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, 18 4 / 2 English
3D design software: Fusion 360
Our lunar camp has a general control area, living area, experimental area, planting area, etc. The general control area can control and detect the situation of the whole base, and will remind the astronauts to check the equipment once it is damaged. The living area has a bedroom, a dining room, a gym and a medical room. The sleeping pods in the bedroom can provide a comfortable sleeping environment for the astronauts. The astronauts can exercise in the gym, and the medical room can check the astronauts and take treatment. The experimental area has two laboratories, doing anti-gravity experiments and life science experiments. The growing area is built on the second floor of the base to facilitate daylight, and there are two growing rooms, hydroponics and soil culture, to provide abundant food for astronauts. There will also be energy stations to collect and store solar and nuclear energy, and a lunar rover to allow astronauts to travel and study the moon.
The environment of the moon is highly clean, microgravity, no pollution, no magnetic field and no atmosphere, so it is suitable for carrying out experiments in physical and life sciences, new technology experiments, new material synthesis, research and production of special biological products, especially some special products that cannot be mass-produced on Earth. Low-gravity experiments on the moon could also replace microgravity experiments on some space stations. In addition, it can establish an ideal scientific research base for the observation and research of many basic disciplines, as well as an ideal production base for the development of special materials and biological products.
We planned to build our camp in a crater, and we modeled our camp on an ancient impact crater with a circular rim called Koblenz Crater in the southern hemisphere of the far side of the moon. The small crater around this place is suitable for expansion construction, and the inner volume of this pit is large, and the surface of the bottom of the pit is flat and easy to build. The temperature in the shadow of the crater belt is stable at around 17 degrees Celsius, just within the comfortable range.
The first stage: A ground-launched rocket will transport the built-up building components (made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer and fiberglass) and assembled robots to be splice together on the moon. The camp will be made up of small rooms to withstand the moon’s frequent earthquakes. First, the human living area is built, and then the area related to scientific research is expanded.
Phase 2: The living environment has been set up, and the remaining building materials will be processed using lunar soil. Metals and glass fibers can be extracted to extend the scope of the camp through 3d printing.
The space environment is characterized by large temperature difference, near vacuum environment, strong radiation and solar wind.
Large temperature difference: Lunar soil has very good heat insulation, which can be used as the surface insulation material of lunar base. And a new thermostatic spacesuit.”
Strong radiation: Lunar regolith (soil) builds up on the shelter to shield from radiation.
Solar wind (generates an electric charge on the lee side of the crater rim): Build a base on the moon’s equator and power a lunar base with a nuclear power plant.
Water:In the early stage, it was more convenient to extract oxygen and water from the earth’s liquid hydrogen and lunar soil. Lunar soil can be reduced with hydrogen ilmenite to produce water, or simply treated with molten salt electrolysis to obtain oxygen and then react with liquid hydrogen to produce water. Or bring a certain amount of water from the earth, and recycle, for the astronauts’ domestic water, including urine, sweat, stool and so on, can be reused through a unique filtration and purification device. In the later stage, water ice at the South Pole of the moon can be developed. If radiation such as solar energy is emitted into the water ice, the water ice will evaporate, and then collected, water can be extracted and decomposed into oxygen and hydrogen.
Food:Astronauts can eat the food they bring with them first, and then eat the food that grows after they have built a miniature ecosystem. The microbiosphere will house potato seeds (likely to be a staple food for humans on the moon because of their easy storage and starchy nature), Arabidopsis seeds, and soil (which will turn lunar sand into soil — heating it up and turning it into a substance with lots of tiny bumps and grooves that will provide a habitat for microbes). Then, microbes and organic fertilizers are added to turn the material into soil.) , air, water, etc., and keep the temperature in the circle at 1~30℃, as well as appropriate humidity, and introduce natural light on the lunar surface through the light guide tube, creating a plant growth environment.
