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.
郑州轻工业附属中学 河南省郑州市-金水区 China 19 5 / 1 English
3D design software: Fusion 360
The lunar camp is for scientific research purposes, mainly exploring the permanently Shadowed areas of the moon, the composition of lunar soil and how to extract and use it, and the cultivation of plants. The resources are obtained mainly through solar energy, decomposition of lunar soil, and utilization of ice water mined from lunar soil. Since lunar debris can weigh as much as 400,000 pounds, recycling the waste space junk is urgent, so the recycling station is necessary. In order to maintain the physical and mental health of the astronauts, we set up gyms and medical pods, and the astronauts can also communicate with their loved ones more than 300 kilometers on Earth through the control room. In order to prevent the unmeasurable “moon dust”, we will use a new dust removal material coated with the photovoltaic abnormal effect of lead lanthanum zirconate titanate ceramics, which can not only prevent the moon dust particles by recharging the insulating polyimide film covered by ultraviolet light, but also have better temperature mitigation function.
The main purpose of our moon base is to do scientific research.
The moon is rich in energy. The mining of the mineral energy of the moon is also a supplement to the earth’s energy. There is a laboratory on the first floor of the center of the base, which will analyze various elements in the lunar soil and transmit the analyzed data back to Earth through the control room. At the same time, we also have mobile exploration lunar rover, which explores permanently shadowed areas and mines ice water in them.
Our base is going to be Shackleton Crater on the South Pole of the moon. Here’s why:
First: Plenty of sunlight: Shackleton Crater is exposed to the sun for about 80 to 90 percent of the month, allowing the camp to use solar panels to power its operations.
Second: The rich water ice can be used to make water and energy: The base can use the melting of water ice and the electrolysis of water to obtain drinking water and energy.
Third: Rich in mineral resources, our base can make use of these mineral resources to extract some iron elements for base construction. And the soil is rich in silicon, which can be used to make solar panels.
Fourth: the safety of the crater is relatively high to facilitate the operation and survival of the base.
In order to build a moon camp, we will make full use of the natural resources on the moon:
By melting water ice at high temperatures and electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen and oxygen for domestic use and fuel; The initial energy harvest will be followed by mining the moon’s crust for metals and minerals, such as aluminium, titanium and iron, which will be used in the construction of spacecraft, tools and buildings. Mining helium in the lunar crust for nuclear energy production; Clay from the lunar surface was used in the construction of buildings.
At the same time, special alloys, ceramics, polyurethane foam and other materials with good radiation and high temperature resistance will be transported from Earth for the initial lunar construction.
Our lunar camp will protect astronauts from three aspects: temperature, radiation and lunar dust, and the establishment of a medical room.
Temperature: First of all, our walls are thicker, which can reduce the loss of temperature to a certain extent. Secondly, we have heating that raises the temperature inside the base.
Radiation: First, we made the walls of the camp thick enough, and second, we mixed hydrogen-containing substances, hydrogen-rich plastics, and other hydrogen-rich polymers such as polyethylene or polythene into some of the building materials to strengthen the barrier against radiation.
Moon dust: The base uses a coating of titanium dioxide atoms to reduce the damage lunar dust can cause to external facilities. At the same time, the wall of our base is relatively thick, and the entrance is specially designed to reduce the risk of moon dust entering the room.
We have a medical room to deal with astronauts in case of emergency.
Water：
The source of our water is melting ice by heating it, and the ice is mined by rovers that travel to permanently shaded areas. The steam generated by the ice melting machine is purified by a water purification unit. The purified water is stored in a water tank before being piped to various compartages at the base.
Food：
In the early stage of our camp, food was brought from the earth, such as rice, vegetables, meat, etc. In the later stage, because there is a green shed built in the center of our camp on the second floor, we can cultivate some green plants, such as Arabidopsis, kale, potatoes, etc., so as to provide nutrients and vitamins for astronauts.
Air：
The site of our base is rich in solar energy resources, so we will adopt special structure solar panels to collect sunlight and store it in batteries to maximize the use of solar energy. And continuous light brings the right temperature, which is more conducive to people’s survival. Lunar soil is rich in metal elements, rare elements, radioactive elements, etc., which can use nuclear reactions to generate electricity, and can also use nuclear fusion technology to obtain huge energy, and the extraction and utilization of these elements can make nuclear fission batteries and nuclear fusion batteries.
