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In its “ever-living” search for more knowledge and desire to know the unknown, the human race has often come across difficult questions.

One of those was related to life on the surface of the Moon. In our project we tried to answer it.

We envisioned a base that is very self-reliant and can exist and host up to 6 astronauts, a base that is a friendly environment to humans and not only, somewhere where plants can grow, electricity be produced and research be done and most important of all be possible to be built and sustained.

We hope by answering the following questions to walk you through every important aspect of the base.

A good choice for a home on the Moon would be the its northern pole. There, there are many deep craters that contain a large amount of ice that can be melted. The resulting water could be used for daily tasks and life.

Due to the position of the Moon in the Solar System, the north pole benefits from a large amount of light from the sun, which could prove beneficial for the continuous power supply of the various devices and at the same time necessary for the growth of plant life.

Materials

Material considerations

• shelf life/life cycle;
• resistance to space environment
• resistance to fatigue;
• resistance to penetration (meteoroids/mechanical impacts);
• biological/chemical inertness;
• reparability (process/materials).

Operational suitability/economy:

• availability;
• ease of production and use (cost and manpower needed);
• versatility;
• radiation/thermal shielding characteristics;
• meteoroid/debris shielding characteristics;
• acoustic properties;
• launch weight/compactability;
• transmission of visible light;
• pressurization leak resistance (permeability/bonding);
• thermal and electrical properties (conductivity/specific heat).

Techniques:

We will build the base underground, basically making a bunker, using the materials mentioned above for their respective uses. For extra protection we will use the rubble dug up to cover the base.

Its structure will be very similar to that of an atomic bunker. It will also feature a modular design (that of a honeycomb) to make sure that in case of the damaging of one module the rest can continue to function normally.

Water can be obtained by burning methane. It would be purified and the resulting carbon dioxide could be used to power some turbines that will in turn generate electricity for the whole facility in turn. The water after purification should be safe enough for human drinking or other uses around the base.

Food could quite easily be obtained on the moon (although there would be only vegetarian options) by having a little green house powered by the water and heat already generated here.
The astronaut that has the role of farmer will most likely grow crops of potatoes and wheat, maybe some carrots, as all of those type of cereal and vegetable are easily sustainable.

We would use what would basically be a solar panel field that harvests direct sunlight and converts it into electricity. We approximated that the base will consume 156 kiloWatts per hour. Knowing this and the current state of the technology that there is we would need a surface that is 770,1 meters squared.
(On average a solar panel is 1,7 meters squared)

The base will be equipped with a air recirculation and filtration system that will clean and enrich, with needed gases for human life, stale and unbreathable air every three to four hours
This system should be well hidden and protected under the moon base.

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Space radiation is distinct from common forms of terrestrial radiation. Our magnetosphere protects us from significant exposure to radiation from the sun and space. Space radiation consists of low levels of charged heavy particles. High-energy protons and charged particles can damage both shielding materials and biological systems.

We believe that a set of electrically charged shield spheres on a 40-meter pole could deflect radiation from a populated moon. Also, such a radiation-resistant screen – called an electrostatic shield – could protect astronauts from the long-term radiation hazards of spatial flux.

Thick walls can be used to block out radiation.

The concept of a “day” on the Moon is a little abstract, as the sun stays up in the sky for approximately 29.5 earth days. For an inhabitant of the Moon base, a 24 hour day could be spent either under a hot sun, with surface temperatures rising up to 127 degrees Celsius, or under a star-filled sky, with the surface, illuminated solely by the Earth, reaching temperatures of -173 degrees. The daily routine of a human on the moon would be divided in 3 categories:

1. leisure time (sleeping and socializing with the other inhabitants): Leisure time consists in different mind-challenging games that exercise team-building skills, listening to music, watching movies and reading books.
2. exercising and eating: If they don’t exercise, their bones and muscles will get weak, as the lunar gravitational acceleration is 1.62 m/s2, about 6 times smaller than on Earth. Astronauts can train by doing special exercises, using elastic ropes to maximize the efficiency of their training. They will eat provisions they brought from home, mostly canned food, until the crew succeeds in cultivating basic vegetables, like potatoes, and possibly even in breeding domestic animals.
3. carrying out each one’s individual duty. The third category depends on the profession of each member. Some may carry out experiments on the lunar surface, using rovers and suits, while others may help in cultivating food or maintaining the base in a functional state. As the lunar base will be under constant development, part of the crew will carry out periodic missions to expand the facilities.

The key to maintaining a well-coordinated crew is spending time communicating to each other and sharing their thoughts on the experiences they have. The leisure activities have an important role in the improvement of the astronauts’ mental health, by replacing the things they miss about their life on Earth.