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.
Casavant Saint-Hyacinthe-Québec Canada 14 0 / 0 English
We have decided to name our station ‘Sagan Station’ in honor of Carl Sagan, an astrophysicist, cosmologist, and science communicator. We want to pay tribute to his contributions and express our gratitude for the knowledge and insight he provided about the Universe. By naming our station after him, we hope to remind everyone about the significance of scientific explorations and discoveries, and their impact on the future of humanity.
The ESA (European Space Agency) wants to build a base on the Moon to create an outpost for the future. This Moon base could be used as a launchpad to go to Mars since the Moon’s weaker gravity makes it easier to launch rockets. The Sagan Station, which is also being built, will serve as a laboratory to conduct research on how plants grow in different environments and to determine if gravity affects photosynthesis. Astronauts will be required to constantly monitor the state of the base and conduct research.
Close to the lunar poles
We chose the lunar pole to build our moon camp since the temperature is stable, so we can live there. There is a constant sun light which would be useful to use some solar panel with photovoltaic energy. Indeed, since the sun is lightning the lunar pole 24 hour per day, we can place some solar panel to generate enough energy to provide power the whole camp. Perhaps we can even have enough energy to be able to stock in multiple batteries in case of a problem for the solar panels.
Too build the base we will use 3d printing. Basically a robot will be sent on the moon and will dig the base’s foundation in the underground. Then the robot will equip himself in the rocket with some lunar regolith which we will get from digging the foundation will be useful to build the base, every room will be connected by hallways made of a Plexiglas floor. An elevator will be built to get access to the outside of the moon camp and the farm. The hothouse will be construct with solid and light Plexiglas to offer a protection from the sun and any falling rocks that could fall. Finally, some solar panel will be displayed on the dome of the hothouse to be able to hide the plants from the sun 16 hours per day and at the same time collect energy from it.
The Sagan station will protect the astronauts from danger by being built in the underground. Indeed, building the base in the underground is a great idea since it offers a great protection from the micrometeoroids and the sun’s ray since the moon doesn’t have an ozone layer to protect the astronauts. In case of emergency the astronaut will have a spacecraft ready to return to Earth, that station will contain enough resource for the astronaut too survive 3 days since it is the time it take to travel from the moon to earth.
Water: on the lunar pole, we can find some ice “block” which could be melted to produce water thank to the “super heater 200” our drilling machine that will be able to melt the ice to turn it into water. After the ice will be melted, the astronaut will install a pump that is already ready to work on the water spot which will be able to supply the base for a great length of time.
The water will be saved as much as we can by using the same system as we can find in the “ISS” (international space station).
Food: to be able to have enough food, we will use a hothouse on the surface with some solar panel that will raise for 16 hours per day so the plant will only be in contact with the sun’s ray 8 hours per day. To be able to create a variety of food, we decided to do aquafarming with an aquarium in the stockage room that will be able to raise fish. the water in the aquarium will be filtered with the same system than the entire camp.
Electricity: the electricity will be generated with photovoltaic solar panel that will be able to rotate toward the sun no matter what time of the day it is. We will stock the energy in multiple batteries to be able to sustain the base during a problem that could happen. We will try to create methane using astronaut’s waste which could be used as rocket fuel once again.
Air: to prepare the air we will mix multiple gas since pure oxygen can be toxic for the astronaut’s lungs. We will create oxygen thank to the electrolysis of water, then we will take Nitrogen from the astronaut’s excrement and the plant in the hothouse will create and consume some of it. We will also have an emergency tank of air in case anything happen there will be enough air in that tank for the astronaut too survive for a few week without having air produced from the plants.
In the training program for a moon mission, I would include a test involving centrifugal force to assess whether the astronauts are ready for rocket takeoff. Additionally, we could simulate lunar gravity by subjecting them to various plane trajectories beyond Earth’s gravitational field, and test their ability to perform tasks under these conditions. To select suitable candidates for the mission, we would also evaluate their mental stability, as they will be living with the same people for several months and need to maintain good relations throughout the mission.
