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.
Ellinogermaniki Agogi Athens-Pallini Greece 13 0 / 0 English
We are the “Cool Nerds”, and we started a mission to explore the moon and make a base for us to stay there and include all our needs. We named this project “Apollo 18”. Our base will have a communication center to communicate with earth, which will include lots of computers. It will also have a place for the astronauts to sleep and a place for them to have fun and train. In the main base, there will be put the astronauts’ suits. The astronauts will need some food sources. That is why we created a green-house full of vegetables and fruits. There will also be a kitchen in our base and a water tank. In all these buildings we have added solar panels so we can collect all the energy we need for our base. To separate all these buildings, we built the main base in the center, and we put big pipes as corridors coming out of the main base, around it in a star shape. At the end of the corridors, we placed the other buildings. We have also built a rover that will explore the moon and dig it to find water to cover our needs.
Due to air pollution in the near future life on earth may become very difficult and unfriendly for humans. Our astronauts want to explore the moon and check the possibility to create life there. They also want to see and study the use the resources the moon has. Scientists know that the moon has frozen water underneath the surface. The astronauts must find ways to maintain life using this water. Creating a camp on the moon will prove that humans will be able to live in a different environment outside the earth.
Marius Hills
We chose to build the mooncamp in a place called Marius Hills. The Marius Hills is a volcanic plateau located on the moon’s near side. The Marius Hills are thought to contain one of the largest concentrations of volcanic domes on the moon. It is also believed to have large underground lava tubes that could provide shelter and protection for the astronauts. Building a moon camp in the Marius Hills could provide opportunities for scientific exploration, research on lunar geology and potential resources, and testing of technology and equipment for future lunar missions.
On the moon we will use many kinds of materials. In the moon camp we will need metal, lether and some glass. That’s because metal is strong, lether can be used for our beds and glass because it is see-through and the plants in our greenhouse must see the sun. But we will also carry high technology 3D printer, so the most important material will be plastic, in order for us not to carry a lot of stuff.
The most things in our moon camp will be made there, but things such as the spacecraft, our suits and many more will be made from earth. When we get there, we will first build the main base, the bedroom and the kitchen. Then we will build the labatory and the place where we get water. Lastly, we will build the gym, the greenhouse and the rover.
Creating a mooncamp that will be able to protect our astronauts from the hard and dangerous environment of the moon is not an easy task. In order to protect the base from the radiation our astronauts used materials from light and bright colors like white and gray that reflect the light from the sun. In case of a meteor approaching, the base has sensors to warn the inhabitants in order to go to a safe shelter. The weather on the moon can be cold and unstable. That is why the base has high-tech heating systems and is built with materials that provide thermal insulation. Finally in order to help the astronauts survive due to lack of oxygen, the camp has plenty of modern air decompressors that provide fresh air and oxygen to the people that live on the base. Many corridors connect the various buildings of the base so that people can easily go from one place to the other without having to step outside.
Our mooncamp will have a greenhouse for vegetables. In our greenhouse we will plant potatoes and carrots because they are very durable. These vegetables are able to grow in moon’s conditions where oxygen is low. This is how we will ensure the food. In order to have the necessary water we will build a water tank. As it is known, the moon has frozen water underneath the surface. So, we will have a rover that can dig under the surface to find frozen water. We have also built a lot of solar panels to produce all the necessary energy for the camp. We also wanted to use the solar energy because it is renewable and infinitive. We will take a big oxygen tank with us to add it in our base.
The astronauts need to be mentally and physically prepared. That is why they will have to go through a specific and demanding educational training programme. Mental exercises will be of paramount importance. Astronauts will have to spend time under unfamiliar conditions for a long period. Physical training has to be intensive. Also, we will provide them with classroom training so they will have all the theoretical background for their mission. Furthermore, astronauts must spend a lot of hours in front of simulators so they can be fully prepared to act promptly in any given unpredicted situation or incident. The astronauts must also be trained on all the devices of the space aircraft and the mooncamp. Finally, we should prepare them to be able to perform precisely all the required scientific experiments that will be requested. On the last days of the preparation, at least two weeks before the mission, they will need to avoid at any cost any interaction with other people so as to make sure that there will not be any infection with bacteria and viruses.
