Colonization of the Moon
Encyclopedia
The colonization of the Moon is the proposed establishment of permanent human communities on the Moon
. Advocates of space exploration
have seen settlement
of the Moon as a logical step in the expansion of humanity beyond the Earth
. Recent indication that water might be present in noteworthy quantities at the Lunar poles has increased interest in the Moon. Polar colonies could also avoid the problem of long Lunar nights (about 354 hours, a little more than two weeks) and take advantage of the sun continuously.
Permanent human habitation on a planetary body other than the Earth is one of science fiction's most prevalent themes. As technology has advanced, and concerns about the future of humanity on Earth have increased, the argument that space colonization
is an achievable and worthwhile goal has gained momentum. Because of its proximity to Earth, the Moon
has been seen as a prime candidate for the location of humanity's first permanently occupied extraterrestrial base.
The notion of siting a colony on the Moon originated before the space age. In 1638 Bishop John Wilkins
wrote A Discourse Concerning a New World and Another Planet, in which he predicted a human colony on the Moon. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935), among others, also suggested such a step. From the 1950s onwards, a number of concepts and designs have been suggested by scientists, engineers and others.
In 1954 the noted science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke
proposed a Lunar base of inflatable modules covered in Lunar dust for insulation. A spaceship, assembled in low Earth orbit, would launch to the Moon, and astronauts would set up the igloo
-like modules and an inflatable radio
mast. Subsequent steps would include the establishment of a larger, permanent dome; an algae
-based air purifier
; a nuclear reactor
for the provision of power; and electromagnetic cannons
to launch cargo
and fuel
to interplanetary vessels in space.
In 1959, John S. Rinehart suggested that the safest design would be a structure that could "[float] in a stationary ocean of dust", since there were, at the time this concept was outlined, theories that there could be mile-deep dust oceans on the Moon. The proposed design consisted of a half-cylinder with half-domes at both ends, with a micrometeoroid shield placed above the base.
was a 1959 study regarding the U.S. Army's plan to establish a fort on the Moon by 1967. Heinz-Hermann Koelle
, a German rocket engineer of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency
(ABMA) led the Project Horizon study. The first landing would be carried out by two "soldier-astronauts" in 1965 and more construction workers would soon follow. Through numerous launches (61 Saturn I and 88 Saturn II), 245 tons of cargo would be transported to the outpost by 1966.
, a US Air Force plan for a manned lunar landing prior to the Apollo Program in 1961 envisaged a 21-airman underground Air Force base on the Moon by 1968 at a total cost of $ 7.5 billion.
in France said people should plan to preserve humanity's culture in the event of a civilization stopping asteroid impact with Earth. A Lunar Noah's Ark
was proposed. Subsequent planning may be taken up by the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG).
's Luna program. Luna 1
missed the Moon, but Luna 2
made a hard landing (impact) into its surface, and became the first artificial object on an extraterrestrial body. The same year, the Luna 3
mission radioed photographs to Earth of the Moon's hitherto unseen far side, marking the beginning of a decade-long series of unmanned Lunar explorations.
Responding to the Soviet program of space exploration, US President John F. Kennedy
in 1961 told the U.S. Congress on May 25: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." The same year the Soviet leadership made some of its first public pronouncements about landing a man on the Moon and establishing a Lunar base.
In 1962, John DeNike and Stanley Zahn published their idea of a sub-surface base located at the Sea of Tranquility
. This base would house a crew of 21, in modules placed four meters below the surface, which was believed to provide radiation
shielding as well as the Earth's atmosphere does. DeNike and Zahn favored nuclear reactor
s for energy production, because they are more efficient than solar panels
, and would also overcome the problems with the long Lunar nights. For life support system, an algae-based gas exchanger was proposed.
Manned exploration of the Lunar surface began in 1968 when the Apollo 8
spacecraft
orbited the Moon with three astronauts on board. This was mankind's first direct view of the far side. The following year, the Apollo 11
Lunar module landed two astronauts on the Moon, proving the ability of humans to travel to the Moon, perform scientific research work, there, and bring back sample materials.
Additional missions to the Moon continued this exploration phase. In 1969 the Apollo 12
mission landed next to the Surveyor 3
spacecraft, demonstrating precision landing capability. Following the near-disaster of Apollo 13
, Apollo 14
was the last mission on which astronauts were quarantine
d on their return from the Moon. The use of a manned vehicle on the Moon's surface was demonstrated in 1971 with the Lunar Rover
during Apollo 15
. Apollo 16
made the first landing within the rugged Lunar highlands. However, interest in further exploration of the Moon was beginning to wane among the American public. In 1972 Apollo 17
was the final Apollo Lunar mission, and further planned missions were scrapped at the directive of President Nixon
. Instead, focus was turned to the Space Shuttle
and manned missions in near Earth orbit.
The Soviet manned lunar programs failed to send a manned mission to the Moon. However, in 1966 Luna 9
was the first probe to achieve a soft landing and return close-up shots of the Lunar surface. Luna 16
in 1970 returned the first Soviet Lunar soil samples, while in 1970 and 1973 during the Lunokhod program two robotic rovers landed on the Moon. Lunokhod 1
explored the Lunar surface for 322 days, and Lunokhod 2
operated on Moon about four months only but on thirdly more distance. 1974 saw the end of the Soviet Moonshot, two years after the last American manned landing. Besides the manned landings, abandoned Soviet moon program included a building the moonbase "Zvezda
", first detailed such project with developed mockups of expedition vehicles and surface modules.
In the decades following, interest in exploring the Moon faded considerably, and only a few dedicated enthusiasts supported a return. However, evidence of Lunar ice
at the poles gathered by NASA's Clementine (1994) and Lunar Prospector
(1998) missions rekindled some discussion, as did the potential growth of a Chinese space program
that contemplated its own mission to the Moon. Subsequent research suggested that there was far less ice present (if any) than had originally been thought, but that there may still be some usable deposits of hydrogen in other forms. However, in September 2009, the Chandrayaan probe, carrying a ISRO instrument, discovered that the Lunar regolith
contains 0.1% water by weight, overturning theories that had stood for 40 years.
In 2004, U.S.
President
George W. Bush
called for a plan
to return manned missions to the Moon by 2020 (since cancelled — see Constellation program). Propelled by this new initiative, NASA issued a new long-range plan that includes building a base on the Moon as a staging point to Mars. This plan envisions a Lunar outpost
at one of the moon's poles by 2024 which, if well-sited, might be able to continually harness solar power; at the poles, temperature changes over the course of a Lunar day are also less extreme, and reserves of water and useful minerals may be found nearby. In addition, the European Space Agency
has a plan for a permanently manned Lunar base by 2025. Russia
has also announced similar plans to send a man to the moon by 2025 and establish a permanent base there several years later.
A Chinese space scientist has said that the People's Republic of China
could be capable of landing a human on the Moon by 2022 (see Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
), and Japan
and India
also have plans for a Lunar base by 2030. Neither of these plans involves permanent residents on the Moon. Instead they call for sortie missions, in some cases followed by extended expeditions to the Lunar base using rotating crew members, as is currently done for the International Space Station
.
NASA’s LCROSS
/LRO
mission had been scheduled to launch in October 2008. The launch was delayed until the 18th of June 2009, resulting in LCROSS's impact with the Moon at 11:30 UT on the 9th of October, 2009. The purpose is preparing for future Lunar exploration.
's Moon Mineralogy Mapper
on India's Chandrayaan-1 strongly indicated water on the Moon.
On November 13, 2009 NASA announced that the LCROSS
mission had discovered large quantities of water ice on the Moon around the LCROSS impact site at Cabeus
. Robert Zubrin
relativized the term large: "The 30 m crater ejected by the probe contained 10 million kilograms of regolith. Within this ejecta, an estimated 100 kg of water was detected. That represents a proportion of ten parts per million, which is a lower water concentration than that found in the soil of the driest deserts of the Earth. In contrast, we have found continent sized regions on Mars, which are 600,000 parts per million, or 60% water by weight."
In March 2010, NASA reported that the findings of its mini-SAR radar aboard Chandrayaan-1 were consistent with ice deposits at the Moon's north pole. It is estimated there is at least 600 million tons of ice at the north pole in sheets of relatively pure ice at least a couple of meters thick.
is feasible or scientifically desirable in light of cost-efficiency, proponents of space colonization point out that the Moon offers both advantages and disadvantages as a site for such a colony.
Placing a colony on a natural body would provide an ample source of material for construction and other uses in space, including shielding from cosmic radiation
. The energy required to send objects from the Moon to space is much less than from Earth to space. This could allow the Moon to serve as a construction site or fueling station for spacecraft. Some proposals include using electric acceleration devices (mass driver
s) to propel objects off the Moon without building rockets. Others have proposed momentum exchange tethers (see below). Furthermore, the Moon does have some gravity, which experience to date indicates may be vital for fetal development and long-term human health
. Whether the Moon's gravity (roughly one sixth of Earth's) is adequate for this purpose, however, is uncertain.
In addition, the Moon is the closest large body in the solar system
to Earth. While some Earth-crosser asteroid
s occasionally pass closer, the Moon's distance is consistently within a small range close to 384,400 km. This proximity has several benefits:
There are several disadvantages to the Moon as a colony site:
While a colony might be located anywhere, potential locations for a Lunar colony fall into three broad categories.
, it may be possible to power polar colonies exclusively with solar energy. Power collection stations can be located so that at least one is in sunlight at all times. Some sites have nearly continuous sunlight. For example, Malapert mountain, located near the Shackleton crater
at the Lunar south pole, offers several advantages as a site:
NASA chose to use a south-polar site for the Lunar outpost reference design in the Exploration Systems Architecture Study
chapter on Lunar Architecture.
At the north pole, the rim of Peary crater
has been proposed as a favorable location for a base. Examination of images from the Clementine mission
appear to show that parts of the crater rim are permanently illuminated by sunlight (except during Lunar eclipse
s). As a result, the temperature conditions are expected to remain very stable at this location, averaging −50 °C (−58 °F). This is comparable to winter conditions in Earth's Poles of Cold
in Siberia
and Antarctica. The Peary crater interior may also harbor hydrogen deposits.
A 1994 bistatic radar experiment performed during the Clementine mission suggested the presence of water ice around the south pole. The Lunar Prospector
spacecraft reported enhanced hydrogen abundances at the south pole and even more at the north pole, in 2008. On the other hand, results reported using the Arecibo radio telescope
have been interpreted by some to indicate that the anomalous Clementine radar signatures are not indicative of ice, but surface roughness. This interpretation, however, is not universally agreed upon.
