In Moon Camp Pioneers, each team’s mission is to 3D design a complete Moon Camp using the software of their choice. 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.
Shanghai Qingpu Senior High School Shanghai-Qingpu China 15, 16 6 / 2 English
3D design software: Fusion 360
In the sixty-two years since humans entered space, technology has advanced dramatically. We want to leave Earth again to do something bigger. To fully explore the Moon and for later expansion and long-term habitation, we want to build some lunar camps to sustain astronauts and scientists.
Our lunar camp is protected by a circular dome to reduce heat dissipation. The area in the middle is divided into a research area, a food storage area, a medical area, a living area, an equipment storage area, a planting area and an underground shelter, which is shaped as a sphere connected at an angle, taking into account stability and practicality. The other two areas are nuclear fusion, electrolysis, wastewater treatment area, and fitness and recreation area. They are connected to the central area in the shape of half a peanut, showing the overall stability and safety of the triangle, while fully functional, to meet all the needs of the three astronauts.
For the building materials, we use a composite concrete and earth-brought boron nitride based material for the foundation and the lower level of the building. Memory metal and radiation-proof glass are used for the superstructure and the dome, making the camp strong and protected from radiation interference.
We do enough engineering to provide our lunar camps with water, food, air, fuel and power and to be self-sufficient for the long term.
Our research focuses on astronomy, botany and geology, and experiments on the Moon to advance science.
We aim to advance science, develop new materials from lunar soil, and make the lunar camp a new home.
The Moon, as the most explored planet by humans, is one of our main exploration targets now. In order to fully explore the Moon, we have to achieve long-term habitation on the Moon, so we have to build lunar camps to sustain human survival, provide oxygen, food storage, energy development and other functions.
Attending Moon Camp will allow our imagination of lunar camps to be realized through modeling, and in the process of modeling, it will also allow us to learn more about the Moon and the available lunar exploration technologies.
We want to build a lunar camp in the crater. The criteria for choosing the crater are: one, there is ice and water nearby, so that you can get water directly by reflecting sunlight with the help of a mirror. Two, within the perpetual day peak, so that a stable solar energy can be ensured as a way to guarantee the energy supply. Three, near the weathering layer, because the weathering layer of the moon soil can be used as a raw material for oxygen.
The construction is divided into seven phases:
In the first phase, a staging area is built at a designated location to prepare for later base construction and material transportation.
In the second phase, the lander is launched from the staging station to the target site, and the lander carries a probe, scientific exploration equipment, communication equipment and solar panels to undertake the tasks of a pre-energy station and a communication station, to conduct preliminary exploration of the selected site and to provide infrastructure support for subsequent construction.
In the third stage, the lander will be launched from the staging station, and the lunar robot and construction materials will be sent to the lunar surface by the lander, and the composite concrete will be prepared by using the lunar soil and the materials brought, and the construction of the main structure of the base, infrastructure and external dome will be carried out by 3D printing technology to complete the construction of the material landing site, and further deployment and maintenance of all kinds of equipment. At this time, the lunar base can be transported and exchanged by the lunar surface robots, constituting an exchange system of information, energy and materials, and the initial information flow, energy flow and material flow interaction capability among the rovers of the lunar base, and the prototype of the lunar base is completed.
In the fourth phase, the lunar surface launch system and landing site are deployed, and the lander can be launched to reach the staging area to carry supplies and bring back to the base, and the safeguarding facilities about the lunar surface takeoff are deployed at the landing site to configure a set of return vehicles for the base.
In the fifth phase, the lander is used to return to the base with the internal equipment of the base, and the initial deployment by the lunar surface robot to meet the needs of the personnel activities.
In the sixth phase, a manned lunar landing will be carried out. This phase will station astronauts for deployment, carry out the installation of internal equipment and scientific research of the base, and initially build a lunar base. The lander will carry the return vehicle during the manned lunar landing, forming a backup relationship with the return vehicle configured on the lunar surface in order to safeguard the lives of personnel in case of an emergency.
In the seventh phase, the installation and operation of the base interior is completed by astronauts, and scientific research work and resource extraction missions officially begin.
During the construction process, it will be necessary to transport probes, lunar surface robots, various types of base equipment and construction materials from Earth, and the main structure of the base will contain a large amount of lunar soil, which will reduce the need for material transportation and construction time consuming.
