between them and the radiation. On the moon, there are raw materials such as the soil which can be piled on top of the shelter to protect them from the radiation. The larger the barrier of material the more protection that is provided to the astronauts.

In the morning astronauts living and working in space have the same hygiene needs as people on Earth. They wash their hair, brush their teeth, shave and go to the bathroom. However, because of the microgravity environment, astronauts take care of themselves in different ways.
Exercise is an important part of the daily routine for astronauts to prevent bone and muscle loss. On average, astronauts exercise two hours per day. The equipment they use is different than what we use on Earth. Lifting 200 pounds on Earth may be quite hard. But lifting that same object in space would be much easier. Because of microgravity, it would weigh much less than 200 pounds there. That means exercise equipment needs to be specially designed for use in space so astronauts will receive the workout needed.

Astronauts need a break from their busy schedules. A popular pastime is simply looking out of the window.  Astronauts often comment on their fascination as they look at Earth spin beneath them with its multiple shades and textures. Sunsets and sunrises are also very spectacular, occurring every 45 minutes above Earth’s atmosphere.

For sleeping it’s a bit different. Space has no “up” or “down,” but it does have microgravity. Because of that, astronauts are weightless and can sleep in any orientation.