A potential limitation of the polar regions is that the inflow of solar wind
can create an electrical charge on the leeward side of crater rims. The resulting voltage difference can affect electrical equipment, change surface chemistry, erode surfaces and levitate Lunar dust.
(rare on Earth but much sought after for use in nuclear fusion research) because the solar wind
has a higher angle of incidence
. They also enjoy an advantage in extra-Lunar traffic: The rotation advantage for launching material is slight due to the Moon's slow rotation, but the corresponding orbit coincides with the ecliptic, nearly coincides with the Lunar orbit around Earth and nearly coincides with the equatorial plane of Earth.
Several probes have landed in the Oceanus Procellarum
area. There are many areas and features that could be subject to long-term study, such as the Reiner Gamma
anomaly and the dark-floored Grimaldi crater
.
, or a network of orbiting satellites, could enable communication between the far side of the Moon and Earth. The far side is also a good location for a large radio telescope because it is well shielded from the Earth. Due to the lack of atmosphere, the location is also suitable for an array of optical telescope
s, similar to the Very Large Telescope
in Chile
. To date, there has been no ground exploration of the far side.
Scientists have estimated that the highest concentrations of helium-3 will be found in the maria
on the far side, as well as near side areas containing concentrations of the titanium
-based mineral
ilmenite
. On the near side the Earth and its magnetic field partially shields the surface from the solar wind during each orbit. But the far side is fully exposed, and thus should receive a somewhat greater proportion of the ion stream.
s form a potentially important location for constructing a future Lunar base, which may be used for local exploration and development, or as a human outpost
to serve exploration beyond the Moon. Any intact lava tube on the moon could serve as a shelter from the severe environment of the Lunar surface, with its frequent meteorite impacts, high-energy ultra-violet radiation and energetic particles, and extreme diurnal temperature variations. Lava tubes provide ideal positions for shelter because of their access to nearby resources. They also have proven themselves as a reliable structure, having withstood the test of time for billions of years.
Some suggest building the Lunar colony underground, which would give protection from radiation and micrometeoroids. This also greatly reduce the risk of air leakage, as the colony will be fully sealed from the outside except for a few exits to the surface. This is not the only advantage to this option. The average temperature on the moon is about −5 °C. The day period (about 354 hours) has an average temperature of about 107 °C (225 °F), although it can rise as high as 123 °C (253 °F). The night period (also 354 hours) has an average temperature of about −153 °C (−243 °F). Underground, both periods would be around -23 °C (-9 °F), and humans could install ordinary air conditioners.
The construction of such a base would probably be more complex; one of the first machines from Earth might be a remote controlled excavating machine to excavate living quarters. Once created, some sort of hardening would be necessary to avoid collapse, possibly a spray-on
concrete
-like substance made from available materials. A more porous insulating material also made in-situ
could then be applied. Mining
methods such as the room and pillar
might also be used. Inflatable self-sealing fabric habitats might then be put in place to retain air. Eventually an underground city
can be constructed. Farms set up underground would need artificial sunlight
. As an alternative to excavating, a lava tube
could be covered and insulated, thus solving the problem of radiation exposure. One such lava tube has been discovered in early 2009.
A possibly easier solution would be to build the Lunar base on the surface, and cover the modules with Lunar soil. The Lunar regolith
is composed of a unique blend of silica and iron-containing compounds that may be fused into a glass-like solid using microwave energy. This may allow for the use of "Lunar bricks" in structural designs, or the "glassing" of loose dirt to form a hard, ceramic crust.
Others have put forward the idea that the Lunar base could be built on the surface and protected by other means, such as improved radiation and micrometeoroid shielding. Building the Lunar base inside a deep crater would provide at least partial shielding against radiation and micrometeoroids.
Artificial magnetic fields have been proposed as a means to provide radiation shielding for long range deep space manned missions, and it might be possible to use similar technology on a Lunar colony. Some regions on the Moon possess strong local magnetic fields that might partially mitigate exposure to charged solar and galactic particles.
and The New England Council of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
.
Radioisotope thermoelectric generator
s could be used as backup and emergency power sources for solar powered colonies.
near the north pole. A third possibility would be to leave the panels in orbit
, and beam the power down as microwaves.
The solar energy converters need not be silicon
solar panels
. It may be more advantageous to use the larger temperature difference between sun and shade to run heat engine
generators. Concentrated sunlight could also be relayed via mirrors and used in Stirling engines or solar trough generators, or it could be used directly for lighting, agriculture and process heat. The focused heat might also be employed in materials processing to extract various elements from Lunar surface materials.
Fuel cells on the Space Shuttle
have operated reliably for up to 17 Earth days at a time. On the Moon, they would only be needed for 354 hours(14 3/4 days) — the length of the Lunar night. Fuel cells produce water directly as a waste product. Current fuel cell technology is more advanced than the Shuttle's cells — PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) cells
produce considerably less heat (though their waste heat would likely be useful during the Lunar night) and are physically lighter, not to mention the reduced mass of the smaller heat-dissipating radiators. This makes PEMs more economical to launch from Earth than the shuttle's cells, but PEMs have not yet been proven in space.
Combining fuel cells with electrolysis would provide a 'perpetual' source of electricity — solar energy could be used to provide power during the Lunar day, and fuel cells at night. During the Lunar day, solar energy would also be used to electrolyze the water created in the fuel cells — although there would be small losses of gases that would have to be replaced.
s have been used for most Lunar exploration to date. The ESA's SMART-1
mission from 2003 to 2006 used conventional chemical rockets to reach orbit and Hall effect thruster
s to arrive at the Moon in 13 months. NASA would have used chemical rockets on its Ares V
booster and Lunar Surface Access Module
, that were being developed for a planned return to the Moon around 2019, but this was cancelled. The construction workers, location finders, and other astronauts vital to building, would have been taken in NASA's Orion
spacecraft.
system. However a system of escalator
s, moving walkway
s and elevator
can be used to quickly transport people and cargo around.
Lunar colonists will also want the ability to move over long distances, to transport cargo and people to and from modules and spacecraft, and to carry out scientific study of a larger area of the Lunar surface for long periods of time. Proposed concepts include a variety of vehicle designs, from small open rovers to large pressurised modules with lab equipment, and also a few flying or hopping vehicles.
Rovers could be useful if the terrain is not too steep or hilly. The only rovers to have operated on the surface of the Moon are the three Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicles (LRV), developed by Boeing
, and the two robotic Soviet Lunokhods. The LRV was an open rover for a crew of two, and a range of 92 km during one Lunar day. One NASA
study resulted in the Mobile Lunar Laboratory concept, a manned pressurised rover for a crew of two, with a range of 396 km. The Soviet Union developed different rover concepts in the Lunokhod series and the L5 for possible use on future manned missions to the Moon or Mars. These rover designs were all pressurised for longer sorties.
If multiple bases were established on the Lunar surface, they could be linked together by permanent railway systems. Both conventional and magnetic levitation
(Mag-Lev) systems have been proposed for the transport lines. Mag-Lev systems are particularly attractive as there is no atmosphere on the surface to slow down the train
, so the vehicles could achieve velocities comparable to aircraft
on the Earth. In addition achieving the extremely cold temperatures necessary for the superconducting magnets that levitate and drive the Mag-Lev trains would be much easier to achieve than on Earth due to the lack of an atmosphere. One significant difference with Lunar trains, however, is that the cars would need to be individually sealed and possess their own life support systems. The trains would also need to be highly resistant to derailment, as a punctured car could lead to rapid loss of life.
For difficult areas, a flying vehicle may be more suitable. Bell Aerosystems proposed their design for the Lunar Flying Vehicle as part of a study for NASA. Bell also developed the Manned Flying System, a similar concept.
A Lunar base will need efficient ways to transport people and goods of various kinds between the Earth and the Moon and, later, to and from various locations in interplanetary space. One advantage of the Moon is its relatively weak gravity field, making it easier to launch goods from the Moon than from the Earth. The lack of a Lunar atmosphere is both an advantage and a disadvantage; while it is easier to launch from the Moon because there is no drag, aerobraking
is not possible, which makes it necessary to bring extra fuel in order to land. An alternative, which may work for supplies, is to surround the payload with impact-absorbing materials, something that was tried in the Ranger program
. This can be efficient if the impact protection is made of needed lighter elements that are absent from the Moon (Ranger used balsa wood)
One way to get materials and products from the Moon to an interplanetary waystation might be with a mass driver
, a magnetically accelerated projectile launcher. Cargo would be picked up from orbit or an Earth-Moon Lagrangian point
by a shuttle craft using ion propulsion, solar sail
s or other means and delivered to Earth orbit or other destinations such as near-Earth asteroids, Mars
or other planets, perhaps using the Interplanetary Transport Network
. If a Lunar space elevator
is ever built, it could transport people, raw materials and products to and from an orbital station at Lagrangian points or .
and refining
of the Moon's materials could provide an advantage over deliveries from Earth – for use both on the Moon and elsewhere in the solar system – as they can be launched into space at a much lower energy cost than from Earth. It is possible that vast sums of money will be spent in interplanetary exploration
in the 21st century, and the cost of providing goods from the Moon might be attractive.
, where a gas is injected into a molten metal, and then the metal is annealed
slowly. On Earth, the gas bubbles rise and burst, but in a zero gravity
environment, that does not happen. Annealing
is a process that requires large amounts of energy, as a material is kept very hot for an extended period of time. (This allows the molecular structure to realign.) Materials which cannot be alloyed or mixed on Earth because of gravity-field effects on density differences could be combined in space, resulting in composites which could have exceptional qualities. No one knows, because no one has been able to experiment along these lines on any scale. However, it is possible that materials or processes will be identified which will be highly valuable on Earth, but impossible to make here. (This is the foundation of the free MoonBaseOne
game made by a non-profit that teaches children about space.)
(He-3) from the solar wind
, is thought to have accumulated on the Moon's surface over billions of years, but occurs only rarely on Earth. Helium might be present in the Lunar regolith
in quantities of 0.01 ppm to 0.05 ppm (depending on soil). In 2006 He-3 had a market price of about $46,500 per troy ounce ($1500/gram, $1.5M/kg), more than 120 times the value per unit weight of gold
and over eight times the value of rhodium
.
In the long-term future He-3 may have a role as a fuel in thermonuclear fusion reactors.
. Launch costs from the Moon will vary greatly if the Moon is industrially developed (see above). This 1970s proposal was predicated on the then advertised future launch costs of NASA's space shuttle.
On 30 April 1979 the Final Report "Lunar Resources Utilization for Space Construction" by General Dynamics Convair Division under NASA contract NAS9-15560 concluded that use of Lunar resources would be cheaper than terrestrial materials for a system comprising as few as thirty Solar Power Satellites of 10 GW capacity each.
