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The camp is mostly underground, with only 3 modules on the surface: the communications center, the greenhouse and the astronomical observatory. If the astronaut wants to go underground, he will go down a spiral tube and from there, to any of the module he wants. First of all, we have the astronauts headquarters where they will sleep and carry out recreational activities. The gym and the bathroom are following, and so the personal modules are on one side, close to one another. The electrolyzer and the ice-water purifier are next to eachother so as to efficiently put clean water into the circuit. The last 2 modules are the laboratory and the 3D printer room, which are closely related, the printer being used in different purposes, ranging from making bricks to realising different parts for scientific experiments.

We would like to build our moon camp at the North pole, more specifically in the Peary crater. The position has a lot perks, giving us a headstart to a more efficient planning of the base’s construction. As we know, the almost constant illumination would provide us plenty of energy from the Sun which we would convert to thermal and electrical energy. Also, the plants growing in the greenhouse would grow at a closer-to-Earth rate, maintaining the atmosphere for the humans. The heat from the sunlight would also eliminate the need of a separate heater in the camp. Another advantage is the proximity of ice from the near permanently shadowed region of the North pole. Thus, the collecting of ice would be much easier and the water needed would be quickly found.

Firstly, a relatively large 3D printer is required. The regolith can be used to make bricks, which can later cover the surface modules from the radiation and the micrometeorites that hit the Moon. While regolith is gathered and the bricks are starting to take form, the inflatable modules are deployed, along with the apparatus that must be in them. Secondly, a drill must be used to drill an area for the underground modules. Even though this operation is costing a lot of time, the proximity with the lava tubes within the Moon’s crust is also an advantage regarding the temperature. By the time when all the modules are operable, the astronauts will live in one of the inflatable ones.

Recent studies have shown that ice exists at the poles in the areas where sunlight almost never reaches. Our astronauts, being close to the ice, can easily bring it to base and use the ice-water purifier to turn it into water, which can be studied in the lab, filtrated for human use, electrolised for fuel or used for watering the plants. Also, the human waste station is keeping a closed circuit of the water in the camp, thus minimising the loss of water. The first sources of water, though, would be from the Earth.

In the early stages of the camp, the food would be provided from the Earth. When enough research is conducted and the first seeds are planted, then the astronauts will begin to make their own food. The plants would be kept in the best conditions, the fertiliser and water being made from treated human waste. The first seeds can be wheat seeds which could be turned into edible bread for the humans.

Sunlight would be our main power supplier. Our camp, being situated close to the North pole, would be receiving almost continuous sunlight. Using the outside solar and photovoltaic panels, we can turn the sunlight into thermal energy and electricity. For the intervals of time with no sunlight, we would use battery cells which would store some of the energy from the panels so as to not have power outages.

The greenhouse is the only supplier of breathable air. We placed the astronaut’s headquarters right beneath the greenhouse so we can make a direct circuit with the module, the humans breathing the freshest air while sleeping. The camp would have a circuit of air all around it with minimal losses. When an interval of time when there is no sunlight occurs, all scientific activities would be ceased and the astronauts would have to do nothing but rest.

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The Moon Camp, as mentioned, will be covered by bricks of regolith. These bricks will shield our astronauts from the radiations and the solar winds. There will be no thermal discomfort since the solar panels would turn sunlight into thermal energy and the lava tubes would be a constant supplier of heat. The battery cells would not allow any power outage, which could mean the temporary end of the Moon Camp-Earth communication. Regolith, being very fine and causing real dangers to human respiratory system, would not be circulating through our camp, thanks to the communications module which has a part that docks an astronaut’s suit onto it, making the bringing of the suit in the interior of the camp unnecessary.

The astronaut would wake up early in the morning. His day would start off with a vegetarian breakfast and a cup of water with sugar, to give him energy. He would meet with his crew and talk a little with them about what news came from the Earth. All of them would be heading towards the laboratory, in order to conduct their scientific research. Here, the biologist would be doing various experiments on seeds and plants, the chemist would note his observations on the behaviour of mixing various organic compounds in space, the physicist would be running computer simulations on the Bose-Einstein condensate in almost absolute zero temperature, and the astrophyiscist would be on the surface in the astronomical observatory, studying a binary star system. At lunchtime, they would all gather back at the comms center to eat. A pair of 2 out of the 4 astronauts will go out on the Moon to collect different samples of the lunar soil and ice to turn into water. The other 2 humans would go to the gym to do some exercises to keep their muscles and bones healthy. When the explorers would come back, it would be their turn at the gym, while the others would be checking all the systems and apparatus of the camp. They would also go outside to check the solar and photovoltaic panels, along with the integrity of the modules. Dinnertime brings them back together once again to eat. After that, they would all go to finish their research for the day and then turn on the electrolyzer and the ice-water purifier. The electrolyzer would provide oxigen for breathing and hydrogen, useful as a fuel for future rockets and rovers. The purifier would turn the ice into water, using thermal energy from the solar panles, which would then be transported to the bathroom, to the filtration apparatus. Their job being done for the day, they would all go to their headquarters to play some games and play the guitar. They would have some fun and then go to sleep, in order to wake up early the next day.