In terms of shape, because the dome and dome load-bearing and pressure resistance is stronger than the same volume of buildings, according to the site of the lunar base, we intend to build a dome structure above the crater to reduce the impact of pressure differences, for sudden and unexpected situations, because of the dome load-bearing strong, it can buy time for the base to react and take action to reduce unnecessary losses.
In terms of materials, due to the special environment, need to deal with high vacuum, ultra-high temperature, ultra-low temperature, etc., the dome we choose to use memory metal as the skeleton, combined with special concrete materials, can withstand high temperatures. At the same time, the use of radiation-proof glass can filter cosmic rays to protect the base from radiation interference, and the normally closed design can prevent the invasion of lunar dust into the interior to affect the progress of scientific research; the main building of the center we choose a double-layer building wall, the inner layer using special concrete, the outer layer using lunar soil, strong, can withstand pressure differences, can provide a safe research environment for astronauts, while controlling the heat transfer range, to Maintain the temperature to prevent heat loss.
In terms of safety, it is planned to establish additional protection measures at meteorite impact-prone locations to avoid meteorite impacts, to select small meteorites for destruction and their fragments for scientific research, to establish meteorite collection devices for relevant exploration and research, and to initiate emergency measures in the event of a very large meteorite or other accident that is extremely destructive to the lunar camp, using a lunar surface launcher to escape to the Lagrange point, with satellites quickly reflecting the situation and sending information to the Earth, and researchers waiting at the Lagrange point for a response from the Earth and a new scientific program. The satellites quickly reflect the situation and send information to Earth, while the researchers wait at the Lagrange point for a response from Earth and a new research program.
For the provision of water, we initially carry some of the water from Earth to the Moon to cope with the empty window before being able to steadily extract ice water. The waste liquid produced by the astronauts in their lives is then fractionated, filtered and other steps to get a part of clean water, and the rest is either sent to the planting area or discharged to outer space.
For food provision, we grow potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, and many other vegetables, and bring some canned meat from Earth. To meet the nutritional needs of the astronauts.
For the air side, we use some active compounds in the lunar soil as catalysts to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen, hydrogen, methane and methanol using artificial photosynthesis techniques with the help of simulated sunlight. However, the oxygen obtained from here is not enough. The oxygen supply relies mainly on water electrolysis, and its by-product hydrogen is fed to the Sabatier reactor to produce methane
In order to adapt to the lunar environment and to provide long-term stable energy for the lunar camp, we use solar power for the initial phase of the camp. Later on, we use lunar soil extracted components as artificial photosynthesis catalysts to prepare fuel for power generation, and clean and efficient nuclear fusion power generation technology as a backup power generation solution for the whole lunar camp. At the same time, we store excess power in battery packs to cope with most of the possible extreme weather conditions, achieving a safe power supply solution.
The waste generated by the astronauts is mainly urine, feces and carbon dioxide. Urine is separated from distilled water by vapor compression distillation and sent to the water treatment module for subsequent filtration and catalytic oxidation reactions to obtain partially clean water; the rest of the waste and feces can be used as fertilizer in the growing module or can be directly discharged into space. The carbon dioxide is sent to the planting module for photosynthesis, and if there is any excess, it is sent to the Sabatier reactor, where it reacts with hydrogen to obtain water and methane under the action of catalyst.
Astronauts produce household waste will be strictly sorted, wet waste will be sent to the planting area; paper towels, plastic bags and other dry waste will go through a series of steps such as compression, hoarding, etc., and then put into the Earth’s atmosphere for incineration to reduce pollution in space.
We use satellite relay technology for communications. Three satellites are placed over the Moon, ensuring that each part of the Moon is covered by at least one satellite and using UHF S-band, which can penetrate the Earth’s ionosphere without deflection or reflection, allowing efficient microwave relay communication between the camps and the Earth and between the camps on the Moon.
For the transportation of supplies, scientific equipment, and personnel. We use the Lagrangian point in Earth-Moon space, where the gravitational forces of the two major Earth-Moon bodies cancel each other out, and objects located at this point can remain relatively balanced. We only need to give a small thrust at this point to make what we want to transport move in the direction of the thrust. There are theoretically five Lagrangian points in the Earth-Moon system, and the one we use is at a location about 323,110 km from Earth. We first launch the spacecraft to the staging station at the Lagrangian point, where we add propellant, and at the same time launch a lander from the Moon to pick up the spacecraft and transport what we want to deliver from the staging station to the Moon. In this way, the spacecraft would no longer need to carry propellant for lunar landing and takeoff and return when it leaves Earth, nor would it need to carry a lunar module, transportation costs would be greatly reduced, and the lunar lander could be used multiple times since the Moon has no atmosphere.