In 1980, when it became obvious NASA's launch cost estimates for the space shuttle were grossly optimistic, O'Neill et al. published another route to manufacturing using Lunar materials with much lower startup costs. This 1980s SPS concept relied less on human presence in space and more on partially self-replicating systems on the Lunar surface under telepresence
control of workers stationed on Earth.
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. Advocates of space exploration
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
have seen settlement
Settler
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
of the Moon as a logical step in the expansion of humanity beyond the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. Recent indication that water might be present in noteworthy quantities at the Lunar poles has increased interest in the Moon. Polar colonies could also avoid the problem of long Lunar nights (about 354 hours, a little more than two weeks) and take advantage of the sun continuously.
Permanent human habitation on a planetary body other than the Earth is one of science fiction's most prevalent themes. As technology has advanced, and concerns about the future of humanity on Earth have increased, the argument that space colonization
Space colonization
Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
is an achievable and worthwhile goal has gained momentum. Because of its proximity to Earth, the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
has been seen as a prime candidate for the location of humanity's first permanently occupied extraterrestrial base.
Proposals
John Wilkins
John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
wrote A Discourse Concerning a New World and Another Planet, in which he predicted a human colony on the Moon. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935), among others, also suggested such a step. From the 1950s onwards, a number of concepts and designs have been suggested by scientists, engineers and others.
In 1954 the noted science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
proposed a Lunar base of inflatable modules covered in Lunar dust for insulation. A spaceship, assembled in low Earth orbit, would launch to the Moon, and astronauts would set up the igloo
Igloo
An igloo or snowhouse is a type of shelter built of snow, originally built by the Inuit....
-like modules and an inflatable radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
mast. Subsequent steps would include the establishment of a larger, permanent dome; an algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
-based air purifier
Air purifier
An air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. These devices are commonly marketed as being beneficial to allergy sufferers and asthmatics, and at reducing or eliminating second-hand tobacco smoke...
; a nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
for the provision of power; and electromagnetic cannons
Mass driver
A mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. All existing and contemplated mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make electromagnets. Sequential...
to launch cargo
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
and fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
to interplanetary vessels in space.
In 1959, John S. Rinehart suggested that the safest design would be a structure that could "[float] in a stationary ocean of dust", since there were, at the time this concept was outlined, theories that there could be mile-deep dust oceans on the Moon. The proposed design consisted of a half-cylinder with half-domes at both ends, with a micrometeoroid shield placed above the base.
Project Horizon
Project HorizonProject Horizon
Project Horizon was a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a scientific / military base on the Moon. On June 8, 1959, a group at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency produced for the U.S. Department of the Army a report entitled Project Horizon, A U.S. Army Study for the Establishment...
was a 1959 study regarding the U.S. Army's plan to establish a fort on the Moon by 1967. Heinz-Hermann Koelle
Heinz-Hermann Koelle
Heinz-Hermann Koelle was an aeronautical engineer who made the preliminary designs on the rocket that would emerge as the Saturn I...
, a German rocket engineer of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency
Army Ballistic Missile Agency
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency was the agency formed to develop the US Army's first intermediate range ballistic missile. It was established at Redstone Arsenal on February 1, 1956 and commanded by Major General John B...
(ABMA) led the Project Horizon study. The first landing would be carried out by two "soldier-astronauts" in 1965 and more construction workers would soon follow. Through numerous launches (61 Saturn I and 88 Saturn II), 245 tons of cargo would be transported to the outpost by 1966.
Lunex Project
Lunex ProjectLunex Project
The Lunex Project was a US Air Force 1958 plan for a manned lunar landing prior to the Apollo Program. The final lunar expedition plan in 1961 was for a 21-airman underground Air Force base on the Moon by 1968 at a total cost of $ 7.5 billion....
, a US Air Force plan for a manned lunar landing prior to the Apollo Program in 1961 envisaged a 21-airman underground Air Force base on the Moon by 1968 at a total cost of $ 7.5 billion.
Lunar ark
In 2007 Jim Burke of the International Space UniversityInternational Space University
The International Space University is a private university founded in 1987. The University currently offers three degree granting programs — Master of Science in Space Management, Master of Science in Space Studies and Executive MBA — in addition to a non-degree-granting Space Studies Program.The...
in France said people should plan to preserve humanity's culture in the event of a civilization stopping asteroid impact with Earth. A Lunar Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
was proposed. Subsequent planning may be taken up by the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG).
Moon exploration
Exploration of the Lunar surface by spacecraft began in 1959 with the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's Luna program. Luna 1
Luna 1
Luna 1 , first known as First Cosmic Ship, then known as Mechta was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and the first of the Luna program of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations successfully launched in the direction of the Moon.While traveling through the outer Van Allen...
missed the Moon, but Luna 2
Luna 2
Luna 2 was the second of the Soviet Union's Luna programme spacecraft launched to the Moon. It was the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon...
made a hard landing (impact) into its surface, and became the first artificial object on an extraterrestrial body. The same year, the Luna 3
Luna 3
The Soviet space probe Luna 3 of 1959 was the third space probe to be sent to the neighborhood of the Moon, and this mission was an early feat in the spaceborne exploration of outer space...
mission radioed photographs to Earth of the Moon's hitherto unseen far side, marking the beginning of a decade-long series of unmanned Lunar explorations.
Responding to the Soviet program of space exploration, US President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in 1961 told the U.S. Congress on May 25: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." The same year the Soviet leadership made some of its first public pronouncements about landing a man on the Moon and establishing a Lunar base.
In 1962, John DeNike and Stanley Zahn published their idea of a sub-surface base located at the Sea of Tranquility
Mare Tranquillitatis
Mare Tranquillitatis is a lunar mare that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on the Moon. The mare material within the basin consists of basalt formed in the intermediate to young age group of the Upper Imbrian epoch. The surrounding mountains are thought to be of the Lower Imbrian epoch, but...
. This base would house a crew of 21, in modules placed four meters below the surface, which was believed to provide radiation
Cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
shielding as well as the Earth's atmosphere does. DeNike and Zahn favored nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s for energy production, because they are more efficient than solar panels
Photovoltaic module
A solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...
, and would also overcome the problems with the long Lunar nights. For life support system, an algae-based gas exchanger was proposed.
Manned exploration of the Lunar surface began in 1968 when the Apollo 8
Apollo 8
Apollo 8, the second manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first human spaceflight to leave Earth orbit; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crewed voyage to return to Earth from another celestial...
spacecraft
Apollo spacecraft
The Apollo spacecraft was composed of five combined parts designed to accomplish the American Apollo program's goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by the end of the 1960s and returning them safely to Earth...
orbited the Moon with three astronauts on board. This was mankind's first direct view of the far side. The following year, the Apollo 11
Apollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
Lunar module landed two astronauts on the Moon, proving the ability of humans to travel to the Moon, perform scientific research work, there, and bring back sample materials.
Additional missions to the Moon continued this exploration phase. In 1969 the Apollo 12
Apollo 12
Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the American Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon . It was launched on November 14, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L...
mission landed next to the Surveyor 3
Surveyor 3
Surveyor 3 was the third lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon. Launched on April 17, 1967, Surveyor 3 landed on April 20, 1967 at the Mare Cognitum portion of the Oceanus Procellarum...
spacecraft, demonstrating precision landing capability. Following the near-disaster of Apollo 13
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command...
, Apollo 14
Apollo 14
Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the American Apollo program, and the third to land on the Moon. It was the last of the "H missions", targeted landings with two-day stays on the Moon with two lunar EVAs, or moonwalks....
was the last mission on which astronauts were quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
d on their return from the Moon. The use of a manned vehicle on the Moon's surface was demonstrated in 1971 with the Lunar Rover
Lunar rover
The Lunar Roving Vehicle or lunar rover was a battery-powered four-wheeled rover used on the Moon in the last three missions of the American Apollo program during 1971 and 1972...
during Apollo 15
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous...
. Apollo 16
Apollo 16
Young and Duke served as the backup crew for Apollo 13; Mattingly was slated to be the Apollo 13 command module pilot until being pulled from the mission due to his exposure to rubella through Duke.-Backup crew:...
made the first landing within the rugged Lunar highlands. However, interest in further exploration of the Moon was beginning to wane among the American public. In 1972 Apollo 17
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7, 1972, with a three-member crew consisting of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 remains the...
was the final Apollo Lunar mission, and further planned missions were scrapped at the directive of President Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. Instead, focus was turned to the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
and manned missions in near Earth orbit.
The Soviet manned lunar programs failed to send a manned mission to the Moon. However, in 1966 Luna 9
Luna 9
Luna 9 was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna program. On February 3, 1966 the Luna 9 spacecraft was the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on any planetary body other than Earth and to transmit photographic data to Earth.The automatic lunar station that achieved the...
was the first probe to achieve a soft landing and return close-up shots of the Lunar surface. Luna 16
Luna 16
-External links:*...
in 1970 returned the first Soviet Lunar soil samples, while in 1970 and 1973 during the Lunokhod program two robotic rovers landed on the Moon. Lunokhod 1
Lunokhod 1
Lunokhod 1 was the first of two unmanned lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of its Lunokhod program. The spacecraft which carried Lunokhod 1 was named Luna 17...
explored the Lunar surface for 322 days, and Lunokhod 2
Lunokhod 2
Lunokhod 2 was the second of two unmanned lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of the Lunokhod program....
operated on Moon about four months only but on thirdly more distance. 1974 saw the end of the Soviet Moonshot, two years after the last American manned landing. Besides the manned landings, abandoned Soviet moon program included a building the moonbase "Zvezda
Zvezda (moonbase)
Zvezda moonbase , also DLB Lunar Base — plan and project of 1962—1974 of Soviet manned moonbase as successor N1-L3 manned lunar expedition program. It was the first detailed such project more developed than early US Horizon and Lunex projects and later Apollo Lunar Base Wernher von Braun and NASA...
", first detailed such project with developed mockups of expedition vehicles and surface modules.
In the decades following, interest in exploring the Moon faded considerably, and only a few dedicated enthusiasts supported a return. However, evidence of Lunar ice
Lunar ice
Lunar water is water that is present on the Moon. Liquid water cannot persist at the Moon's surface, and water vapour is quickly decomposed by sunlight and lost to outer space...
at the poles gathered by NASA's Clementine (1994) and Lunar Prospector
Lunar Prospector
The Lunar Prospector mission was the third selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including mapping of surface composition and possible...
