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 16 6 / 2 English
3D design software: Fusion 360
We set the team name as Epovator, which is a combination of two words epoch and innovator, meaning era innovator. We name our moon camp “SECOND FOUNDATION”. It comes from Asimov’s famous science fiction “Foundation”. It’s not only to commemorate the great writer who made contributions to human literature and science but also to express our determination to explore the moon: To build a second homeland on the moon where the human can set home and use it as a transit station for human exploration of the universe. For safety reasons, the main body of the camp is built in the lava cave, and only the necessary detection equipment and communication equipments were placed on the moon’s surface. We use minimalist decoration style, which fits future fashion trends. The shell of the base is a butterfly image, which expresses our love for the Earth’s natural environment. In addition, the butterfly is a symbol of beauty and freedom in traditional Chinese culture, known as “flying flowers”. The color scheme adopts blue and autumn Heung yellow. In line with the Chinese classical aesthetic.
Our moon camp aims to enable scientists to conduct scientific research, outdoor survey and further exploration of the universe on the moon for a long time. There are space breeding laboratories and space labs in the camp to research plant genetic problems and the effects of different cosmic rays on plants, analysis of lunar soil materials, physical and chemical experiments in low gravity environments, and further exploration of space. In addition, the camp is also intended to take the lead in tackling the problem of human long-term living on the moon. Therefore. We have set up the circulation area, the entertainment area, the living area, the planting and the breeding area to meet the material and spiritual needs of human beings in the remote environment.
In a lava tube near the ancient volcanic area of Mount Marius. It’s a geological structure that forms naturally inside a lava flow, similar to a pipe. Its case can not only play the role of heat preservation, but also become a natural protective device because it is very hard. The internal part can ensure the survival of life. The diameter of the entrance is about 65 meters, and there is a nearly vertical horizontal cave 50 metres below the entrance, which curves downward and extends to both sides. The interior space is very large, according to the data. It extends 50 kilometers long, and relevant analysis suggests that there may be relatively thin air inside. This will not only help the project of building the foundation but also help solve the breathing problems of the astronauts at the base.
Our team’s moon camp was built in a lava tube near the ancient volcanic region of “Mount Marius”, mainly divided into the inner buildings of the lava tube and the exterior buildings around the opening of the lava tube. The main construction material of the former is “lunar concrete” mixed with locally sourced lunar soil and urine, while the latter is based on the “lunar concrete” with silicon magnesium aluminum alloy as the protective layer of the building. It is worth mentioning that all of these materials can be obtained on the moon, saving the cost of transporting materials between the Earth and the moon.
The concrete construction process is divided into three steps: first, a batch of high-demand precision instruments will be produced on Earth, and then directly launched to the moon; The second part uses 3D printing technology to build the main structure of the camp with “moon concrete” as raw material. The third step is to use the existing minerals on the moon (Si,Al,Mg,Ti,Fe, etc.) to complete the protective layer of the surface building and the construction of other facilities within the building.
In response to the problem of meteorite impact, the lunar surface security device is equipped with laser weapon, which can effectively smash large meteorites and eliminate their threat to moon camps. Since the camp is almost entirely in lava tubes, and the necessary facilities and equipment for astronauts are below the surface of the moon, a small-scale meteorite impact will not pose much threat to the camp.
With regard to the problem of cosmic rays and other radiation, the lava tube itself has strong radiation protection ability. However, as is said in the previous question, for safety reasons, a thin wall of silicon magnesium aluminum alloy material is added to the lava pipe wall to further improve the radiation protection effect and strengthen the resilience of the moon camp.
In view of the problem that the moon is unevenly heated and there is almost no atmosphere, there will be double-layer gates at the entrance of the moon camp to ensure stable air pressure and heat escape. There is a circulatory system inside to keep the atmosphere, pressure and temperature relatively constant. There is an air component monitoring device in the base, if abnormal, can be efficient activated carbon and zeolite and other materials filter, purify the air.
The base has a medical area for astronauts who may be injured on the job. There are X-ray machines, MRI machines and other testing equipments, but also equipped with painkillers, needles and other simple medical equipment, to deal with unexpected situations. At the same time, a month-to-ground communication system at the base can ensure instant communication and contact ground experts for medical problems that the astronauts cannot cope with.
Water: There are considerable fresh water resources on the surface of the moon. The camp is equipped with a bionic lunar rover that can grab lunar ice and transport it back to the base. Meanwhile, Vapor Compression Distillation at the camp can be used to treat urine, and reverse osmosis membrane processor can be used to purify water produced by plant transpiration in growing areas, sanitary wastewater, and lunar water ice for human survival.
Food: In the early stages of their existence, astronauts ate vacuum sealed food transported from Earth. After the crops in the planting park are mature, they can cook dishes according to healthy recipes, such as fruits containing dietary fiber, leafy green vegetables rich in vitamins, legumes high in protein. In addition, the camp also breeds Tenebrio molitor that feed on plants in the growing area. It can provide rich protein, which can solve the problem of meat in the later period after proper treatment.
