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: BatCamp

Escola Básica e Secundária das Flores  Santa Cruz das Flores, Açores    Portugal 17 to 18 years old

External viewer for 3d project

Project description

[42]

Describe your Moon Camp project.

Our project aims to provide a suitable lunar basis for a group of 3-4 astronauts to live for a while. This is accomplished by lunar prospecting the lunar soil and taking advantages of the existing resources. This allows for the construction of the basis and provides a way to obtain essential resources such as water, air and power. At a later stage, the camp should be able to develop scientific research and produce food either vegetables and herbs, or meet from small size animals.

Where do you want to build your Moon Camp?

The Moon Camp should be built a few kilometres down the pole so the astronauts can have access to solid water, more abundant as closer to a pole. Furthermore, on the poles there are holes caused by impact craters, very useful to build the camp. Another point that helps to choose this spot is the temperature because it means that there are milder temperatures together with the existence of water, in contrast with the poles where temperatures can range from -50ºC to 0ºC, which could pose disadvantages to life as higher energy consumption. Moreover, the regions near the poles, offer higher times of solar exposition, hence providing an important power source.

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

We plan to build our moon camp on the ground and underground. Using a drill, we can penetrate the underground and built a part of base there, after drilling the soil. Furthermore, using the lunar regolith, we plan to make glass to windows and pottery to the base top. In fact, ceramics are one of the finest material to build infrastructures outside Earth given its capability to sustain different ranges of temperatures.

Water
Food
Electricity
Air

At first, water supplies come from Earth in the spaceship. At a later stage, water will be extracted from moon’s water ice through melting followed by purification processes.

The first food supplies are brought in the spaceship. After the construction of lunar bases, we plan to cultivate plant based on hydroponics. This process is expected to provide overproduction vegetables and herbs. Thus, at a later stage, we will grow embryos of small size animals, in vitro, such as rabbits. These will be fed by the plants overproduction and will serve as meat meals for the crew.

We plan to gather power from photovoltaic panels on the lunar surface as a primary source, In addition, we will develop optimal process of reusing energy, in particular the floors from the underground part of the lunar bases are formed by piezoelectric materials, such as quartz crystals, zinc oxide or lead zirconate titanate. Furthermore, our gymnasium will have aerobic bicycles connected to a dynamo mechanism and treadmills with piezoelectric materials. All these mechanisms are connected to an energy storage battery.

Oxygen will be obtained from electrolysis applied to the extracted water. Further elements, such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide or other gases, can be taken from the lunar regolith in the laboratory.

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.

Our lunar base will be built on the ground and underground. To protect astronauts from radiation, we will build a base with the lunar regolith. Due to the difference in temperatures on the moon, the use of pottery will play a crucial role for the construction of the lunar base. Furthermore, the use of aluminium and titanium to build the base will solve the radiation problem. These materials need to come from Earth in some load spaceships. In addition, in a more advanced phase, to protect astronauts from the impact of meteorites, an underground emergency exit will be built from the underground tunnels. To allow exits to the lunar surface, two of the domes will have a system of two blast doors which prevents the escaping of the inner atmosphere.

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

We woke up at eight-thirty in the morning, went to have breakfast, then went to get dressed and brush our teeth.

At nine o’clock we went to the lunar base control room to confirm that everything was functional and that there had been a problem. Everything was normal and tranquil, so we decided to go see our animals. It took about thirty minutes to feed and care each of them. Upon arriving back at the panel room we realised that there was an error in the system. We tried to fix it. However, given the unknown nature of the problem, we contacted Earth, and proceed accordingly to the instructions. After an hour and half, the problem was finally overcome: it was a malfunction on the cables. At midday we had lunch: fried rabbit. We stood all together at the table, we laughed and relaxed a little bit, as we had a lot of work to do during the afternoon. At half past 1pm we went straight to the laboratory, each one to the respective area to work on the project we had in hand. After a few moments of coffee break at 3pm, we spend a few more hours in the research facilities, until around 5:30 pm. Then, we left the laboratory, we changed our clothes and decided to go to the gym to relax a little and keep the muscular exercises. We exercised for an hour and then we all went to shower. While one of us was preparing dinner, the rest set the table. We ate at 8 pm. Afterwards, we washed the dishes and did a little tidying up in the kitchen, where we talked and played games, until around nine thirty at night. We then realised that it was time to go to the bed as we would have to get up early the next day because our research is far from over. Tomorrow will be a new wonderful day.



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