(1998) missions rekindled some discussion, as did the potential growth of a Chinese space program
Chinese space program
The space program of the People's Republic of China is directed by the China National Space Administration . Its technological roots can be traced back to the late 1950s, when the People's Republic began a rudimentary ballistic missile program in response to perceived American threats...
that contemplated its own mission to the Moon. Subsequent research suggested that there was far less ice present (if any) than had originally been thought, but that there may still be some usable deposits of hydrogen in other forms. However, in September 2009, the Chandrayaan probe, carrying a ISRO instrument, discovered that the Lunar regolith
Regolith
Regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons.-Etymology:...
contains 0.1% water by weight, overturning theories that had stood for 40 years.
In 2004, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
called for a plan
Vision for Space Exploration
The Vision for Space Exploration is the United States space policy which was announced on January 14, 2004 by President George W. Bush. It is seen as a response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the state of human spaceflight at NASA, and a way to regain public enthusiasm for space...
to return manned missions to the Moon by 2020 (since cancelled — see Constellation program). Propelled by this new initiative, NASA issued a new long-range plan that includes building a base on the Moon as a staging point to Mars. This plan envisions a Lunar outpost
Lunar outpost (NASA)
A lunar outpost was an element of the George W. Bush era Vision for Space Exploration, which has been replaced with President Barack Obama's space policy. The outpost would have been an inhabited facility on the surface of the Moon. At the time it was proposed, NASA was to construct the outpost...
at one of the moon's poles by 2024 which, if well-sited, might be able to continually harness solar power; at the poles, temperature changes over the course of a Lunar day are also less extreme, and reserves of water and useful minerals may be found nearby. In addition, the European Space Agency
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
has a plan for a permanently manned Lunar base by 2025. Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
has also announced similar plans to send a man to the moon by 2025 and establish a permanent base there several years later.
A Chinese space scientist has said that the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
could be capable of landing a human on the Moon by 2022 (see Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
Chinese Lunar Exploration Program , also known as the Chang'e program, is a program of robotic and human missions to the Moon undertaken by the China National Space Administration , the space agency of the People's Republic of China...
), and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
also have plans for a Lunar base by 2030. Neither of these plans involves permanent residents on the Moon. Instead they call for sortie missions, in some cases followed by extended expeditions to the Lunar base using rotating crew members, as is currently done for the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
.
NASA’s LCROSS
LCROSS
The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA. The mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining the nature of hydrogen detected at the polar regions of the moon. The main LCROSS mission objective was to explore the presence of water ice...
/LRO
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
The Lunar Precursor Robotic Program is a program of robotic spacecraft missions which NASA will use to prepare for future human spaceflight missions to the Moon. Two LPRP missions, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite , were launched in June 2009...
mission had been scheduled to launch in October 2008. The launch was delayed until the 18th of June 2009, resulting in LCROSS's impact with the Moon at 11:30 UT on the 9th of October, 2009. The purpose is preparing for future Lunar exploration.
Water discovered on Moon
In September 2009 it was announced that the findings of NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Moon Mineralogy Mapper
Moon Mineralogy Mapper
The Moon Mineralogy Mapper is one of two instruments that NASA contributed to India's first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1, launched October 22, 2008...
on India's Chandrayaan-1 strongly indicated water on the Moon.
On November 13, 2009 NASA announced that the LCROSS
LCROSS
The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA. The mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining the nature of hydrogen detected at the polar regions of the moon. The main LCROSS mission objective was to explore the presence of water ice...
mission had discovered large quantities of water ice on the Moon around the LCROSS impact site at Cabeus
Cabeus (crater)
Cabeus is a lunar crater that is located about from the south pole of the Moon. At this location the crater is seen obliquely from Earth, and it is almost perpetually in deep shadow due to lack of sunlight. Hence, not much detail can be seen of this crater, even from orbit...
. Robert Zubrin
Robert Zubrin
Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars. He was the driving force behind Mars Direct—a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission...
relativized the term large: "The 30 m crater ejected by the probe contained 10 million kilograms of regolith. Within this ejecta, an estimated 100 kg of water was detected. That represents a proportion of ten parts per million, which is a lower water concentration than that found in the soil of the driest deserts of the Earth. In contrast, we have found continent sized regions on Mars, which are 600,000 parts per million, or 60% water by weight."
In March 2010, NASA reported that the findings of its mini-SAR radar aboard Chandrayaan-1 were consistent with ice deposits at the Moon's north pole. It is estimated there is at least 600 million tons of ice at the north pole in sheets of relatively pure ice at least a couple of meters thick.
Advantages and disadvantages
Putting aside the general questions of whether a human colony beyond the EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
is feasible or scientifically desirable in light of cost-efficiency, proponents of space colonization point out that the Moon offers both advantages and disadvantages as a site for such a colony.
Placing a colony on a natural body would provide an ample source of material for construction and other uses in space, including shielding from cosmic radiation
Cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
. The energy required to send objects from the Moon to space is much less than from Earth to space. This could allow the Moon to serve as a construction site or fueling station for spacecraft. Some proposals include using electric acceleration devices (mass driver
Mass driver
A mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. All existing and contemplated mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make electromagnets. Sequential...
s) to propel objects off the Moon without building rockets. Others have proposed momentum exchange tethers (see below). Furthermore, the Moon does have some gravity, which experience to date indicates may be vital for fetal development and long-term human health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
. Whether the Moon's gravity (roughly one sixth of Earth's) is adequate for this purpose, however, is uncertain.
In addition, the Moon is the closest large body in the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
to Earth. While some Earth-crosser asteroid
Earth-crosser asteroid
An Earth-crosser is a near-Earth asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Earth as observed from the ecliptic pole of Earth's orbit. The known numbered Earth-crossers are listed here. Those Earth-crossers whose semi-major axes are smaller than Earth's are Aten asteroids; the remaining ones are Apollo...
s occasionally pass closer, the Moon's distance is consistently within a small range close to 384,400 km. This proximity has several benefits:
- Monetary (including space tourismSpace tourismSpace Tourism is space travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. A number of startup companies have sprung up in recent years, hoping to create a space tourism industry...
), security, and technological gains. - The energy required to send objects from Earth to the Moon is lower than for most other bodies.
- Transit time is short. The Apollo astronauts made the trip in three days and future technologies could improve on this time.
- If the Moon were colonised then it could be tested if humans can survive in low gravity. Those results could be utilized for a viable MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
colony as well. - The short transit time would also allow emergency supplies to quickly reach a Moon colony from Earth, or allow a human crew to evacuate relatively quickly from the Moon to Earth in case of emergency. This could be an important consideration when establishing the first human colony.
- The round trip communication delay to Earth is less than three seconds, allowing near-normal voice and video conversation, and allowing some kinds of remote control of machines from Earth that are not possible for any other celestial body. The delay for other solar system bodies is minutes or hours; for example, round trip communication time between Earth and Mars ranges from about eight minutes to about forty minutes. This again would be of particular value in an early colony, where life-threatening problems requiring Earth's assistance could occur. (See, for example, Apollo 13Apollo 13Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command...
.) - On the Lunar near side, the Earth appears large and is always visible as an object 60 times brighter than the Moon appears from Earth, unlike more distant locations where the Earth would be seen merely as a star-like object, much as the planets appear from Earth. As a result, a Lunar colony might feel less remote to humans living there.
- A Lunar base would provide an excellent site for any kind of observatoryObservatoryAn observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
. In the near-vacuum of the Moon's atmosphere, there is practically no atmospheric diffractionAtmospheric diffractionAtmospheric diffraction is manifested in the following principal ways:* Fourier optics is the bending of light rays in the atmosphere, which results in remarkable visual displays of astronomical objects, such as depictions on this page....
. Observations could be made continuously, provided that during the Lunar day an optical telescope would be shaded from the Sun and from surrounding glare, and that it would not be pointed too close to the Sun or to the horizon. It would be possible to maintain constant observations on a specific target with a few such observatories at different longitudes. The Moon's geological inactivity and its infrastructural remoteness bring about an unusual mechanical calmness, which would be advantageous particularly regarding the erection of interferometric telescopesAstronomical interferometerAn astronomical interferometer is an array of telescopes or mirror segments acting together to probe structures with higher resolution by means of interferometry....
, even at relatively high frequencies such as visible light. NASA scientists have done developmental work toward the manufacture of telescope mirrors using Lunar material. Building observatory facilities on the Moon from Lunar materials allows many of the benefits of space based facilities without the need to launch these into space. - A Lunar base could also hold a future site for launching rockets, to distant planets such as Mars. Launching rockets from the Moon would be an easier prospect than on Earth due to the Moon's lower gravity requiring a lower escape velocityEscape velocityIn physics, escape velocity is the speed at which the kinetic energy plus the gravitational potential energy of an object is zero gravitational potential energy is negative since gravity is an attractive force and the potential is defined to be zero at infinity...
. A lower escape velocity would require less propellant, but there is no guarantee that less propellant would cost less money than that required to launch from Earth. - A farm at the Lunar North Pole could provide eight hours of sunlight per day during the local summer by rotating crops in and out of the sunlight which is continuous for the entire summer. A beneficial temperature, radiation protection, insects for pollination, and all other plant needs could be artificially provided during the local summer for a cost. One estimate suggested a 0.5 hectareHectareThe hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
space farm could feed 100 people.
There are several disadvantages to the Moon as a colony site:
- The long lunar night would impede reliance on solar powerSolar powerSolar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
and require a colony to be designed that could withstand large temperatureTemperatureTemperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
extremes. An exception to this restriction are the so-called "peaks of eternal lightPeak of Eternal LightPeak of Eternal Light describes a point on a body within the Solar System which is eternally bathed in sunlight. This is due to both the bodies' rotation and the point's altitude...
" located at the Lunar north pole that are constantly bathed in sunlight. The rim of Shackleton CraterShackleton (crater)Shackleton is an impact crater that lies at the south pole of the Moon. The peaks along the crater's rim are exposed to almost continual sunlight, while the interior is perpetually in shadow. The low-temperature interior of this crater functions as a cold trap that may capture and freeze volatiles...
, towards the Lunar south pole, also has a near-constant solar illumination. Other areas near the poles that get light most of the time could be linked in a power grid. - The Moon is highly depleted in light elementsChemical elementA chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. Familiar examples of elements include carbon, oxygen, aluminum, iron, copper, gold, mercury, and lead.As of November 2011, 118 elements...
