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.
Colegiul Național „Mihai Eminescu” Suceava-Suceava Romania 17 3 / 1 English
3D design software: Fusion 360
The Moon is of great interest to researchers due to its potential to provide rare-earth elements, its impact on living organisms, and its geology. We aim to provide an overview of a lunar base designed to accommodate eight astronauts and serve as a commercial hub for REE.
The settlement is composed of three floors. The ground floor and intermediate floor house the entrance, airlock, infirmary, two bedrooms, each with its bathroom, and a boiler room. The kitchen and relaxing area are located on the intermediate floor. The Command Centre and laboratory are located underground, with an elevator used to bring samples from the outside. The upper hall, covered by a dome with plants, has aquaponic farms, while the lower hall and Command Centre house LED light farms.
A warehouse adjacent to the base will be used to store the ingots before they are sent to Earth, with a parking area for vehicles incorporated, machines which will be located at the bottom of the crater. A nuclear reactor provides most of the energy. This settlement is designed to support research on the effects of the Moon on living organisms and its geology while also being a commercial hub for rare-earth elements.
A Moon settlement will imply not only a huge scientific achievement for humanity, but would also be a step forward for future space missions. In addition to that, Moon industrialization will have a significant economical impact.
Establishing a settlement on the Moon would not only be a significant scientific achievement, but would also represent a crucial step forward for future space missions. In addition to the scientific potential, the industrialization of the Moon would have significant economic implications. Therefore, the primary purpose of the proposed settlement would be commercial, focused on the extraction, refining, and commercialization of rare earth elements, including cerium, yttrium, neodymium, dysprosium, lanthanum, europium, scandium, praseodymium, terbium, gadolinium, erbium, and ytterbium. The goal is to establish the Moon as another primary supplier for industries such as smartphones, electric vehicles, and wind turbines, which are dependent on these rare earths, as the Earth’s supplies are dwindling rapidly. A secondary objective of the settlement would be to investigate the lunar surface, lunar geology, the moon’s environment, and the effects of the Moon on plants, fish, and the astronauts residing there.
The Shackleton crater at the Moon’s South Pole has been identified as a suitable location for a Moon Camp due to the high quantities of water and volatile substances present. The permanent illumination of the crater’s rim enables the utilisation of solar energy to generate electricity, while the permanently shadowed regions can be used to extract ice for the production of water and oxygen.
Moreover, the Shackleton crater is located within the Aitken basin, which is one of the most extensive impact formations in the Solar System. The investigation of this basin has potential to offer valuable insights into the geological composition of the Moon. Additionally, studying the moon’s geology could provide important information about the formation of planets, the history of the solar system, and the evolution of the Earth-moon system. Therefore, the Shackleton crater presents an opportunity for both scientific research and the establishment of a Moon Camp.
We will send rockets in five phases. The first phase will contain the robots that will flatten the site and start digging underground to prepare for the lower floor of the base. They will also start the extraction of ice and oxygen from regolith in the industrial zone and deposit them for the astronauts’ arrival. Next phase will bring the walls and base’s structure also including the dome structure. We will make them by using a folding method so the robots will be able to assemble the settlement by themselves in a short time. The third and fourth phase will include the water pipes, electronics, 3D printers, which we will use to create furniture and fixtures, seeds and fish eggs which we will hatch on the moon but also some reserves of food until the farms reach an efficient rate. Finally, after the base is set up and all the utilities are working, we will send the eight astronauts. Our settlement has a round shape with a strong central point and a staircase in the middle. We chose this approach as it offers us easy and quick access to all rooms and gives us an easier way to place the dorms and facilities. The base is divided on three levels with the upper two receiving direct sunlight for dorms and farms and the latter being a safe underground place where the team can have meetings with an emergency exit.
To combat the radiation on the Moon we built our outer walls using six layers in order from exterior: regolith, aluminium, RCC, void, RCC, installations layer, aerogel and aluminium to interior. Alongside the radiation resistant glass dome covered with hanging plants and the farms around the base these will create a humid and constant environment. For our main entrance in the base, we designed two rooms, one in which the astronauts take off their costumes and the next for disinfection. Also, the elevator that is used to bring materials and other substances from the outside into the laboratory for research has an integrated disinfection system. These two measures will ensure that our settlement or Moon’s surface will not get contaminated. Our nuclear reactor is marginalised from the other facilities and in case of a failure the living area or other facilities will not be affected. The doors are made to completely isolate the room and in the Command Center we designed a tunnel that leads outside since it is the most important room as most meetings happen here. This is also why we placed it underground as in case of a meteor hitting our base the Command Center will less likely be damaged and can serve as an escape route for the crew. In case of an emergency we took precautions and made storage tanks for cold and hot water, oxygen and we have a storage room for lithium batteries which will be supplied by the nuclear reactor and the solar panels.
Our main source of oxygen and water is regolith mining. From the industrial zone ,where regolith is extracted and ice and oxygen are produced, pipes will direct to the camp the melted ice to be purified and oxygen in the laboratory. For eight astronauts we will need around 1210 litres of water and 4400 litres of oxygen daily for their needs and tasks .
