We have imagined a Moon camp called ‘Dream’ which will welcome four astronauts from 2024. This Moon camp contains ten pressurised rooms: the entry, the game room, the bathroom/ toilets, the bedrooms, the common room/ kitchen, the sports room, the science lab, the storage room, the machinery room and the food growth chamber. It will allow the Astronauts to live and work the way they would on earth. It will offer great opportunities to develop studies on human living in outer space and plan colonising other planets. The most special feature of our camp is the way we create our electricity when we are in a period without sunlight.

Shackleton crater

We would like to build our lunar base in the Shackleton crater as it has been proved that the crater contains frozen water under the surface of the moon. This would mean that we would have almost no water to bring from Earth to the moon. Also, the South Pole of the moon is light up by the sun about 314 earth days every year. This is about 86% of the year, which would help the astronauts consume less electricity. Finally, if we settle the camp inside the crater, we would be more protected by radioactivity and meteorites.

To provide the astronauts with water, we will have a solar panelled robot that will dig to the ice, melt it and bring it back to the base, to a machine that will filter the water and make it drinkable. We will also recycle all liquids (used water, urine, …) such that they can be drinkable.

To provide food, we will have a food growth chamber. It is a room with a transparent ceiling, to allow the sunlight inside. During the days where sunlight isn’t present, we plan to use a LEDs system with red and blue lights (effective for photosynthesis). We will use lunar soil and add a solution of nutriments. We will have a watering system bringing the water directly into the soil from underneath. We have found that quinoa, leeks and lettuce would grow well as they don’t need many resources. Finally, astronauts will bring dehydrated food from Earth as complementary resources.

To provide electricity to our lunar base, we have obviously thought of the use solar panels. However, during long periods without sunlight or during periods of high-demand (scientific experiment, LED lights for food growth), we will use a generator relying on a magnetic chamber. It consists in placing a cylinder inside another one. Both cylinders will have magnets inside them that will face the same pole. As such, they will be repulsed and will induce a rotation of the inside cylinder that will drive an electricity generator.

To provide oxygen for our astronauts, we will use a system called the OGS. It is the same system as the one present in the International space station. It is a machine that uses water, separates the 3 atoms (2 hydrogen, 1 oxygen), and uses the oxygen atoms for the astronauts to breathe. The 2 hydrogen atoms are released in space. We will also have a tank containing nitrogen that will be released little by little inside the camp as breathing pure oxygen could have a bad effect on the astronauts’ body.

For the inner layer of the wall we would use steel as it is very cheap. The next layer would be titanium, as it is resistant and very light. Next, there would be a layer of aluminium as it is extremely light. Then, it would be a layer of carbon fibres to protect the gases inside the wall and it is very resistant. Finally, the most outer layer would be made out of Kevlar as it is very resistant.

The moon camp that we have created will protect our astronauts from meteorites thanks to the Kevlar that is very resistant and the location of the camp (inside the Shackleton crater). Also, the astronauts will be supervised by people on Earth and in case of a problem, they will be equipped with modular rockets to return safely to Earth.

First of all, the time will be set up on earth’s time (Greenwich mean time). On a daily basis, the astronauts living in our moon camp will wake up at around 6am. They will have around 1 hour to 1 hour and a half to get ready (washing themselves with wipes to save water, brushing their teeth, having breakfast, getting dressed, …). Then they will have a mini conference with the members of the ESA on Earth to plan what they need to do that day. The astronauts will spend around half of the day fixing and improving the station and the other half of the day will be spent doing research or working on projects. When they are finished, they will have to spend at least two hours exercising to maintain their body strength for when they will get back to Earth. Next, they will have dinner as a group. They will have another conference after dinner to look back on the day and note what they have achieved and what they have not done yet. Lastly, they will have some time to talk to their families back on Earth and do what they want. They go to bed in between 11pm and 12pm depending on them.