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.
Experimental School of the university of Thessaloniki-Primary Thessaloniki-Central Macedonia Greece 10 0 / 2 English
The project aims to build a base on the moon where astronauts can live and work. It consists of a complex of domes that will include 2-story buildings with plants and trees for the astronauts to live in with full bathrooms, rooms with beds, offices to work in, a gym to maintain their physical condition, and a communication station with earth. Also, it will include food and water stores, laboratories, and raw material warehouses that will be located on the bottom of the craters so that they are close to the ice, fuel storage, and launch sites for rockets and research vessels. It will also include tall towers with solar panels to collect solar energy, as well as a nuclear fusion power station. Finally, it will include a building with laboratories where astronauts will conduct experiments and study the moon. The entire complex will be specially protected from cosmic radiation, as well as from oxygen leaks and sudden changes in air pressure and temperature.
The population of the earth is constantly increasing. At the same time resources are running out and scientists recognize the need to colonize other planets for the survival of humanity. At the same time, the moon is a planet that has the necessary conditions to become a base for humans to explore other planets.
Close to the lunar poles
At the moon’s poles are located two of its largest craters (Shackleton and Peary). Their bottoms are permanently shaded, have very low temperatures, and are much more protected from solar radiation than their equator. At the same time, at the top of the craters, there are temperatures of 30-40oC which are very close to the temperatures of the earth. At the bottom of the craters, there are reserves of ice (about 300 million tons at the North Pole and 150 million tons at the South Pole). This ice can be used to produce drinking water, oxygen, rocket fuel, and nuclear energy.
The transportation of materials from the earth is very expensive and inefficient. So, the construction will be done with materials we will find from the moon and 3D printing technology. A spacecraft will land on the moon and a balloon will be inflated from inside, on top of which a canopy will be constructed that will protect the astronauts from the temperatures, radiation, and vacuum of space. Then, with the 3D printer, the buildings of the space base will be constructed. There are many natural resources on the moon that would be useful in the construction and operation of the space base. There is ice from which we can get liquid oxygen, hydrogen, and water. There are also useful metals such as Silicon, Titanium, Iron, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Aluminum, and Magnesium, which can be used to produce fuel and construct the base’s buildings. Also, there is Helium-3 which is necessary to produce energy through nuclear fusion. This energy is safe, requires little input, and is produced in large quantities which makes it very efficient. Also, we can exploit asteroids by towing them into lunar orbit to exploit the metals and various other components they contain. The bright side of the moon has a lot of light that we can harness to produce solar energy. Also, the lack of gravity makes it easier for us to launch rockets, because the rockets need less fuel to launch, thus they can be smaller in size. The lack of gravity also makes it easier for us to build tall and thin buildings to put solar panels on and be able to take in solar energy for longer periods of lunar orbit. Tall buildings are very useful, especially at the lunar poles, where in the shadowy parts of the craters there are many reserves of ice but no light. Finally, the moon is the closest planet to Earth, and it takes less time to reach the moon, so astronauts are not exposed to cosmic radiation for a long time during their journey.
Astronauts will live inside a dome included in the buildings, which will have very thick walls made of titanium, iron, and aluminum, which are abundant on the moon. Thus they will be protected from the temperature, radiation, and vacuum of space. The base will also be protected from the meteorites by a machine that will be in orbit around the moon, towing the meteorites and putting them into orbit, or bringing them to the moon for their elements to be exploited.
We will provide them with food with the help of small nurseries that we will build on the surface of the moon, as protected as the astronauts’ homes. There will be suitable conditions for the cultivation of edible plants and plants that produce edible fruits, such as vegetables, fruits, and legumes. To ensure water, we will take the ice from the moon’s poles and put it in special machines that will process it keeping its useful components for the astronauts, such as water for example. The remaining components, such as Hydrogen will be used for fuel. In the matter of oxygen production, we will exploit the frozen liquids that are present on the moon, which contain oxygen in liquid form. Regolith, a rock that is found in large quantities on the moon and also contains oxygen, will also be used. Finally, we can produce energy in various ways and of various kinds. We can produce nuclear energy through nuclear fusion, a very safe and efficient form of nuclear energy. Also, we can generate solar energy by constructing solar panels installed on the lunar soil and very tall towers. These towers will be able to be located even in the craters of the moon, that is, where we will process the frozen liquids. Also, we can produce chemical energy by harnessing the chemical elements from meteorites that pass close to the moon.
Initially, we would include a training program with simulators in many conditions and varying degrees of difficulty so that when astronauts encounter these conditions in space, they know what to do, such as if they need to get off the ship or base to repair a breakdown. We would use a rocket simulator to familiarize them with piloting the craft, a zero-gravity simulator to familiarize them with the lack of gravity on the moon, a multi-ring simulator to rotate the astronaut on multiple axes, and a simulator to prepare them for high-speed conditions and pressure when they will enter or leave the earth’s atmosphere. Also, an exercise program is necessary because on the moon, due to the lack of gravity, they need to exert much less effort to move their body’s parts, resulting in weakened muscles during their stay on the base. Finally, we would prepare them mentally so that they can endure for a long time alone in space.
