moon_camp

Moon Camp Pioneers Gallery 2019-2020

In Moon Camp Pioneers each team’s mission is to 3D design a complete Moon Camp using Fusion 360. They also have to explain how they will use local resources, protect astronauts from the dangerous of space and describe the living and working facilities.

Team: LX-2620h

Colégio Valsassina  Lisbon    Portugal 15 to 16 years old

External viewer for 3d project

Project description

[42]

Describe your Moon Camp project.

We’ve developed our Moon Camp with the aim of making it viable for as long as
possible. Therefore, our infrastructures can support at least the double of the people
of the original team (8 astronauts). Not only is the accommodation space big enough,
but also the supply of food, oxygen, power, (etc.).
The expansion of our colony was made superficially and in the underground level- so
it’s all more protected.
Another thing that distinguishes our proposal from others is the fact that our Moon
Camp was projected to have a functional design that, at the same time, carries a
meaningful connection to our homeland, planet Earth. For instance, the shape of the
main base (place of accommodation and work) resembles the form of a tree.
Our fusion design was created with a scale of 1cm:1m, so it can be printed.

Where do you want to build your Moon Camp?

We have decided to build our lunar complex near the Shackleton crater on the south
pole of the moon.
We’ve chosen this location considering its thermic amplitude, the solar exposure,
water resource and protection against meteors.
In the lunar poles the thermic amplitude isn’t very high, ranging between the
223.15K(-50ºC) and the 273.15K(0ºC).
The poles are constantly in sunlight exposure helping the production of energy trough
harvest solar energy.
The Shackleton crater is the moon place where there´s lots of water resource in solid
state, avoiding long dislocations to collect water.
It can be observed that the see able face of the moon doesn’t have so much high relief
as the hidden face. This is because the see able moon face uses the Earth planet as a
shield to protect it from meteors.

How do you plan to build your Moon Camp? Describe the techniques and materials you would use.

To avoid an exportation of materials to the Moon, we´ve decided that the 3D printing
will be the main producer of everything that we’ll use to build our lunar complex. This
printer is inspired in the “Made in Space” technology.

With the help of 3D printing we’ll use Regolith bricks over a 2219-T6 Aluminium
structure with the format of a semi-sphere to build the main dome, the “brain house”
and the protection of the radio antennas. The storage area will be underground.
For the main structure of the greenhouse we’ll use polycarbonate panels over a 2219-
T6 Aluminium structure with a geodesic format. We’ll also use the polycarbonate in
the observatory in the main dome.
We’ll recycle all the non-organic garbage through the 3D printer. The recycle output
will provide us the necessary components that will be used in this project
development.

Water
Food
Electricity
Air

To provide water to our camp, we’ve decided to use a local resource, ice. To transform
it into potable water, it has to be melted and then submitted to the same process of
recycling water, since the impurities of this ice are unknown. 
The method that we chose to implement is based on a programme developed by
NASA(ECLSS)- that consists on submitting the water to a process of vacuum low
pressure rotary distillation and then multi-filtration.
Later on, we’ll start the exploration of the methods that makes viable the option of
obtaining water molecules by atomic separation of regolith.

Astronauts will have a diet based on vegetables, legumes and nutritiously rich algae,
such as Spirulina produced in the greenhouse, which will be connected directly to the
place where food is prepared and consumed. In this part of the Moon where our camp
is located, it is almost permanently illuminated. The installation of a circuit of liquid
crystals in the polycarbonate panels, will simulate earth’ nights. The cultivation
method used will be hydroponics. Finally, we’ll recycle the faeces of the settlers and
other organic wastes in a composting process for the plants.

The power for the camp will be essentially solar energy. To capture it, the colony will
have a field of photovoltaic panels printed by 3D technology like the one developed by “Made in Space”.
In addition, the main dome (accommodation and work centre) and the brain dome
(energy management, water treatment and oxygen production centre) will be covered
by crystalline silicon cells.

Inspired by the Israeli solar complex, we’ll also capture solar energy by concentrating
rays in a small area of photovoltaic panels located in a tower. To increase the amount
of rays, there’ll be parabolic mirrors around the camp.

We’ll use vegetation cover in order to produce oxygen and consume carbon dioxide
released by humans. This includes the plants of the greenhouse as well as mosses in
compartments along the base. 
Mosses were chosen for this function, as they don’t need much light, needing only
moisture (also released by settlers).
As part of outdoor activities, astronauts will need bottled oxygen (under pressure). The
process chosen to produce it is by electrolysis- separation of the atoms of water
molecules- which will result in oxygen and hydrogen as by-products. Oxygen is
delivered to the cabin atmosphere while hydrogen is ventilated.

How do you plan to build your Moon Camp? Which materials would you use?

[54]

The environment on the Moon is very dangerous for the astronauts. Explain how your Moon Camp will protect them.

The lunar environment is dangerous because the moon atmosphere isn’t very thick, so
there’s constant collusion of micrometeorites and a lot of unhealthy radiation. To
protect our camp, we’ve decided to use regolith, polycarbonate and 2219-
T6Aluminium as the main materials.
Not only using the regolith bricks does create a protection against radiation and
micrometeorites, but also helps to reduce the temperature variation. The
polycarbonate is the best to join resistance, radiation filter and transparency into one
material. And 2219-T6Aluminium is the material chosen to the structure since it’s an
aluminium league very strong to fracture and to corrosion under tension (it’s also used
in ISS).
The most of the complex has a semi-sphere format because it’s a very resistant
structure. The exceptions are: the greenhouse (with a geodesic format) and the
storage area (underground). A substantial part of the complex is underground to
protect the astronauts that live in it.

Describe a day on the Moon for your Moon Camp astronaut crew.

Everyday life on the moon becomes even more difficult with the lack of substantial
gravity. We thought the magnetic boats developed by Colin Furze could be a solution.

The aim of this colony is the exploration of the Universe, giving that the Moon has a
despicable atmosphere, it’s the best place to practice radio-astronomy without Earth’s
radio emissions’ interference. Therefore, most activities developed by our team are of
exploration kind.
The work and studying sector is in the aboveground levels of the main base, so it’s
more functional. The ones in charge of sky observation develop their work on the top
floor where the telescopes are, separated by a polycarbonate wall, since that inner
part of the ceiling can move so that telescopes can easily be exposed and covered,
when in need from protection. There are work desks surrounding that area.
The moon itself is also an aim of exploration; therefore, the settlers analyse samples
brought from outside trips in the laboratory on the 1st floor. The rovers that facilitate
the dislocation are kept in the garage. When returning from a trip, the astronauts go
through a tunnel, connecting the garage and the main base that ends in an airlock
camera. This airlock is connected with another in the superior level via an elevator.
Furthermore, colonists can control the production of air, the treatment of water and
the management of energy in the “brain dome”, connected with an underground
tunnel to the same airlock camera as the garage. The name of this dome is the referred
since it’s where the vital supplies are handled.
At least one of the astronauts will be fully dedicated to growing food in the
greenhouse. After collecting some, the farmer can transport the food to where it’s
prepared (-2 floor), going through an elevator in a tunnel connected to the main base.
The crew will have frequent check-ups in the nursery on the 1 st floor.
At the end of the day, all settlers will reunite in the meetings room (1st floor) and
update earth’s crew. The antennas that allow that communication have a convertible
dome that could cover them when under a rain of micrometeorites.
After work, the colonists can use the space of leisure and work out (last floor) and
finally go to their bedrooms on the -1 floor. Throughout the entire base, there will be
compartments with mosses to improve the air quality.



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