moon_camp

Moon Camp Pioneers Gallery 2020-2021

In Moon Camp Pioneers each team’s mission is to 3D design a complete Moon Camp using Fusion 360. They also have to explain how they will use local resources, protect astronauts from the dangerous of space and describe the living and working facilities.

Team: Cebullion

Liceum Ogólnokształcące COGITO  Zgorzelec    Poland 14 or younger, 16, 18

External viewer for 3d project

Project description

Our base is at the bottom of Shackleton Crater, near the south pole of the moon. It will consist of an inflatable ball-shaped dome made of Kevlar 29, half of which will be buried into the lunar surface and the other half covered with regolith. The next part will be an arch made of lunar bricks, which will act as a garage and a space outside the base and at the same time protected from radiation. The aim of our base is to study the moon for a better understanding of the world around us, to check the effects of long-term human stay in space and to study the possibility of extracting He-3 from the lunar regolith. The base is supposed to be as light as possible, therefore the domes (spheres) will be inflated, and the planned garage will be made only of materials from the moon. The base will be home to 4 astronauts and will consist of five floors. Each floor will have a different function. The interior of the base will be styled in such a way that the astronauts will have the greatest possible psychological comfort and at the same time the lowest possible mass sent from the Earth, eg. plastic stylized on wood. In the future, the base is to be self-sufficient, to enable this, the base can be easily expanded (using rovers that are already on the moon’s surface) with segments with more hydroponics.

Where do you want to build your Moon Camp?

We plan to build a base at the south pole of the moon in the Shackelton impact Crater. Since the Moon’s orbit is tilted only 5 degree from the ecliptic, the interior of this crater is in eternal darkness, thanks to which astronauts will be protected by the shadow of the craters from cosmic radiation and radical temperature changes. Additionally, you can find water in the form of ice in the shaded crater. The large flat space inside the crater is very useful for landing sites, future roads and base expansion. The peaks along the rim of the crater are almost continuously illuminated by sunlight, spending about 80-90% of each lunar orbit exposed to the sun, so we are able to create a solar farm to continuously supply the base with electricity.

How do you plan to build your Moon Camp? Describe the techniques and materials you would use.

In the first stage, two types of rovers will be brought to the surface of the moon. One for digging up the surface and one for leveling / printing with regolith. The excavators will take care of digging a pit for the inflatable base or adjusting one of the smaller craters to fit under the sphere structures. At the same time, the construction of the arch (garage) will be initiated. The arch will be built of lunar regolith bricks burned in special solar printers. These bricks will be placed on the inflatable surface in such a way that they form a supportive arch (acting like Roman aqueducts). When all the bricks are laid, the blown surface will be removed, which will give us a large space under the arch, which we can freely use. The terrain under the arch will also be lowered to increase the amount of space available to us. The base itself will be made of Kevlar 29 and placed in a dug semicircle, and then inflated to fill the entire space of the pit. The sphere will be placed in such a way that, when leaving the base (residential part), you immediately enter the arch. The next stage of construction involves burying the base and the arch with a layer of regolith to protect against radiation. They will be buried with a rover with a printer slowly laying the protective structure layer by layer. The moving printers will be helped by the previously needed digging excavators.

The environment on the Moon is very dangerous for the astronauts. Explain how your Moon Camp will protect them.

The greatest threat on the lunar surface is cosmic radiation and micrometeorites. The first security feature is the location of the base itself, which will be in a deep crater. The next stage of protection is a thick layer of regolith on the living area and garage. The base is designed with less chance of exposure of astronauts to radiation, so that when they leave the living area, they are immediately protected by the large garage roof. A garage is a place where our astronauts will be able to perform work that requires a lot of space or that must be performed outside the base, e.g. maintenance of rovers, unpacking supplies from Earth. In an emergency, our astronauts will descend to the lowest level of the base, where they are best protected from radiation. Solar flares must be monitored for maximum safety for astronauts.

Explain how your Moon Camp will provide the astronauts with:
Water
Food
Electricity
Air

Inside the Shackleton crater crew will be able to find water in the form of ice. To get drinking water ice should be melted. Water should be prepared in a water processing plant, because water can be polluted. To the other water processing plant tasks belongs monitoring of water and providing estimated water supply quantity. It will help in base supplies management. Water will be recycled from the urine and base atmosphere, thanks to that water cycle will be closed and nearly all water will be used again.