(volatiles), such as carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen. A number of robot probes including Lunar ProspectorLunar ProspectorThe Lunar Prospector mission was the third selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including mapping of surface composition and possible...
gathered evidence of hydrogen generally in the Moon's crust consistent with what would be expected from implantation from the solar wind, and higher concentrations near the poles. There had been some disagreement whether the hydrogen must necessarily be in the form of water. The mission of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing SatelliteLCROSSThe Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA. The mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining the nature of hydrogen detected at the polar regions of the moon. The main LCROSS mission objective was to explore the presence of water ice...
(LCROSS) has definitely proved that there is water on the Moon, in 2009. This water exists in ice form perhaps mixed in small crystals in the regolithRegolithRegolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons.-Etymology:...
in a colder landscape than people have ever mined. Other volatiles containing carbon and nitrogen could conceivably also be in the same cold traps as the ice. If no sufficient means is found for recovering these volatiles on the Moon, they would need to be imported from some other source to support life and industrial processes. Volatiles would need to be stringently recycled. This would limit the colony's rate of growth and keep it dependent on Earth. The transportation cost of importing volatiles from Earth could be reduced by constructing the upper stage of supply ships using materials high in volatiles, such as carbon fiber and other plastics. The 2006 announcement by the Keck Observatory that the binary Trojan asteroidTrojan asteroidThe Jupiter Trojans, commonly called Trojans or Trojan asteroids, are a large group of objects that share the orbit of the planet Jupiter around the Sun. Relative to Jupiter, each Trojan librates around one of the planet's two Lagrangian points of stability, and , that respectively lie 60° ahead...
617 Patroclus617 Patroclus617 Patroclus is a binary minor planet made up of two similarly-sized objects orbiting their common centre of gravity. It is a Trojan asteroid, sharing an orbit with Jupiter. It was discovered in 1906 by August Kopff, and was the second trojan to be discovered...
, and possibly large numbers of other Trojan objects in JupiterJupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
's orbit, are likely composed of water ice, with a layer of dust, and the hypothesized large amounts of water ice on the closer, main-belt asteroid 1 Ceres, suggest that importing volatiles from this region via the Interplanetary Transport NetworkInterplanetary Transport NetworkThe Interplanetary Transport Network is a collection of gravitationally determined pathways through the solar system that require very little energy for an object to follow. The ITN makes particular use of Lagrange points as locations where trajectories through space are redirected using little...
may be practical in the not-so-distant future. However, these possibilities are dependent on complicated and expensive resource utilization from the mid to outer solar system, which is not likely to become available to a Moon colony for a significant period of time. - It is uncertain whether the low (one-sixth gEarth's gravityThe gravity of Earth, denoted g, refers to the acceleration that the Earth imparts to objects on or near its surface. In SI units this acceleration is measured in metres per second per second or equivalently in newtons per kilogram...
) gravity on the Moon is strong enough to prevent detrimental effects to human health in the long term. Exposure to weightlessnessWeightlessnessWeightlessness is the condition that exists for an object or person when they experience little or no acceleration except the acceleration that defines their inertial trajectory, or the trajectory of pure free-fall...
over month-long periods has been demonstrated to cause deterioration of physiological systems, such as loss of bone and muscle mass and a depressed immune system. Similar effects could occur in a low-gravity environment, although virtually all research into the health effects of low gravity has been limited to zero gravity. - The lack of a substantial atmosphere for insulation results in temperature extremes and makes the Moon's surface conditions somewhat like a deep space vacuumVacuumIn everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". A perfect vacuum would be one with no particles in it at all, which is impossible to achieve in...
. It also leaves the Lunar surface exposed to half as much radiation as in interplanetary space (with the other half blocked by the moon itself underneath the colony), raising the issues of the health threat from cosmic raysHealth threat from cosmic raysThe health threat from cosmic rays is the danger posed by galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles to astronauts on interplanetary missions.Galactic cosmic rays consist of high energy protons and other nuclei with extrasolar origin...
and the risk of proton exposure from the solar windSolar windThe solar wind is a stream of charged particles ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. It mostly consists of electrons and protons with energies usually between 1.5 and 10 keV. The stream of particles varies in temperature and speed over time...
, especially since two-thirds of the Moon's orbit is outside the protection of the Earth's magnetosphereMagnetosphereA magnetosphere is formed when a stream of charged particles, such as the solar wind, interacts with and is deflected by the intrinsic magnetic field of a planet or similar body. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the other planets with intrinsic magnetic fields: Mercury, Jupiter,...
. Lunar rubble can protect living quarters from cosmic rays. Shielding against solar flareSolar flareA solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy . The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day...
s during expeditions outside is more problematic. - When the moon passes through the magnetotail of the earth, the plasma sheet whips across its surface. Electrons crash into the moon and are released again by UV photons on the day side but build up voltages on the dark side. This causes a negative charge build up from −200 V to −1000 V. See Magnetic field of the MoonMagnetic field of the Moonthumb|right|300px|Total magnetic field strength at the surface of the Moon as derived from the Lunar Prospector electron reflectometer experiment.The external magnetic field of the Moon is very weak in comparison to that of the Earth...
. - Also, the lack of an atmosphere increases the chances of the colonial site being hit by meteors, which would impact upon the surface directly, as they have done throughout the Moon's history. Even small pebbles and dust (micrometeoroidMicrometeoroidA micrometeoroid is a tiny meteoroid; a small particle of rock in space, usually weighing less than a gram. A micrometeor or micrometeorite is such a particle that enters the Earth's atmosphere or falls to Earth.-Scientific interest:...
s) have the potential to damage or destroy insufficiently protected structures. - Moon dust is an extremely abrasive glassy substance formed by micrometeorites and unrounded due to the lack of weathering. It sticks to everything and can damage equipment, and it may be toxic.
- Growing crops on the Moon faces many difficult challenges due to the long lunar night (354 hours), extreme variation in surface temperature, exposure to solar flares, nitrogen-poor soil, and lack of insects for pollination. Due to the lack of any atmosphere on the Moon, plants would need to be grown in sealed chambers, though experiments have shown that plants can thrive at pressures much lower than those on Earth. The use of electric lighting to compensate for the 354-hour night might be difficult: a single acre of plants on Earth enjoys a peak 4 megawatts of sunlight power at noon. Experiments conducted by the Soviet space programSoviet space programThe Soviet space program is the rocketry and space exploration programs conducted by the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the 1930s until its dissolution in 1991...
in the 1970s suggest it is possible to grow conventional crops with the 354-hour light, 354-hour dark cycle. A variety of concepts for lunar agriculture have been proposed, including the use of minimal artificial light to maintain plants during the night and the use of fast growing crops that might be started as seedlings with artificial light and be harvestable at the end of one Lunar day. - One of the less obvious difficulties lies not with the Moon itself but rather with the political and national interests of the nations engaged in colonization. Assuming that colonization efforts were able to overcome the difficulties outlined above - there would likely be issues regarding the rights of nations and their colonies to exploit resources on the lunar surface, to stake territorial claims and other issues of sovereignty which would have to be agreed upon before one or more nations established a permanent presence on the moon. The ongoing negotiations and debate regarding the Antarctic is a good case study for prospective lunar colonization efforts in that it highlights the numerous pitfalls of developing/inhabiting a location that is subject to the claims of more than one sovereign nation.
Locations
Three criteria that a Lunar outpost should meet are:- good conditions for transportTransportTransport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
operations; - a great number of different types of natural objects and features on the Moon of scientific interest; and
- natural resources, such as oxygenOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
. The abundance of certain minerals, such as iron oxideIron oxideIron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.Iron oxides and oxide-hydroxides are widespread in nature, play an important role in many geological and biological processes, and are widely utilized by humans, e.g.,...
, varies dramatically over the Lunar surface.
While a colony might be located anywhere, potential locations for a Lunar colony fall into three broad categories.
Polar regions
There are two reasons why the Lunar poles might be attractive as locations for a human colony. First, there is evidence that water may be present in some continuously shaded areas near the poles. Second, because the Moon's axis of rotation is almost perfectly perpendicular to the ecliptic planePlane of the ecliptic
The plane of the ecliptic is the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. It is the primary reference plane when describing the position of bodies in the Solar System, with celestial latitude being measured relative to the ecliptic plane. In the course of a year, the Sun's apparent path through...
, it may be possible to power polar colonies exclusively with solar energy. Power collection stations can be located so that at least one is in sunlight at all times. Some sites have nearly continuous sunlight. For example, Malapert mountain, located near the Shackleton crater
Shackleton (crater)
Shackleton is an impact crater that lies at the south pole of the Moon. The peaks along the crater's rim are exposed to almost continual sunlight, while the interior is perpetually in shadow. The low-temperature interior of this crater functions as a cold trap that may capture and freeze volatiles...
at the Lunar south pole, offers several advantages as a site:
- It is exposed to the sun most of the time (see Peak of Eternal LightPeak of Eternal LightPeak of Eternal Light describes a point on a body within the Solar System which is eternally bathed in sunlight. This is due to both the bodies' rotation and the point's altitude...
for further discussion); two closely spaced arrays of solar panelsPhotovoltaic moduleA solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...
would receive nearly continuous power. - Its proximity to Shackleton Crater (116 km, or 69.8 mi) means that it could provide power and communications to the crater. This crater is potentially valuable for astronomicalAstronomyAstronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
observation. An infraredInfraredInfrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
instrument would benefit from the very cold temperatures. A radio telescopeRadio telescopeA radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...
would benefit from being shielded from Earth's broad spectrum radio interference. - The nearby ShoemakerShoemaker (lunar crater)Shoemaker is a lunar crater that is located near the southern pole of the Moon, within half a crater diameter of Shackleton. It lies to the south of the crater Malapert, to the east of Haworth, and just to the west of the similar-sized Faustini. The rim of Shoemaker is circular and worn, with some...
and other craters are in constant deep shadow, and might contain valuable concentrations of hydrogenHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
and other volatiles. - At around 5,000 meters (16,500 ft) elevation, it offers line of sightLine-of-sight propagationLine-of-sight propagation refers to electro-magnetic radiation or acoustic wave propagation. Electromagnetic transmission includes light emissions traveling in a straight line...
communications over a large area, as well as to EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. - The South Pole-Aitken basinSouth Pole-Aitken basinThe South Pole-Aitken basin is an impact crater on Earth's Moon. Roughly in diameter and deep, it is one of the largest known impact craters in the Solar System. It is the largest, oldest and deepest basin recognized on the Moon. This moon basin was named for two features on opposing sides; the...
is located at the south Lunar pole. This is the second largest known impact basin in the solar system, as well as the oldest and biggest impact feature on the Moon, and should provide geologists access to deeper layers of the Moon's crust.