Our secondary source of oxygen are the aquaponics farms in the main upper hall and relax area where a genetically modified pepper will serve as food source for the astronauts and the hanging farms covering the dome with Chain of Hearts will help with the oxygen. Also, in the pools an approximation of 40kg of chlorella will grow and produce oxygen. Combined, they will produce around 500 litres of oxygen daily and will assist in filtering the CO2. Because we dont have direct sunlight in the lower ground floor we will have smaller farms using LED lights which will contribute to our food and oxygen production. In the pools, we will also raise Arctic Char fish because of its resistance to freezing water and easy to raise nature and will not only be a protein source for the astronauts but it will also benefit the chlorella and pepper farms with the nutrient-rich aquaculture water.
Since we have an industrial zone we will need a large amount of energy and we chose to use a nuclear reactor. It is not our only source of energy as we have the roofs of base covered with solar panels to take full advantage of our geographic position. The energy will be stored in batteries so we can keep our efficiency at the same rate during the night or in case of emergency.
The waste water from astronauts and farms will be collected in a waste tank under the kitchen and then will proceed into the pre-purification waste tank in the laboratory where the process of purification will take place. We chose to use reverse water osmosis and a device connecting the waste water tank in the laboratory with another pure water tank. Three other tanks are connected in series to the main filtered water tank, each of them having a valve in case of emergency. From the central tank, pipes will restart the water circuit. Other sewage or wastes that we could not purify will be fed as compost to the ball pepper farms. As we have algae pools and other vegetation all around the base, the air will be recycled into oxygen and will create a natural environment.
To keep in touch with Earth and other settlements we will have satellites orbiting around the Moon and transmitting valuable information. Also, in our base, one of the biggest and most important areas is the Command Center. There, astronauts will have meetings occasionally and will rely on useful devices such as laptops, a topographic map of the Shackleton crater and a wide screen used to display various plans and have video meetings with the team on the Earth. Also, in case of any emergency or sudden calls, we designed a schedule for our astronauts so there is always one person working in the Command Center, that is alert at all times and be prepared to answer.
We will want to analyse regolith in a ideal environment and study Moon’s geology to find out more about its early history. Also we will want to seek how plants and fish react to staying on the moon. In the laboratory we will do experiments to see how low gravity impacts living creatures. Also we will want to find out what radiation does to plants and fish . Furthermore, we want to research how the human body reacts to the radiation on the moon and find out.
Since our outpost is in the largest and oldest formation on the Moon, the Aitken Basin, one direction of our research will be focused on sampling and analising rocks found there, which will help us learn more about the Moon’s composition and its formation.
Furthermore, not only will we be using farms to provide food/oxygen, but also to analyse plant behaviour in the lunar environment. We will look at the changes that occur due to microgravity and simulated artificial environments for their growth, we will also test different techniques to cultivate them, using different parameters in their growth to find the optimal methods.
We will also look at the reactions of living organisms, specifically fish in aquaponics farms. We aim to detect possible changes in their behaviour and organism.
In addition, our research focuses on the impact of the lunar environment on astronauts, how their health is affected, both physically and mentally, and on methods to overcome these influences.
We aim to learn as much as we can about the Moon and how its environment affects us, and how we might adapt so that we can improve our methods in future space missions.
Before sending astronauts to the Moon they will have to go through an intensive training program that will develop various skills. This training will have to be both physically and mentally demanding to make sure the astronauts can handle the harsh environment in space and on the moon. The foundation of the training program will be about spaceflight and spacecraft systems and will give the astronauts knowledge about its systems like navigation, propulsion, communication, and life support systems.
As the moon has no atmosphere, the astronauts will need to be trained to work in spacesuits in a vacuum environment. This part of the training will include manoeuvring and using tools in a spacesuit, learning how to operate and maintain the suits and also how to deal with any leaks or tears that might appear. One of our main objectives is the research of Moon’s geology and how the living creatures react to the lunar environment so the astronauts would need to learn about the geological features of the moon, how to take samples of the Moon and also of fish, plants and humans and make experiments on them. They will have to develop their understanding in biology, chemistry, genetics and geology. The isolation of a space mission can be mentally challenging and the crew will have to undergo psychological training to develop coping mechanisms and stress management techniques. They will also need to be physical fit in order to resist the rigours of spaceflight. The astronauts will need to learn how to work together as a team during the mission and because there will be people from different countries, a teamwork and cultural training is needed in order for the mission to be successful.
We will have 4 robots that will assist the astronauts:
The cargo truck will be used to transport ingots between the industrial zone and the warehouse where we will deposit them before sending them to Earth;
Maintenance robot;
The rover will allow astronauts to travel long distances in a short time to verify the equipment, other robots and the outside facilities;
The mining robot will crumble the ores, regolith and ice then direct them into a room where the heat will be increased to exactly 100 degrees Celsius so the water will go through a strainer and the rest of the mass will continue into a separator with magnets that will sort the metals in different containers.
In the future our base could expand by having more mining robots, more cargo trucks and bigger warehouse storage to send rare earths more often to Earth and therefore increasing the settlement’s efficiency.