At the beginning of the establishment of the base, food will be provided by services from the ground. Although over time, the amount of food produced in the base should be increased in order to achieve self-sufficiency. The food source is the hydroponics on the base deck. The advantage of this solution is the large variety of available plants. They can be selected specifically for astronauts’ specific diets to provide them with the nutritional value they need. The base will also be equipped with insect farms where insects will be kept to diversify the crew’s diet and add an easy-to-maintain source of protein. The composition of the diet will be consulted with dietitians on the Earth to adjust the diet to the needs of the crew. This will keep the astronauts healthy.

Electricity will be obtained mainly from solar panels. The panels will be placed at the top of the crater, where they are almost always lit (because the crater is at the south pole) and connected to the base by a cable that will be covered with a layer of regolith over its entire length by rovers (to protect against micrometeoroids) . Devices such as rovers will be powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (mainly rovers that were placed before the solar farm was built). On a lunar night, we will get energy from batteries; hydrogen accumulated by the mining vehicle and hydrogen that will be produced by electrolysis of water when we have too much energy (e.g. from solar panels during the day).

The air is an essential part of LSS (Life Support System). The air mostly consists from oxygen and nitrogen, proportion of them should be as similar as possible to earth atmosphere. To keep air mixture proportions the base will be equipped with sensors to measure and correct composition of base atmosphere. Initially air will be transported from earth. In the next steps the base will produce air from water electrolyse. The Life Support System will not only supply oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the base atmosphere, but also prevent the build-up of gases such as ammonia and acetone that humans emit in small amounts.

Explain what would be the main purpose of your Moon Camp (for example: commercial, scientific, and/or tourist purposes).

The aim of our base is to study the moon to check the effects of long-term human stay in space and to study the possibility of extracting the rare helium isotope (He-3) from the surface. Helium-3 is a potential fuel of the future that can be used in advanced fusion reactors to generate electricity on Earth. We’re going to harvest this isotope with a lunar mining vehicle. The vehicle extracts and processes lunar regolith, moving slowly along the lunar ground along a designated path. A mining vehicle can gain approximately 66 kg of He-3 in one year. It works only on lunar days, because it needs a lot of energy that our base gets from the sun. The vehicle obtains many chemical compounds from regolith, including H2O (for direct use in the base) and H2 (as an energy store on a moonlit night).

Describe a day on the Moon for your Moon Camp astronaut crew.

The astronaut’s day begins with the morning toilet. During this time, he can use the rich sanitary facilities of our base. So he will be able to start working clean and refreshed. His daily duties include inspecting the base for any defects, e.g. leaks, after that he will be able to start his work on the scientific research assigned to him at that time. Its next tasks will be to supplement the missing technical and scientific documentation, which will enable the efficient functioning of the base and facilitate future repairs and improvements. The crew’s duties will also include taking care of the food grown in the base. Taking care of the condition of plants, planting and preparing them for consumption. On the other hand, in insect farms, the nutrient solution must be replenished, which will enable the astronauts’ diet to be properly balanced and the crew will be able to receive fresh food. During the breaks, the cosmonaut will be able to rest in a specially prepared space in the base. He will also be able to eat and use the gym on the upper floor of the base. This will allow him to maintain the proper form and condition in the conditions of reduced gravity. During the stay, it will also be obligatory to monitor the health condition in order to counteract any undesirable effects of being outside the ground. Schedule of the crew will be irregular, because the tasks for crew won’t be similar from day to day. The crew will conduct scientific experiments in many fields, including the geological structure of the moon, the impact of low gravity, the possibility of extracting He-3 from the surface, studying the solar wind, etc. A 3D printer will also be available to colonists. This will allow you to print the tools and items you need in real time. For functioning, very important are going to be crew spacewalks. That will help to maintain base and infrastructure outside of the base such as tanks, mining robots and photovoltaic panels. Most of the crew works will take place under the roof to protect them from radiation. For the first astronauts, the main task is to settle down, check technology and conduct research. Research on He-3 may encourage investors, thanks to which the next missions will only expand our settlement to make the moon our new home.



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