Air:Oxygen production in lunar soil: There are many oxygen-containing substances in lunar soil, including a large amount of silica ferrous silver oxide, calcium oxide, manganese oxide and titanium dioxide. “The oxygen in lunar soil can be extracted by melting electrolysis. The main raw materials used in melting electrolysis are ilmenite and ferrous oxide in lunar soil. For every 100 kilograms of lunar soil, more than 20 kilograms of oxygen can be produced. The efficiency of oxygen production can be described as very high. In addition to producing oxygen, the electrolysis process also produces by-products such as iron and silicon, which can be used in the construction of lunar bases.
Power:At the present stage, the power supply is mainly through solar energy, and in the later stage, we will assist nuclear energy. We’re going to apply solar thin films to the moon on a large scale. The solar energy is directly supplied to the lighting system, ventilation system and scientific research needs, while the excess energy is stored in high-efficiency energy storage devices such as lithium-ion batteries, avoiding the energy problem when the earth completely blocks sunlight.
(1) Liquid waste recycling
The moon camp is equipped with relatively advanced toilets. The device pumps the urine directly away, and after a complex process of distillation and deep purification, the water in the urine is recovered and purified to drinking water levels.
In addition, astronauts’ sweat and exhaled water vapor can also be purified into drinkable recycled water. As a result, the station is able to recycle water, greatly reducing the burden of cargo delivery, and liquid waste is effectively recycled.
(2) Household garbage
Domestic garbage is mainly collected, compressed, stored and stored in a series of steps, and then transported into the atmosphere by Tianzhou cargo spacecraft for incineration, so as to reduce space pollution.
First, each astronaut will be provided with a portable life support system backpack with a VHF radio that transmits sound and biosensor data from the suit to the main control room at the lunar camp, as well as an acoustic signal from the main control room to the astronaut in the suit. The Lunar camp Master Control room communications system sends signals back to Earth using S-band, an ultra-high frequency band that can penetrate the Earth’s ionosphere without deflecting or reflecting. At the same time, the Lunar Camp Master Control Room communication system can also use the S-band to send signals to other lunar camps to keep in touch.
In our lunar camp, gravity science, biotechnology and the ecology of life are our focus. We will have four laboratory cabinets for our science experiments. The variable gravity science laboratory provides a high precision gravity environment to complete the study of different gravity effects and response mechanisms of microgravity fluid and combustion experiments. The laboratory cabinet of biotechnology is equipped with a variety of advanced cell culture and detection instruments for the study of biological tissues, cells, biochemical molecules and other biological objects at different levels; Life ecology provides ecological environment for the cultivation of plants and small animals, studies the impact of the lunar environment on the growth, development and metabolism of biological individuals, and promotes human understanding of the nature of life phenomena; The scientific glove box and cryogenic storage cabinet can provide a closed and clean operating space for space science experiments. Equipped with mechanical arms for subtle operations, they can assist scientists to achieve fine or repeated operations, such as gene injection, nuclear extraction, and provide a low temperature environment for storing scientific samples.
First: because they will go to the moon surface to collect lunar soil and other materials for experiments, they will train astronauts on compression, simulate weightlessness environment on the ground extra-vehicular activity and work training.
Secondly, as astronauts need to conduct regular safety checks on the equipment at the base, we will train them on professional theories, operational skills, and simulation improvements related to the equipment.
Thirdly, because astronauts have been living in lunar camps for a long time, in order to avoid excessive psychological pressure on astronauts, we will provide psychological training to ensure their mental health.
Fourth: Astronauts need to have a strong physique to face various emergencies, so we will provide training on their physical fitness.
The spacecraft can operate quickly and flexibly on the lunar surface and in space, can resist extreme temperatures and environments, and should also have enough carrying weight and storage space.
The vehicle at the lunar camp is the lunar Buggy – a small vehicle that can move on the lunar surface and withstand the gravity and rough terrain of the lunar surface.
To travel to and from Earth, a spacecraft was needed that could fly safely and quickly. Have sufficient fuel and food reserves, and be able to withstand the harsh environment of heat, radiation and cold in space.
When exploring new destinations on the lunar surface, we can utilize remote sensing technology, probes, etc. equipped on the lunar vehicle, which can help us explore unknown regions on the moon, collect data and images, and provide us with more scientific information.
