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.
VKV KOC SCHOOLS Istanbul-Tuzla Turkey 17, 18 6 / 0 English
3D design software: Blender
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fa5lUBO_bvtx4PCrQyFW1ks_bzRVyWpX/view?usp=share_link
HELIOS-1 is a Moon Camp project that takes the idea of sustainable life and development into its core. While the main purpose of the project is to research upon and provide a new sustainable source of energy – the Helium-3 isotope, the idea of self-sufficiency is the main concept around which the project has been built. With its crew consisting of twelve astronauts, HELIOS-1 will consist of two identical bases in two distinct craters on the southern pole of the Moon, which will be built majorly by using the sources on the Moon themselves. With minimal dependency on the provision of materials from the Earth – whether it is related to water, food, air, building materials, objects, energy, or anything else – the Moon Camp will have the capacity to work for long-lasting periods of time in order to ensure that the full potential of Helium-3 and its properties appropriate to its use on Earth can be discovered. The Earth’s resources are precious, yet finite. In the end, HELIOS-1 aims to be remembered for its contribution to the field of sustainable and safe energy production, removing a great obstacle that obstructs the path to sustainable life on Earth amidst the rapid global development.
As an isotope of Helium that accounts for only 0.0001% of all on the Earth, Helium-3 carries a great potential to be used as a source of energy through nuclear fusion. Yet, the expensive costs and the level of technological advancement required render it difficult for such research and development to be conducted on the possible uses of Helium-3 in energy production. Hence, the abundance of the isotope on the Moon carries vital importance and a potential for future development – especially in an age when sustainable growth is hindered by the exploitation of the natural resources. To address this, the lunar soil will be examined alongside the behavior of extracted Helium-3, and extensive research will be done with other compounds to find out how it could be used in future technologies. The main purpose of the Moon Camp “Helios-1” will be this research after extracting the isotope.
The HELIOS-1 Moon Camp will be built in two different locations and will consist of the identical base structure. Both of the camps will be located on the southern pole of the Moon and this will allow the continuity of the project without the disruption caused by the lack of sunlight, as the sunlight will be used as a major source of energy within the base. With the Moon’s axial tilt of around 5 degrees, the two different bases will be located on either side of the southern pole and will be used interchangeably. Depending on where the long-lasting sunlight is being received, either one of the bases will be used one after another. Also, both of the bases will be located inside separate craters to have additional protection against possible meteor showers. Additionally, these craters have specifically been chosen due to their rich content of water ice.
The transfer of the crew of research will take place after both of the bases of the Moon Camp have been built. During this process, rockets will be used to bring the needed materials from the Earth. While building the camps, the main building blocks of the buildings and corridors will be the regolith blocks that will be composed of lunar dust, soil, and rocks on the Moon’s surface. Large scale 3D printers will be used for the building process of the monolithic bricks. Prior to any research, the possible defects in the building structure will be dealt with through the use of machinery. The regolith blocks have been discovered to absorb the heat and provide electricity, which will be useful as a sustainable source of energy after the needed structures to facilitate such use are established. Lunar soil will be covering the building structures to prevent harms by the cosmic radiation. The water recovery systems and the system needed for the provision of air within the base will be addressed after the buildings. Infirmary needs, any living beings, technological devices will be brought from the Earth next. Further systems such as the aquaponic system and the living facility will be established secondly, which will be followed by the settlement of the crew. For simple objects such as chairs and tables, inflatable steel furniture will be brought from the Earth as they cover less space while transportation and are stronger. They will be inflated in the base later.
The base will be built inside a crater, in which it will be protected from meteor showers. Building inside a crater will help insulate the moon base because it provides cover from the threat of micrometeoroids and due to the stable temperature of the Moon’s underground environment. Because the moon has almost no atmosphere and its surface is frequently exposed to harmful radiation levels, covering a moon base with lunar soil helps shield astronauts from radiation. The dwelling modules may be buried in the lunar surface or placed in lava tunnels below to protect the crew. Astronauts will benefit from lunar soil in other ways as well. The bricks made from regolith using a 3D printer could be used to build structures on the moon because they are lightweight and strong. They could also be used to create radiation shields that would protect astronauts from harmful radiation on the moon’s surface. The bricks could also be used to create habitats that would provide a more stable environment for astronauts and equipment. This would help ensure that astronauts are safe and comfortable while they work on the moon. Also to help with the pressure, an Internal cabin pressurization system where liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen in pressurized tanks that relies on an air compressor will help regulate pressure.
In our base; our main focus is sustainability, as the Moon is unfit for human survival and the cost is too great for the base to be completely dependent on Earth. For air, mostly electrolysis will be used. Water is found on the Moon in the form of ice. When the water is extracted, it will be broken apart into hydrogen and oxygen for appropriate usage. This will create a stable source of air for astronauts to use, which will be further supported by backup oxygen tubes in case of an emergency. Nitrogen will be extracted from Lunar soil and resupplied regularly to combat leakages. Also filtering the lunar ice cores to extract water, and using it with a water recovery system further supports the water supply of the base. This water is relatively safe to use and completely sustainable given its combined usage with ISS water use system. Food sources follow a similar path of sustainability. The main source of food will be derived from an aquaponic system. While the required species of the set up are brought from Earth, with the proper execution an aquaponic system will be completely sustainable to use. It will also provide a varied diet with enough protein and vitamin for the astronauts. For power, solar panels will be used in order to provide the base as a sustainable source of power. For the days where direct usage of solar panels is not possible, battery systems will be used in order to continue to supply power to the base. These batteries will be filled up on days where the sunlight can be turned into power.