NASA chose to use a south-polar site for the Lunar outpost reference design in the Exploration Systems Architecture Study
Exploration Systems Architecture Study
The Exploration Systems Architecture Study is the official title of a large-scale, system level study released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in November 2005 in response to American president George W...
chapter on Lunar Architecture.
At the north pole, the rim of Peary crater
Peary (crater)
Peary is the closest large lunar impact crater to the lunar north pole. At this latitude the crater interior receives little sunlight, and parts of the southern floor remain permanently cloaked in shadow. From the Earth the crater appears on the northern lunar limb, and is seen from the side.The...
has been proposed as a favorable location for a base. Examination of images from the Clementine mission
Clementine mission
Clementine was a joint space project between the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and NASA...
appear to show that parts of the crater rim are permanently illuminated by sunlight (except during Lunar eclipse
Lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a...
s). As a result, the temperature conditions are expected to remain very stable at this location, averaging −50 °C (−58 °F). This is comparable to winter conditions in Earth's Poles of Cold
Pole of Cold
The Poles of Cold are the places in the Northern and Southern hemispheres where the lowest air temperatures have been recorded.- Northern hemisphere :...
in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and Antarctica. The Peary crater interior may also harbor hydrogen deposits.
A 1994 bistatic radar experiment performed during the Clementine mission suggested the presence of water ice around the south pole. The Lunar Prospector
Lunar Prospector
The Lunar Prospector mission was the third selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including mapping of surface composition and possible...
spacecraft reported enhanced hydrogen abundances at the south pole and even more at the north pole, in 2008. On the other hand, results reported using the Arecibo radio telescope
Arecibo Observatory
The Arecibo Observatory is a radio telescope near the city of Arecibo in Puerto Rico. It is operated by SRI International under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation...
have been interpreted by some to indicate that the anomalous Clementine radar signatures are not indicative of ice, but surface roughness. This interpretation, however, is not universally agreed upon.
A potential limitation of the polar regions is that the inflow of solar wind
Solar wind
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. It mostly consists of electrons and protons with energies usually between 1.5 and 10 keV. The stream of particles varies in temperature and speed over time...
can create an electrical charge on the leeward side of crater rims. The resulting voltage difference can affect electrical equipment, change surface chemistry, erode surfaces and levitate Lunar dust.
Equatorial regions
The Lunar equatorial regions are likely to have higher concentrations of helium-3Helium-3
Helium-3 is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It is rare on Earth, and is sought for use in nuclear fusion research...
(rare on Earth but much sought after for use in nuclear fusion research) because the solar wind
Solar wind
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. It mostly consists of electrons and protons with energies usually between 1.5 and 10 keV. The stream of particles varies in temperature and speed over time...
has a higher angle of incidence
Angle of incidence
Angle of incidence is a measure of deviation of something from "straight on", for example:* in the approach of a ray to a surface, or* the angle at which the wing or horizontal tail of an airplane is installed on the fuselage, measured relative to the axis of the fuselage.-Optics:In geometric...
. They also enjoy an advantage in extra-Lunar traffic: The rotation advantage for launching material is slight due to the Moon's slow rotation, but the corresponding orbit coincides with the ecliptic, nearly coincides with the Lunar orbit around Earth and nearly coincides with the equatorial plane of Earth.
Several probes have landed in the Oceanus Procellarum
Oceanus Procellarum
Oceanus Procellarum is a vast lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of the Earth's Moon. Its name derives from the old superstition that its appearance during the second quarter heralded bad weather...
area. There are many areas and features that could be subject to long-term study, such as the Reiner Gamma
Reiner Gamma
Reiner Gamma is an albedo feature that is located on the Oceanus Procellarum, to the west of the crater Reiner on the Moon. The center of the formation is located at selenographic coordinates . It has an overall dimension of about 70 kilometres...
anomaly and the dark-floored Grimaldi crater
Grimaldi (crater)
Grimaldi is a large basin located near the western limb of the Moon. It lies to the southwest of the Oceanus Procellarum, and southeast of the crater Riccioli...
.
Far side
The Lunar far side lacks direct communication with Earth, though a communication satellite at the Lagrangian pointLagrangian point
The Lagrangian points are the five positions in an orbital configuration where a small object affected only by gravity can theoretically be stationary relative to two larger objects...
, or a network of orbiting satellites, could enable communication between the far side of the Moon and Earth. The far side is also a good location for a large radio telescope because it is well shielded from the Earth. Due to the lack of atmosphere, the location is also suitable for an array of optical telescope
Optical telescope
An optical telescope is a telescope which is used to gather and focus light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum for directly viewing a magnified image for making a photograph, or collecting data through electronic image sensors....
s, similar to the Very Large Telescope
Very Large Telescope
The Very Large Telescope is a telescope operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2m across, which are generally used separately but can be used together to...
in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. To date, there has been no ground exploration of the far side.
Scientists have estimated that the highest concentrations of helium-3 will be found in the maria
Lunar mare
The lunar maria are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for "seas", by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas. They are less reflective than the "highlands" as a result of their iron-rich compositions, and...
on the far side, as well as near side areas containing concentrations of the titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
-based mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
ilmenite
Ilmenite
Ilmenite is a weakly magnetic titanium-iron oxide mineral which is iron-black or steel-gray. It is a crystalline iron titanium oxide . It crystallizes in the trigonal system, and it has the same crystal structure as corundum and hematite....
. On the near side the Earth and its magnetic field partially shields the surface from the solar wind during each orbit. But the far side is fully exposed, and thus should receive a somewhat greater proportion of the ion stream.
Lunar lava tubes
Lunar lava tubeLunar lava tube
Lunar lava tubes are sub-surface tunnels on the Moon that are believed to have formed during basaltic lava flows. When the surface of a lava tube cools, it forms a hardened lid that contains the ongoing lava flow beneath the surface in a conduit-shaped passage. Once the flow of lava diminishes, the...
s form a potentially important location for constructing a future Lunar base, which may be used for local exploration and development, or as a human outpost
Human outpost
Human outposts are artificially-created, controlled human habitats located in environments inhospitable for humans, such as on the ocean floor, in space or on another planet....
to serve exploration beyond the Moon. Any intact lava tube on the moon could serve as a shelter from the severe environment of the Lunar surface, with its frequent meteorite impacts, high-energy ultra-violet radiation and energetic particles, and extreme diurnal temperature variations. Lava tubes provide ideal positions for shelter because of their access to nearby resources. They also have proven themselves as a reliable structure, having withstood the test of time for billions of years.
Habitat
There have been numerous proposals regarding habitat modules. The designs have evolved throughout the years as mankind's knowledge about the Moon has grown, and as the technological possibilities have changed. The proposed habitats range from the actual spacecraft landers or their used fuel tanks, to inflatable modules of various shapes. Early on, some hazards of the Lunar environment such as sharp temperature shifts, lack of atmosphere or magnetic field (which means higher levels of radiation and micrometeoroids) and long nights, were recognized and taken into consideration.Some suggest building the Lunar colony underground, which would give protection from radiation and micrometeoroids. This also greatly reduce the risk of air leakage, as the colony will be fully sealed from the outside except for a few exits to the surface. This is not the only advantage to this option. The average temperature on the moon is about −5 °C. The day period (about 354 hours) has an average temperature of about 107 °C (225 °F), although it can rise as high as 123 °C (253 °F). The night period (also 354 hours) has an average temperature of about −153 °C (−243 °F). Underground, both periods would be around -23 °C (-9 °F), and humans could install ordinary air conditioners.
The construction of such a base would probably be more complex; one of the first machines from Earth might be a remote controlled excavating machine to excavate living quarters. Once created, some sort of hardening would be necessary to avoid collapse, possibly a spray-on
Shotcrete
Shotcrete is concrete conveyed through a hose and pneumatically projected at high velocity onto a surface, as a construction technique....
concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
-like substance made from available materials. A more porous insulating material also made in-situ
In-Situ Resource Utilization
In space exploration, in-situ resource utilization describes the proposed use of resources found or manufactured on other astronomical objects to further the goals of a space mission....
could then be applied. Mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
methods such as the room and pillar
Room and pillar
Room and pillar is a mining system in which the mined material is extracted across a horizontal plane while leaving "pillars" of untouched material to support the roof overburden leaving open areas or "rooms" underground...
might also be used. Inflatable self-sealing fabric habitats might then be put in place to retain air. Eventually an underground city
Underground city
An Underground city is a series of linked subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or drainage channels; or several of these. The term may also refer to a network of tunnels that...
can be constructed. Farms set up underground would need artificial sunlight
Artificial sunlight
Artificial sunlight is the use of a light source to simulate sunlight where the unique benefits of sunlight are needed, but where sufficient natural sunlight is not available or is not feasible...
. As an alternative to excavating, a lava tube
Lava tube
Lava tubes are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow, expelled by a volcano during an eruption. They can be actively draining lava from a source, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like...
could be covered and insulated, thus solving the problem of radiation exposure. One such lava tube has been discovered in early 2009.
A possibly easier solution would be to build the Lunar base on the surface, and cover the modules with Lunar soil. The Lunar regolith
Regolith
Regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons.-Etymology:...
is composed of a unique blend of silica and iron-containing compounds that may be fused into a glass-like solid using microwave energy. This may allow for the use of "Lunar bricks" in structural designs, or the "glassing" of loose dirt to form a hard, ceramic crust.
Others have put forward the idea that the Lunar base could be built on the surface and protected by other means, such as improved radiation and micrometeoroid shielding. Building the Lunar base inside a deep crater would provide at least partial shielding against radiation and micrometeoroids.
Artificial magnetic fields have been proposed as a means to provide radiation shielding for long range deep space manned missions, and it might be possible to use similar technology on a Lunar colony. Some regions on the Moon possess strong local magnetic fields that might partially mitigate exposure to charged solar and galactic particles.
Moon Capital
The Moon Capital Competition will be offering a prize for an architectural design of a Lunar habitat intended to be an underground international commercial center capable of supporting a residential staff of 60 people and their families. The Moon Capital is intended to be self-sufficient with respect to food and other material required for life support. Prize money will be provided primarily by the Boston Society of ArchitectsBoston Society of Architects
One of the oldest and largest chapters of the AIA, the Boston Society of Architects is a nonprofit membership organization committed to architecture, design and the built environment .-History:...
and The New England Council of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
.