Power：
That’s because the moon’s atmosphere is almost identical to Earth’s, with about 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen, and less than 1 percent water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other inert gases. Oxygen can be obtained by electrolyzing water by melting lunar soil. Nitrogen needs to be brought from Earth in the form of compression tanks to make earth-like air and smelt metals. Carbon dioxide can be self-contained. Carbon dioxide from each cabin in our camp will be collected through pipes and quantitatively discharged into the green shed to ensure that the green plants can photosynthesize.
We have dedicated garbage collection stations for the recycling and reuse of waste generated by astronauts. For example, astronaut excrement will be converted into nutrients to cultivate green plants. Similarly, the carbon dioxide produced by astronauts’ breath will become the nourishment of green plants. Other waste materials can be reprocessed and reused to reduce resource waste. The recycling station is equipped with a shredder and solid waste compaction equipment to treat waste that cannot be reused.
In the middle of our lunar camp, there is a control room, which has a lot of signal transmission equipment and various control devices, and there are high-frequency radios connected outward, which can transmit the voice of astronauts to Earth. The lunar module communication system uses the S-band to send signals back to Earth, which is a high-frequency band that can penetrate the Earth’s electrical layer without deflection or reflection, so it is widely used in space.
Our lunar camp focuses on the geology of the moon, and one of the most valuable is helium-3, which can be used as a fuel to study future (relatively) safe nuclear fusion energy because it is not radioactive on its own and does not pose a radioactive hazard to surrounding materials. Helium-3 has been embedded in the lunar soil by solar winds for billions of years, so the soil is rich in helium-3, making the lunar geology of great scientific interest.
We will conduct two experiments, the first is the passive seismometer experiment, the second is the laser ranging backward reflector experiment, the specific content is as follows:
The Passive Seismometer Experiment is a stand-alone 100-pound seismic station designed to detect any lunar tremors. The experiment was solar-powered and had its own communications capability, so its results were transmitted back to Earth after the astronauts left the lunar surface. If the moon is seismically active, then instruments could provide information about its internal structure and possibly provide clues about its formation.
The laser ranging backward reflector is a passive experiment that weighs about 70 pounds. It consists of a series of precision optical reflectors used as targets for Earth-based lasers. By measuring exactly how long it takes the laser beam to travel from Earth and bounce back to the reflector, the scientists calculated the Earth-moon distance to an accuracy of 8 centimeters. Measurements over time and at different stations on Earth help determine fluctuations in the Earth’s rotation and record continental drift.
We’ll have astronauts learn basic science and engineering, spacecraft operation and maintenance,Remote operation and telemetry skills, life support and medical first aid skills, as follows:
Basic subjects and engineering knowledge: Astronauts need to master the basic knowledge of physics, mathematics and engineering subjects in order to better understand the laws of spacecraft movement and operation points.
Spacecraft operation and Maintenance knowledge: Astronauts need to know how to operate and maintain spacecraft and ancillary equipment. Including the use of space suits, the management and control of air circulation systems, and other emergency operating skills.
Teleoperation and telemetry skills: Astronauts need to know communication and data transmission protocols and be able to quickly deal with any unexpected events. They also need to learn troubleshooting methods to ensure proper operation during the security process.
Life support and medical first aid skills: Astronauts need to understand how to deal with astronauts’ physical and mental health and what to do in emergency situations. They also need to be familiar with the use and maintenance of medical equipment to ensure they have the ability to deal with problems if they occur in the space environment.
For the lunar mission we need a manned launch vehicle with strong propulsion and reliable autonomous navigation capability. To explore new destinations on the moon, we’ll need a drilling vehicle, a geological vehicle and a rock acquisition vehicle, and a mobile experimental rover.
Our base astronauts will go to the moon on a manned launch vehicle, and then come to our base on our rover. The astronauts will go out on a mobile experimental rover to explore new destinations on the lunar surface.
When the astronauts from our base return to Earth, they will ride the lunar rover to the vehicle park, and then the astronauts will ride the vehicle back to Earth.