For sustainable waste management different waste types (solid, liquid, and gaseous) should be treated differently. Firstly, Astronauts’ personal wastes (e.g. hygiene products, food packaging, human waste…) will be collected and compacted to minimize the volume they occupy, then sealed in sterile containers to prevent contamination. Moreover, depending on the waste type (e.g. metal, plastic…) they can be repurposed as a feedstock for the 3D-printer. Wastes that can’t be repurposed and stored in containers can be transported back to the earth for proper disposal or if necessary they could safely ejected into space, while implementing environmental protocols. For liquid-wastes, a water recycling system can be utilized, which applies filtration, distillation and chemical treatment, to reclaim usable-water. Non-renewable liquid-wastes will be sealed in vacuum packs like solid-wastes. For gaseous-wastes (mostly carbon-dioxide), a sponge -like mineral called zeolite (like in the ISS) can be utilized to prevent astronauts from lethal-hypercarbia exposure.
Maintaining communication with Earth and within the Moon is crucial for the longevity of HELIOS-1. One of the main ways to keep communication with Earth is through the usage of Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) communication. With the help of the propagation of radio waves from an Earth-based transmitter, the radio waves reflect from the Moon’s surface, received by the Earth-based receiver which is why this communication style is also called Moon bounce and helps communication between Earth and HELIOS-1. For communication between Moon bases, the space qualified lunar network 3GPP under the project LunarNet can be used. With the help of this robust network, a strong infrastructure of communication can be built on the Moon so that all the data can be transmitted effectively. Hence, Moon bounce will be used to keep communication between Earth and the Moon while the wireless 3GPP network will help communication between HELIOS-1 and other Moon bases.
Effects of deep space radiation on living beings and materials can be researched with the crews being the ideal test subject. Even though the crew would be exposed to limited amounts of radiation, their long term stay of 180 days on the base would be enough time to observe some effects on the body.Additionally, scientific research about lunar biology and geology plays a vital role in establishing a sustainable and thus successful moon camp base. For geological experiments astronauts can investigate the composition, structure and the history of the lunar surface and subsurface. The samples obtained could give us a more detailed knowledge about the locations of possible mineral reserves on the moon as well as lunar ice.However, the most important part of experimentation would concern the properties and usability of Helium-3 in matters such as fusion energy and other sectors. Since Helium-3 is almost impossible to find on Earth, the ease of access of the material on the Moon would provide the materials required to actually experiment on Helium-3 to unlock its full potential. Besides this, the possible uses of the minerals and compounds that compose the lunar soil could also be better researched and be put into full use in the base itself and any other lunar infrastructure present on the moon at that time.In addition to this, the effects of living in a low–gravitational environment for a long period could also be experimented. Even though we understand the decay of the body quite well at this point when exposed to low-gravity for a long time, we can still obtain more data on the topic through more experiments.
Before being sent to the moon for the HELIOS-1 mission, our astronauts need to undertake a series of training programmes in order to get used to the environment in the moon and space. With the help of these training programmes, every astronaut will learn how to survive in the extreme conditions on the moon and how to be a part of HELIOS-1. An example of the training programmes is the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility (SVMF) which is a mock-up of the rocket which they will be traveling so that the astronauts get used to the environment for transportation between Earth-Moon. Another training they need to go through is the KC-135 where astronauts feel weightlessness, zero gravity, which helps astronauts experience what it will be like while traveling to the moon and on the moon, and also prevent people from getting sick from zero gravity. In addition, to practice space walks astronauts also need to use the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Astronauts float in huge amounts of water (22.7 million Liters or 6.2 million gallons) in replicas of the space vehicles to practice how to do operations in space. These examples are only technical and scientific, but being an astronaut doesn’t only mean having good scientific skills a person should also be trained physically and mentally. The astronauts should be fit enough to endure lift off and the gravitational pull for no problems to occur during the mission. Astronauts should also be mentally prepared to be away and partially alone in space for a long time. Most importantly being a team member is valued in being an astronaut, so astronaut candidates are also recommended to take public relationship courses for the improvement of teamwork abilities. Overall, these programmes will help astronauts to get prepared for the moon.
For HELIOS-1, a multi-staged rocket for transportation between Earth-Moon with an SSTO for transportation between Lunar bases and Space Exploration Vehicles for transportation on the lunar surface will be used. Single-stage-to-orbit rockets are reusable and are convenient for HELIOS-1 since it is needed to change the crew on the moon every 180 days.Conversely, SEVs will be used for transportation on the Moon’s surface. SEVs are pressurized vehicles which help astronauts explore multiple sites across the lunar surface by enabling the vehicle to move in “crab style” movements that help the vehicle to overcome difficult terrains. The tiltable cockpit which enables clear view of the surface, the heavily shielded cabin that protects astronauts from solar events, the rapid exit/entrance of astronauts from the vehicle, and a docking station where astronauts can live the SEV is a suitable option for the transportation on lunar surface.
