Our base is called, ,The Middle Ground Camp”, we chose that name because the main goal here is to allow quick and easy space travel above divisions since space doesn’t belong to anyone. We plan on achieving that by building the Spaceline (Zephyr Penoyre and Emily Sandford, 2019 ”THE SPACELINE: A PRACTICAL SPACE ELEVATOR ALTERNATIVE ACHIEVABLE WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGY”) which will be the first step to inhabiting the solar system, it will be anchored on the moon and will go all the way to the low earth orbit.

The camp is going to be capable of hosting twelve people, ten of which will be occupying the base long term. The residents are going to sleep in fully equipped rooms for two they also include a space and equipment to set up the aquaponics system, these rooms will be transported from earth in rockets which they are a part of Ariane 5.

The base will be split in two, the main part, with the Spaceline, the laboratory, the testing track and the “Guest tube”. The second part is planned to be smaller it only has to contain two tubes for accommodation and a water obtaining station which will supply everyone (also the people in the main part ) with water.

The laboratory will be dedicated to studying the behavior of life forms, fish, plants and flies, there will be two people assigned for to do that.

Our base is split in two there is the main part with all the research, the Spaceline and then there is the second part which basically is just the water extraction system. For the main part we chose the bay of success it is located on the equator. We decided on that location because of the Spaceline, to work properly it needs to be on the equator to shorten the distance it has from earth and so it can be built perpendicularly to the ground. Unfortunately on the equator there is no water so there is a second part of the base that is used only to extract water. It is located on the south pole where the craters contain frozen water.

The construction of the base is divided into five stages :

1. The living compartments arrive. They are going to be transported in rockets Ariane 5 and are going to be built in to the EPC segment and as it lands safely it will be ready to host the astronauts without further preparations.
2. Transportation of all the equipment needed (rovers, satellites solar panels etc.)
3. The astronauts arrive. If everything goes according to plan in the previous stages all the future residents of the base will arrive in reusable rockets, they are reusable in case of an emergency to help them evacuate during the remaining phases of construction (once the assembly is complete the astronauts may escape the base via the Spaceline). In this stage everything that is needed to survive is going to be set up, aquaponics, solar panels and so one.
4. Building the water extraction system and the pipeline leading the water to the living compartments. It will mostly be done by rovers, that will make it much faster.
5. Construction of the Spaceline. This will be the final and most important phase first the engineers accompanied by rovers are constructing the anchor the rest is to be done by special satellites controlled from earth.

Everyday the astronauts in the base will face the dangers of our moon. Mainly radiation and asteroids. Luckily, we found a way to protect them from such threats. Every building will be covered in a 3D printed substance made of regolith and magnesium oxide. That layer is going to protect the astronauts from radiation. Asteroids will not pose a threat to inhabitants of the base, because there will be special satellites that are going to catch and safely land with them on the surface of the moon. The resources from such heavenly bodies will not only be used to expand the base but also, they are going to supply earth with much needed metals in an eco-friendly way that might just end the era of mining.

To obtain the much needed water we decided to build a machine that cuts out the ice in the craters, melts it and transports it to every living compartment via a pipeline. The pipes will be built underground so they will not be affected by moon’s extreme temperatures. There will also be a system that recycles water from urine. Until the pipeline is complete most of the water will be supplied from earth but once the construction is completed the base will be able to sustain itself.

In our base the astronauts will be using aquaponics as a main source of food. Of course they are going to be supplied with lyophilized food for the journey to the base, for nutrition while the aquaponics system is being installed and as emergency rations. Once the setup is ready it will provide necessary nourishment for everybody in the base. The principle is very simple, the fish produce biological waste, which pollutes the water, the plants use it as a fertilizer, cleaning the water in the process. We are going to use, trout and perches, we chose them because of the nourishment they provide. Trout is rich in vitamin D which the astronauts won’t have access to through the sun. Perches are a source of vitamin B12 which hardly ever occurs in plants. The selection plants will be more diverse than fish, they will grant every needed nutrient.

In order for the base to function a source of power is needed. We decided on solar panels. In both parts of the base there will be 400 square meters of solar panels connected to the batteries that will provide the base with electricity even when the sun is not shining. And the batteries will be connected so when one in the main part of the base runs out the batteries from the second part will be able to charge that battery. There will be some emergency batteries in case something goes terribly wrong and the base is out of power.

We decided on using Oscillatoria as a main source of oxygen for our astronauts. It is an algae and it produces oxygen via photosynthesis (the light will come from LED attached to the bottom of the aquaponics drawer over the one with the algae ). Oscillatoria is very effective as two drawers in the aquaponics system of it will be enough for the two residents of each living compartment. There also is a need for nitrogen, at first it will be brought from earth and in case there is a need for more it will be supplied via the space elevator. Also there is an option to extract nitrogen from nitrogen that is produced by fish.

Our base has multiple purposes :

• Transportation : the base is going to feature an innovative build, the Spaceline, it will bring humanity one step closer to colonizing the Solar System.
• Researching the behavior of life forms : Some fish from the aquaponics system and flies bought from earth will be examined for changes due to the lower gravity.
• Testing rovers : our base features a track designed to test rovers that will be sent to other planets.
• Potential for tourism : as the base develops and grows there is a possibility to host short term visitors.
• Providing earth with resources : everyday the moon is bombarded with asteroids, our satellites job will be to catch the celestial bodies. Some are going to be sent back to earth with the moon elevator there the countless will be utilized.

A day on the moon

The way you spend a your day in the base varies depending on your role. However everyone’s day fits into a certain schedule:

• Wake up.
• Go to the aquaponics room and pick what they want to eat.
• Prepare the food
• Start doing an assigned task
• Come back to the living compartment (free time ) – here the astronauts may call their families, friends and relax.
• Cooking dinner
• Sleep

Then there are particular tasks that every crewmember gets assigned at the beginning of their shift. An engineer might get assigned to operate the Spaceline or to test out the new rovers. There will be four engineers in the main part of the base and three by the water station. They will be working shifts (the day shift and the night shift ) and during the construction phase they will be overlooking the process and fixing some errors every day. Their job will also be to keep the living compartments safe so one of the engineers is going to make an weekly inspection of every tube. By the water station the engineers will operate the system and make adjustments if necessary.

In the main part there will also be a biologist that will conduct studies on organisms in space. The studies are going to be performed on fish and plants from the aquaponics system, that will also help to diagnose any bacteria in the food the astronauts are eating before it does some damage. There will be studies of flies as well. The main purpose of observing their behavior will be to see how the insects evolve in low gravity as they reproduce very quickly.

One doctor is going to work in the base (per section, so all in all two, one in the main part and one in the water extraction section) but everyone will have a basic knowledge on CPR. The medic’s job will be to teat the patients but also do make mental health check on all the crewmembers. This will also be a person who composes everybody’s diet.