Energy
A Lunar base would need power for its operations — from fuel production and communications to life support systems and scientific research.Nuclear power
A nuclear fission reactor might fulfill most of a Moon base's power requirements. With the help of fission reactors, one could overcome the difficulty of the 354 hour Lunar night. According to NASA, a nuclear fission power station could generate a steady 40 kilowatts, equivalent to the demand of about eight houses on Earth. An artist’s concept of such a station published by NASA envisages the reactor being buried below the Moon's surface to shield it from its surroundings; out from a tower-like generator part reaching above the surface over the reactor, radiators would extend into space to send away any heat energy that may be left over.Radioisotope thermoelectric generator
Radioisotope thermoelectric generator
A radioisotope thermoelectric generator is an electrical generator that obtains its power from radioactive decay. In such a device, the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material is converted into electricity by the Seebeck effect using an array of thermocouples.RTGs can be...
s could be used as backup and emergency power sources for solar powered colonies.
Solar energy
Solar energy is a possible source of power for a Lunar base. Many of the raw materials needed for solar panel production can be extracted on site. However, the long Lunar night (354 hours) is a drawback for solar power on the Moon's surface. This might be solved by building several power plants, so that at least one of them is always in daylight. Another possibility would be to build such a power plant where there is constant or near-constant sunlight, such as at the Malapert mountain near the Lunar south pole, or on the rim of Peary craterPeary (crater)
Peary is the closest large lunar impact crater to the lunar north pole. At this latitude the crater interior receives little sunlight, and parts of the southern floor remain permanently cloaked in shadow. From the Earth the crater appears on the northern lunar limb, and is seen from the side.The...
near the north pole. A third possibility would be to leave the panels in orbit
Space solar power
Space-based solar power is the concept of collecting solar power in space for use on Earth. It has been in research since the early 1970s....
, and beam the power down as microwaves.
The solar energy converters need not be silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
solar panels
Photovoltaic module
A solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...
. It may be more advantageous to use the larger temperature difference between sun and shade to run heat engine
Heat engine
In thermodynamics, a heat engine is a system that performs the conversion of heat or thermal energy to mechanical work. It does this by bringing a working substance from a high temperature state to a lower temperature state. A heat "source" generates thermal energy that brings the working substance...
generators. Concentrated sunlight could also be relayed via mirrors and used in Stirling engines or solar trough generators, or it could be used directly for lighting, agriculture and process heat. The focused heat might also be employed in materials processing to extract various elements from Lunar surface materials.
Energy storage
In the early days, a combination of solar panels for 'day-time' operation and fuel cells for 'night-time' operation could be used.Fuel cells on the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
have operated reliably for up to 17 Earth days at a time. On the Moon, they would only be needed for 354 hours(14 3/4 days) — the length of the Lunar night. Fuel cells produce water directly as a waste product. Current fuel cell technology is more advanced than the Shuttle's cells — PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) cells
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells, also known as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells , are a type of fuel cell being developed for transport applications as well as for stationary fuel cell applications and portable fuel cell applications. Their distinguishing features include lower...
produce considerably less heat (though their waste heat would likely be useful during the Lunar night) and are physically lighter, not to mention the reduced mass of the smaller heat-dissipating radiators. This makes PEMs more economical to launch from Earth than the shuttle's cells, but PEMs have not yet been proven in space.
Combining fuel cells with electrolysis would provide a 'perpetual' source of electricity — solar energy could be used to provide power during the Lunar day, and fuel cells at night. During the Lunar day, solar energy would also be used to electrolyze the water created in the fuel cells — although there would be small losses of gases that would have to be replaced.
Earth to Moon
Conventional rocketRocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
s have been used for most Lunar exploration to date. The ESA's SMART-1
SMART-1
SMART-1 was a Swedish-designed European Space Agency satellite that orbited around the Moon. It was launched on September 27, 2003 at 23:14 UTC from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. "SMART" stands for Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology...
mission from 2003 to 2006 used conventional chemical rockets to reach orbit and Hall effect thruster
Hall effect thruster
In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall thruster is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall thrusters trap electrons in a magnetic field and then use the electrons to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust, and neutralize the...
s to arrive at the Moon in 13 months. NASA would have used chemical rockets on its Ares V
Ares V
The Ares V was the planned cargo launch component of the Constellation program, which was to have replaced the Space Shuttle after its retirement in 2011. Ares V was also planned to carry supplies for a human presence on Mars...
booster and Lunar Surface Access Module
Lunar Surface Access Module
The Altair spacecraft, previously known as the Lunar Surface Access Module or LSAM, was the planned lander spacecraft component of NASA's cancelled Project Constellation. Astronauts would have used the spacecraft for landings on the Moon, which had been intended to begin around 2019...
, that were being developed for a planned return to the Moon around 2019, but this was cancelled. The construction workers, location finders, and other astronauts vital to building, would have been taken in NASA's Orion
Orion (spacecraft)
Orion is a spacecraft designed by Lockheed Martin for NASA, the space agency of the United States. Orion development began in 2005 as part of the Constellation program, where Orion would fulfill the function of a Crew Exploration Vehicle....
spacecraft.
On the surface
Within the colony it will be difficult to set up a public transportPublic transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
system. However a system of escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
s, moving walkway
Moving walkway
A moving walkway or moving sidewalk is a slow moving conveyor mechanism that transports people, across a horizontal...
s and elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
can be used to quickly transport people and cargo around.
Lunar colonists will also want the ability to move over long distances, to transport cargo and people to and from modules and spacecraft, and to carry out scientific study of a larger area of the Lunar surface for long periods of time. Proposed concepts include a variety of vehicle designs, from small open rovers to large pressurised modules with lab equipment, and also a few flying or hopping vehicles.
Rovers could be useful if the terrain is not too steep or hilly. The only rovers to have operated on the surface of the Moon are the three Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicles (LRV), developed by Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, and the two robotic Soviet Lunokhods. The LRV was an open rover for a crew of two, and a range of 92 km during one Lunar day. One NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
study resulted in the Mobile Lunar Laboratory concept, a manned pressurised rover for a crew of two, with a range of 396 km. The Soviet Union developed different rover concepts in the Lunokhod series and the L5 for possible use on future manned missions to the Moon or Mars. These rover designs were all pressurised for longer sorties.
If multiple bases were established on the Lunar surface, they could be linked together by permanent railway systems. Both conventional and magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation, maglev, or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields...
(Mag-Lev) systems have been proposed for the transport lines. Mag-Lev systems are particularly attractive as there is no atmosphere on the surface to slow down the train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
, so the vehicles could achieve velocities comparable to aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
on the Earth. In addition achieving the extremely cold temperatures necessary for the superconducting magnets that levitate and drive the Mag-Lev trains would be much easier to achieve than on Earth due to the lack of an atmosphere. One significant difference with Lunar trains, however, is that the cars would need to be individually sealed and possess their own life support systems. The trains would also need to be highly resistant to derailment, as a punctured car could lead to rapid loss of life.
For difficult areas, a flying vehicle may be more suitable. Bell Aerosystems proposed their design for the Lunar Flying Vehicle as part of a study for NASA. Bell also developed the Manned Flying System, a similar concept.
Launch technology
Aerobraking
Aerobraking is a spaceflight maneuver that reduces the high point of an elliptical orbit by flying the vehicle through the atmosphere at the low point of the orbit . The resulting drag slows the spacecraft...
is not possible, which makes it necessary to bring extra fuel in order to land. An alternative, which may work for supplies, is to surround the payload with impact-absorbing materials, something that was tried in the Ranger program
Ranger program
The Ranger program was a series of unmanned space missions by the United States in the 1960s whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon. The Ranger spacecraft were designed to take images of the lunar surface, returning those images until they were destroyed...
. This can be efficient if the impact protection is made of needed lighter elements that are absent from the Moon (Ranger used balsa wood)
One way to get materials and products from the Moon to an interplanetary waystation might be with a mass driver
Mass driver
A mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. All existing and contemplated mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make electromagnets. Sequential...
, a magnetically accelerated projectile launcher. Cargo would be picked up from orbit or an Earth-Moon Lagrangian point
Lagrangian point
The Lagrangian points are the five positions in an orbital configuration where a small object affected only by gravity can theoretically be stationary relative to two larger objects...
by a shuttle craft using ion propulsion, solar sail
Solar sail
Solar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds....
s or other means and delivered to Earth orbit or other destinations such as near-Earth asteroids, Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
or other planets, perhaps using the Interplanetary Transport Network
Interplanetary Transport Network
The Interplanetary Transport Network is a collection of gravitationally determined pathways through the solar system that require very little energy for an object to follow. The ITN makes particular use of Lagrange points as locations where trajectories through space are redirected using little...
. If a Lunar space elevator
Lunar space elevator
A lunar space elevator is a proposed cable running from the surface of the Moon into space.It is similar in concept to the better known Earth space elevator idea...
is ever built, it could transport people, raw materials and products to and from an orbital station at Lagrangian points or .
Launch costs
- Estimates of the cost per pound of launching cargo or people from the Moon vary and the cost impacts of future technological improvements are difficult to predict. An upper bound on the cost of launching material from the Moon might be about $40,000,000 per kilogram, based on dividing the Apollo program costs by the amount of material returned. At the other extreme, the incremental cost of launching material from the moon using an electromagnetic accelerator could be quite low. The efficiency of launching material from the Moon with a proposed electric accelerator is suggested to be about 50%. If the carriage of a mass driver weighs the same as the cargo, two kilograms must be accelerated to orbital velocity for each kilogram put into orbit. The overall system efficiency would then drop to 25%. So 1.4 kilowatt-hours would be needed to launch an incremental kilogram of cargo to low orbit from the Moon. At $0.1/kilowatt-hour, a typical cost for electrical power on Earth, that amounts to $0.16 for the energy to launch a kilogram of cargo into orbit. For the actual cost of an operating system, energy loss for power conditioning, the cost of radiating waste heat, the cost of maintaining all systems, and the interest cost of the capital investment are considerations. David R. Criswell believes that there is a potential for the cost of electrical power on the Moon to become enough less than the cost on Earth for electrical power to be exported from the Moon to Earth by microwave.
- Passengers cannot be divided into the parcel size suggested for the cargo of a mass driver, nor subjected to hundreds of gravities acceleration. However, technical developments could also affect the cost of launching passengers to orbit from the Moon. Instead of bringing all fuel and oxidizer from Earth, liquid oxygen could be produced from Lunar materials and hydrogen should be available from the Lunar poles. The cost of producing these on the Moon is yet unknown, but they will be more expensive than on Earth. The situation of the local hydrogen is most open to speculation. As a rocket fuel, hydrogen could be extended by combining it chemically with silicon to form silaneSilaneSilane is a toxic, extremely flammable chemical compound with chemical formula SiH4. In 1857, the German chemists and Friedrich Woehler discovered silane among the products formed by the action of hydrochloric acid on aluminum silicide, which they had previously prepared...