Air: There is a thorough air circulation and filtration system. Oxygen is produced in two main ways. Initially, astronauts burned sodium chlorate powder transported from the Earth to produce large amounts of oxygen. After a large amount of liquid water is obtained through a water recycling system, oxygen can be supplied by means of electrolysis of water.
Electricity: The two main modes of power generation are photovoltaic power generation and thermal power generation. Solar panels are placed around the camp to absorb solar radiation; The main fuel for thermal power generation is domestic waste and hydrogen produced by electrolytic reaction of water. At the same time, the treadmill and bicycle in the sports area are loaded with small power generation equipment. All the energy will be concentrated in the storage board of the central resource control room for rational resource scheduling.
Excrement: We will collect methane produced by the fermentation of astronauts’ excrement, urea produced by urine in the process of Vapor Compression Distillation for biogas power generation or water resource regeneration
Respiratory waste: For exhaled carbon dioxide, it is first absorbed and concentrated by using currently mature solid amine technology, then partially introduced into the planting area for photosynthesis. The rest of it participates in the reduction reaction of Methanation to generate methane and water, which is then electrolyzed again to achieve oxygen regeneration.
Paper waste: Use the waste paper processor in the camp to process recycled paper.
Other wastes: In order to protect the space environment, garbage such as plastic products will not be discharged into space at the camp, but will be stored in a centralized manner, compressed into a vacuum and burned out when the spacecraft returns to the atmosphere.
We decided to use the relay satellite “Queqiao” running in the orbit of Earth-moon L2 translational point for signal forwarding to complete Earth-moon communication, which well realized the high coverage of signals. The communication between the lunar bases will adopt UHF radio communication, because a large amount of moon dust will interfere with signal transmission, while the signals emitted from UHF frequency band have strong penetration and are less affected by climate change. The terminal technology is mature, which can facilitate the lunar surface communication. At the same time, we can also use Micius, China’s first spac quantum science experiment satellite. It can break through the limit of distance and realize the communication between the moon and the earth with quantum communication technology. Due to the entangled state of quantum communication, it can not only further guarantee the immediacy of communication, but also ensure the security of information.
The main topic and research focus of our camp is how to solve the long-term survival of human beings in low gravity environment. And to achieve this, our campsite is equipped with various high-end and sophisticated equipment to conduct scientific research in various aspects and fields. In terms of geology, our base is equipped with a lunar soil composition detector and an electron microscopy device to do the in-depth research on available materials on the moon. We also attempt to use lunar soil as a 3D printing material to save on the expensive cost of transporting construction materials. In terms of chemical energy, the base has a small vacuum centrifuge device to study the impact of centrifugal motion on the efficiency of electrolytic reactions in the lunar low gravity environment. This helps improve energy efficiency and lays the foundation for long-term human habitation in the future. In terms of biology, there are not only planting areas to study the growth of Earth’s crops in the lunar soil, but also professional biological cultivation experimental boxes for genetic modification and grafting in the unique low gravity environment of the moon to adapt to the planting environment of the lunar soil. These studies have significant implications on the exploration of outer space in the future. In terms of astronomy, the astronomical telescope in our camp takes advantage of the favorable conditions on the moon, with less interference, more stable environment, more convenient data transmission, and longer continuous detection time. It is believed that using the telescope in our camp will help us explore the vast universe.
Overweight endurance and adaptability training. It aims to enable astronauts to bear huge overloads and keep awake during the process of spacecraft ascent and descent;
vestibular function training. It is mainly used to train the vestibular function of astronauts, improve the stability of vestibular function, and prevent the occurrence of space motion sickness;
Landing impact training. Simulate the impact environment of spacecraft returning to the earth to strengthen the impact resistance of astronauts and study various protective measures.
Neutral buoyancy tank training. Provide astronauts with simulated weightlessness training environment, which is conducive to the training of astronauts’ extravehicular activities, especially extravehicular activities such as extravehicular walking, extravehicular assembly and maintenance;
Outbound activity training. Theoretical learning is combined with practical operation training, which includes both single operation training and program training, such as training simulation of cabin exit program, virtual reality training, and fault identification, judgment and processing training.
The psychological quality training is divided into four parts. The first part is a comprehensive training, which mainly trains the psychological stability of astronauts in the bad environment; The second part is professional psychological training aimed at alleviating negative emotions such as nervousness, irritability, and anxiety; The third part is the psychological compatibility training to improve the tacit understanding between astronauts to better carry out work; The fourth part is imagery training, which allows astronauts to simulate all operations of the lunar landing process in a relaxed state to reduce errors in the real operation process and increase safety.
Now, the People’s Republic of China’s new-generation heavy-lift Long March-9 carrier rocket is under development, which can fully meet the needs of manned lunar exploration to the moon and back in the near future.
The vehicle in the moon camp was a rover designed by my team. The rover uses solar energy as the main energy source, and biogas generated by the household waste in the camp as the auxiliary energy source. It has a guaranteed driving range and considerable transportation capacity.
New destinations for exploring the lunar surface are set to explore more lunar lava tubes and the far side of the moon. The lunar lava tube is an ideal place to build the lunar base in the future, and it is of great value for human exploration. The far side of the moon, which has been less explored, is also a worthy new destination.