Our group’s lunar camp research focuses on astronomy, botany, and geology.
We will be observing objects near the Moon and on the back of the Moon through telescopes, and NASA has already proposed the possibility of building an observatory on the back of the Moon to avoid light and communication pollution from the Earth. Therefore, we will build ultra-long wavelength radio telescopes on the backside of the Moon. Compared with astronomical telescopes on Earth and in near-Earth orbit, building ultra-long wavelength radio telescopes on the backside of the Moon has tremendous advantages, including: ultra-long wavelength astronomical telescopes observe the universe at wavelengths greater than 10 meters (with frequencies below 30 MHZ), which can reflect the Earth’s ionosphere, which has not been explored by humans so far; the Moon acts as a natural The Moon acts as a natural physical barrier layer to help lunar-based astronomical telescopes isolate the effects of radio noise sources from the Earth, the ionosphere, Earth-orbiting satellites, and radio interference signals from the Sun during lunar nights. It is therefore necessary to deploy a 1-km diameter metal grid to form a ball-cap-shaped reflector with a suitable depth-to-diameter ratio.
In botany, we will study the lunar soil collected by lunar robots and the plant seeds and seedlings brought from Earth, using microscopy and chemical experiments to find out if the trace elements in the lunar soil can give plants enough energy and nutrients. In the science lab, we also cultivate different plant seeds in the lunar soil to find plants that are more suitable for growing on the Moon. During the incubation process, we place the seeds with the moon soil in a thermostat with blue and red light to ensure the maximum growth rate of the seeds.
Geologically, the topographic features of the lunar surface can be roughly classified into three categories: highlands, lunar sea impact craters, and volcanic topography. We will use the lunar rover to collect relevant samples, and investigate the morphology of the lunar surface and the distribution characteristics of lunar surface materials by studying the three types of samples retrieved from the lunar surface: crystalline igneous rocks, breccias, and lunar soils and glass particles, and eventually the above samples will be make full use of the above samples.
In addition, the lunar rover will be designed and manufactured in the research area, it will have the function of collecting lunar samples, and equipped with 3D printers, medical equipment and living supplies on the vehicle to ensure that astronauts on the lunar rover can carry out work as well as living and resting.
The moon has very little gravity, undulating terrain, and many lunar explorations must be performed by astronauts outside the capsule, so we will train astronauts in weightlessness and lunar environment simulation training so that they can adapt to the weightlessness in advance to reduce physiological discomfort and help outdoor exploration go more smoothly.
The Moon is an extremely dangerous and unknown environment for humans, and astronauts exploring outside must ensure their own safety, and then to ensure the safety of their companions, so we will be trained and simulated for the handling of some possible emergencies.
Faced with such an unfamiliar environment, the astronauts must endure great psychological pressure to go to the moon, out of the capsule research, etc. Therefore, in order to make the moon landing smoother, we will provide psychological guidance to the astronauts to reduce psychological pressure and psychological discomfort, so that the astronauts to complete the mission with a positive attitude.
The Moon has a lot of unexplored and unstudied materials, and astronauts must have a good understanding of the Moon before going to the Moon, and we will let the astronauts learn to use the advanced machines in the lunar camps to carry out research and investigation of the materials on the Moon.
In the weightless environment, the astronauts’ muscles may gradually disappear, before going to the moon, we will astronauts to carry out rigorous physical training and a reasonable diet to ensure that in the long-term mission to maintain good health and physical strength.
Missions include manned spacecraft used to fly from Earth to the Moon, launch vehicles used to replenish supplies and materials, probes used to explore the environment, and more. In the lunar camp, astronauts can also remotely control small exploration robots indoors for advance exploration and sample collection on the Moon, while there are also orbital connections to various buildings for rapid transport over long distances.
The moon has little gravity and no atmosphere, so currently we can use the vehicle to reverse thrust to send the spacecraft back to Earth. In the future, we can also use electromagnetic catapult devices to launch small spacecraft and spacecraft, which is faster and more convenient than direct manipulation of spacecraft, and can be reused, less environmental pollution, both efficient and practical.