, which has yet to be demonstrated in an actual rocket engine. In the absence of more technical developments, the cost of transporting people from the Moon will be an impediment to colonization.
Surface to and from cis-Lunar space
A cis-Lunar transport system has been proposed using tethers to achieve momentum exchange. This system requires zero net energy input, and could not only retrieve payloads from the Lunar surface and transport them to Earth, but could also soft land payloads on to the Lunar surface.Economic development
For long term sustainability, a space colony should be close to self-sufficient. On site miningMining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and refining
Refining
Refining is the process of purification of a substance or a form. The term is usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, but which is more useful in its pure form. For instance, most types of natural petroleum will burn straight from the ground, but it will burn poorly...
of the Moon's materials could provide an advantage over deliveries from Earth – for use both on the Moon and elsewhere in the solar system – as they can be launched into space at a much lower energy cost than from Earth. It is possible that vast sums of money will be spent in interplanetary exploration
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
in the 21st century, and the cost of providing goods from the Moon might be attractive.
Space-based materials processing
In the long term, the Moon will likely play an important role in supplying space-based construction facilities with raw materials. Zero gravity allows for the processing of materials in ways impossible or difficult on Earth, such as "foaming" metalsMetal foam
A metal foam is a cellular structure consisting of a solid metal, frequently aluminium, containing a large volume fraction of gas-filled pores. The pores can be sealed , or they can form an interconnected network . The defining characteristic of metal foams is a very high porosity: typically...
, where a gas is injected into a molten metal, and then the metal is annealed
Annealing (metallurgy)
Annealing, in metallurgy and materials science, is a heat treatment wherein a material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness. It is a process that produces conditions by heating to above the recrystallization temperature, maintaining a suitable temperature, and...
slowly. On Earth, the gas bubbles rise and burst, but in a zero gravity
Weightlessness
Weightlessness is the condition that exists for an object or person when they experience little or no acceleration except the acceleration that defines their inertial trajectory, or the trajectory of pure free-fall...
environment, that does not happen. Annealing
Annealing (metallurgy)
Annealing, in metallurgy and materials science, is a heat treatment wherein a material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness. It is a process that produces conditions by heating to above the recrystallization temperature, maintaining a suitable temperature, and...
is a process that requires large amounts of energy, as a material is kept very hot for an extended period of time. (This allows the molecular structure to realign.) Materials which cannot be alloyed or mixed on Earth because of gravity-field effects on density differences could be combined in space, resulting in composites which could have exceptional qualities. No one knows, because no one has been able to experiment along these lines on any scale. However, it is possible that materials or processes will be identified which will be highly valuable on Earth, but impossible to make here. (This is the foundation of the free MoonBaseOne
MoonBaseOne
MoonBaseOne is an educational video game . It was developed by WeCreateGames.com, and was published by Federation of Galaxy Explorers. Posted for free download on July 15, 2007, MoonBaseOne was developed as an educational tool to be used at FOGE summer camps to teach kids about space.-Plot:The game...
game made by a non-profit that teaches children about space.)
Exporting material to Earth
Exporting material to Earth in trade from the Moon is more problematic due to the cost of transportation, which will vary greatly if the Moon is industrially developed (see above). One suggested trade commodity, Helium-3Helium-3
Helium-3 is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It is rare on Earth, and is sought for use in nuclear fusion research...
(He-3) from the solar wind
Solar wind
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. It mostly consists of electrons and protons with energies usually between 1.5 and 10 keV. The stream of particles varies in temperature and speed over time...
, is thought to have accumulated on the Moon's surface over billions of years, but occurs only rarely on Earth. Helium might be present in the Lunar regolith
Regolith
Regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons.-Etymology:...
in quantities of 0.01 ppm to 0.05 ppm (depending on soil). In 2006 He-3 had a market price of about $46,500 per troy ounce ($1500/gram, $1.5M/kg), more than 120 times the value per unit weight of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and over eight times the value of rhodium
Rhodium
Rhodium is a chemical element that is a rare, silvery-white, hard and chemically inert transition metal and a member of the platinum group. It has the chemical symbol Rh and atomic number 45. It is composed of only one isotope, 103Rh. Naturally occurring rhodium is found as the free metal, alloyed...
.
In the long-term future He-3 may have a role as a fuel in thermonuclear fusion reactors.
Solar power satellites
Gerard K. O'Neill, noting the problem of high launch costs in the early 1970s, came up with the idea of building Solar Power Satellites in orbit with materials from the MoonMoon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. Launch costs from the Moon will vary greatly if the Moon is industrially developed (see above). This 1970s proposal was predicated on the then advertised future launch costs of NASA's space shuttle.
On 30 April 1979 the Final Report "Lunar Resources Utilization for Space Construction" by General Dynamics Convair Division under NASA contract NAS9-15560 concluded that use of Lunar resources would be cheaper than terrestrial materials for a system comprising as few as thirty Solar Power Satellites of 10 GW capacity each.
In 1980, when it became obvious NASA's launch cost estimates for the space shuttle were grossly optimistic, O'Neill et al. published another route to manufacturing using Lunar materials with much lower startup costs. This 1980s SPS concept relied less on human presence in space and more on partially self-replicating systems on the Lunar surface under telepresence
Telepresence
Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location....
control of workers stationed on Earth.
See also
- Apollo program
- Aurora programmeAurora ProgrammeThe Aurora programme is a human spaceflight programme of the European Space Agency established in 2001 with the primary objectives of creating, and then implementing, a European long-term plan for exploration of the Solar System using robotic spacecraft and human spaceflight...
- Google Lunar X PrizeGoogle Lunar X PrizeThe Google Lunar X PRIZE, abbreviated GLXP, sometimes referred to as Moon 2.0, is a space competition organized by the X Prize Foundation, and sponsored by Google. It was announced at the Wired Nextfest on 13 September 2007...
- In-Situ Resource UtilizationIn-Situ Resource UtilizationIn space exploration, in-situ resource utilization describes the proposed use of resources found or manufactured on other astronomical objects to further the goals of a space mission....
- Space architectureSpace architectureSpace architecture, in its simplest definition, is the theory and practice of designing and building inhabited environments in outer space. The architectural approach to spacecraft design addresses the total built environment, drawing from diverse disciplines including physiology, psychology, and...
- Lunar Architecture (NASA)
- Lunar GovernmentLunar governmentThe idea of a lunar government is based on established theories of a world government on Earth. With existing plans for lunar bases present in European, American, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and Indian mid- to long-term space goals, the prospects of having a sizable lunar research community on both...
- Lunar outpost (NASA)Lunar outpost (NASA)A lunar outpost was an element of the George W. Bush era Vision for Space Exploration, which has been replaced with President Barack Obama's space policy. The outpost would have been an inhabited facility on the surface of the Moon. At the time it was proposed, NASA was to construct the outpost...
- Lunar space elevatorLunar space elevatorA lunar space elevator is a proposed cable running from the surface of the Moon into space.It is similar in concept to the better known Earth space elevator idea...
- Moon in art and literatureMoon in art and literatureThe Moon has been the subject of many works of art and literature and the inspiration for countless others. It is a motif in the visual arts, the performing arts, poetry, prose and music.-Literary:...
- Moon SocietyMoon SocietyThe Moon Society is a space advocacy organization, founded in 2000, and dedicated to promoting large-scale human exploration, research, and settlement of the Moon.The objectives of the Society are:...
- Lunar Explorers SocietyLunar Explorers SocietyThe Lunar Explorers Society is an organisation dedicated to achieving permanent presence of humanity on the Moon. The Society is open to all people in the world with an interest in Lunar exploration...
- National Space SocietyNational Space SocietyThe National Space Society is an international nonprofit 501, educational, and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy...
- Chandrayaan-1
- Chandrayaan-2Chandrayaan-2Chandrayaan-2 , is a joint lunar exploration mission proposed by the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Russian Federal Space Agency and has a projected cost of...
- Planetary habitabilityPlanetary habitabilityPlanetary habitability is the measure of a planet's or a natural satellite's potential to sustain life. Life may develop directly on a planet or satellite or be transferred to it from another body, a theoretical process known as panspermia...
- Soviet MoonshotSoviet MoonshotThe Soviet manned lunar programs were a series of programs pursued by the Soviet Union to land a man on the Moon in competition with the United States Apollo program to achieve the same goal set publicly by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961...
- Space Frontier FoundationSpace Frontier FoundationThe Space Frontier Foundation is a space advocacy nonprofit corporation organized to promote the interests of increased involvement of the private sector, in collaboration with government, in the exploration and development of space...
- Federation of Galaxy ExplorersFederation of Galaxy ExplorersThe Federation of Galaxy Explorers is a US youth group seeking to "...inspire and educate kids in space related science and engineering. Galaxy Explorers was created to prepare children for the future; a future that advances a space faring civilization."...
- Human outpostHuman outpostHuman outposts are artificially-created, controlled human habitats located in environments inhospitable for humans, such as on the ocean floor, in space or on another planet....
(artificially created controlled human habitat) - Exploration of the MoonExploration of the MoonThe physical exploration of the Moon began when Luna 2, a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made an impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation. The invention of the optical telescope brought about the...
Further reading
- Resource Utilization Concepts for MoonMars; ByIris Fleischer, Olivia Haider, Morten W. Hansen, Robert Peckyno, Daniel Rosenberg and Robert E. Guinness; 30 September 2003; IAC Bremen, 2003 (29 Sept – 03 Oct 2003) and MoonMars Workshop (26-28 Sept 2003, Bremen). Accessed on 18 January 2010 Publisher's book page.
External links
- Space Daily Lunar Polar Ice Not Found With Arecibo Radar. Retrieved December 18, 2004.
- NASA Ames Research Center Eureka! Ice found at Lunar Poles. Retrieved December 18, 2004.
- Cornell News Arecibo radar shows no evidence of thick ice at lunar poles (...). Retrieved December 18, 2004.
- NASA Johnson Space Centre Liftoff! Moon Base Alpha. Last checked January 20, 2005.
- Encyclopedia Astronautica Subcategory: — Manned — Lunar rover. Retrieved December 20, 2004.
- DigitalSpace Concepts A Multi-Function "Service Station" for Lunar Telerobotic Base Preparation. Checked January 29, 2006.
- The vision for space exploration, NASA.
- How Stuff Works — What if we lived on the moon? Retrieved 15 March 2007.
- Wiki devoted to the return to the moon- Lunarpedia
- OpenLuna Foundation OpenLuna.org
- Elements of A South Polar Lunar Settlement http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/elements_for_a_sustainable_lunar_colony_in_the_south_polar_region.shtml