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 dangers of space and describe the living and working facilities in their Moon Camp.
European School Den Haag Den Haag-Zuid Holland Netherlands 14 0 / 2 English
We decided to build our moon camp in the lunar south pole, next to the eternity mountains. There we have sunlight, and ice can be found on the craters. In our moon camp you can find: a greenhouse with tools and plants, a gym and exercise area with a variety of available equipment, a lab with 3D printers and samples from rocks, a health care centre, toilets, a lounge room and multiple bedrooms.
Our moon camp is mainly settled inside a crater. We have a big star-shaped structure with 5 buildings, 4 bedrooms and 1 health care centre. Inside the star shaped structure, we can find a lounge room big enough for many astronauts, equipped with couches and chairs, coffee tables and gaming stations. Next to it we can find the gym, the secure greenhouse and the labs. Further down we can also find some cubicles from bathrooms comprised with all the needed supplies. Outside of the crater we have a discovery station, where we collect natural resources like ice and regolith to turn into water and glass. There we have also some secure stations to keep our tools and 3D printers.
For several reasons:
Research and investigation: While the Apollo missions brought back to Earth nearly 400 kilograms of lunar rock, new samples will make it possible to further deepen our knowledge of this celestial object and its formation. We expect further scientific and technological breakthroughs too, just like during the Apollo era.
Establishing a waypoint: the Moon Camp will serve as a relay before the trip to Mars. All the necessary equipment can be sent there before finally being joined by the crew to set off on the long voyage.
Testing new gear: We also want to pilot on the Moon the technologies that will continue to evolve on Mars: new spacesuits for spacewalks and vehicles, so that the astronauts can move around, as well as habitats.
Close to the lunar poles
We built our moon camp close to the lunar poles, the south pole. We chose this location because there we can find the Eternity mountains. They are peaks that are eternally blinded by sunshine. Their location was perfect as sunlight is a crucial need and with solar panels it keeps generating power throughout the day. But having direct sunlight all day can also lead to exposure that is why we chose this location. It ensures continues sunlight throughout the day but also is next to craters that are in permanent shade and where you can find ice.
To build our moon camp we decided to 3D print the materials. That will take less time and waste less energy of going back and forth to get different items. We also will have a base in between the moon and earth to make transportation easier if we need more materials/resources.
For some structures we will create lunar glass using regolith and heating it up with a microwave. Then we will sand it and shape it into the piece we need. For wall structures we will use lunar concreate. We will make it out of a mixture or sulphur and lunar aggregate (crushed rocks and grains) as it is a material strong enough to protect from micrometeorites.
Water:
Considering that our moon base is located in the south pole next to the eternity peaks, it is confirmed that ice was found on the craters. That will be our main water source. We will have ice drills drilling the ice and machines that turn it into water and purify it. That will ensure that we have fresh natural water every day that will be transported in the places we need it.
Food:
On our moon base you can find a big greenhouse. It grows different types of fruits and vegetables that are available to the astronauts. These plants will be directed with different coloured light depending on the plant. They will vary between blue and red to improve leaf growth and facilitate flowering. They will also be directed to natural sunlight. For other foods we will have a rocket deliver food and it will stay in our secondary base between moon and earth so we can reach more food in shorter time.
Power:
Our main source of power is sunlight. We have numerous solar panels placed all around our base. Because of our location, our solar panels never stop producing energy as they are subject to constant sunlight, but the excess energy will be stored in batteries. We will also have heat batteries where the energy is heated and then stored. We can use them to generate electricity for our moon base or keep them for times of need.
Air:
For a breathable atmosphere we will have oxygen-nitrogen tanks in our moon base, releasing the correct amount to have a similar atmosphere to earth’s one. We will also get oxygen from our plants that are around the base as well as from minerals. We will also be using the electrolysis technique to extract oxygen from minerals and storing it into different tanks.’
Protection:
For protection we will have all our walls built out of lunar concrete. This mixture will we strong enough to hold the pressure of the outside form the inside and to protect towards radiations and micrometeorites. We will use also minerals we find on the moon like aluminium and iron to add layers to our discovery centre as it is in the outside area and less protected.
Like every morning, the astronaut will wake up at the pre-set time and go to the lounge area to meet the other astronauts and have breakfast. They all have rotating schedules so that everything can get done and decide the daily tasks. Then the astronaut will get ready, spend some time at the gym and go to his weekly check up at the heath-care centre.
Once that is done, he will go to the discovery centre and work on a task. Either working on water supply, getting minerals and rocks for resources, repairing and controlling the rovers or testing and experimenting for research. Today he was assigned the research so he will collect some samples and head to the lab. There he tests the samples with different liquids and solutions and reports on his laptop all the observations and shares it with the team.
Then he heads to the greenhouse to collect and check on the plants and place them in a basket to the side for his colleagues to pick up.
To conclude his day, him and the team do a final check-up of everything they need, the air tanks, solar panels, heating system, electricity….and fix anything that is not working.
Then he goes to the lounge room to have dinner and chat to his colleagues and finally goes to his room there he and his partner share their day and then he goes to bed.
