Setting up a moon lab and living there

Why at all we want to set up a moon lab? A research facility at that? Some would like to say we are doing it for just the heck of it. A daring experimental living in space outside earth. So far the International Space Station is the only one of a space living experiment of any kind from our earthlings. Apart from a moon landing by men and couple of unmanned lunar rover survey of the moon, nothing has really been attempted to set up a settlement of sort thing on the moon. Some may call it a lunar outpost. Some may term it a moon base. Answering why set up moon base I come up with a list :1. Prospect of water 2. Helium to cover the energy requirements 3. Low escape velocity and low fuel required to lift off from moon to other planets and into outer space 4. Prospect of precious minerals mining We made points to go up and set up a moon lab/base. Now we may look at the challenges involved in embarking on such a mission. When we want to set up a self-sustaining moon lab with living provision for 100 residents to last for a decade, the first challenge we encounter is lifting off such a large number of crew by a space craft. The fuel requirement would be so high. It would be nice if someone designs a really a futuristic yet a practical current way of designing such a craft to ferry the men and material for setting up such a facility on the surface of moon. One may suggest why not we just ride a space elevator and get dumped on to the moon. A space elevator is just in theory and nothing of that in place. Some designs for moon living have been proposed and outlined but none has looked into this aspect of ferrying such a large number of crew to moon. Men are not comfortable in less and zero gravity. They develop dimineralisation of calcium in their bones leading to bone loss. Just spending some days in space is not serious enough to induce this problem but a prolonged stay as proposed here will definitely be a serious one.So an artificial gravity generation by ingenious means would be nice and in order to avoid the unpleasantness of health being affected over a long period of time. Ok. Assume we have found a way. The designers have to practically do it not just assume. The water has been found on the moon. Let us choose a location where water is aplenty and never will dry out. We have to find that location and dig that out. Once water is found we found the means to generate oxygen from it solving our breathing air problems Then we are not comfortable against cosmic radiation. We wear space-suits all the time. That will not be a normal life. So we choose a place like inside of a crater or lava tubes to set up the facility down there to ensure protection against such radiation.

Moon dust is another irritant that may play havoc by settling on to men and machinery. dust flies everywhere due to the less gravity on moon. We create ways to deal with it. Convert it into something useful as a glass to cover the settlement top to ward off cosmic and ultra violent radiation. Moon has lesser gravity , the pressure would also be thin. We need to pressurize the space settlement to make it equal to earths atmospheric pressure within the settlement. Protection from radiation and the presence of earth like breatheable air will eliminate the need for a space suit within the settlement Then the choosing of a location near north and south pole always bathed in sun light shall give you a power source for the generation of electricity year round through solar panels and illuminating the interiors of the settlement by light focused through the lenses. Nuclear fission is another option to generate electricity.Helium will be useful in fusion based reactors. Commercially no such reactor is in place back on earth. What about food? The energy and functioning requirements of the residents are dependent on it. How we get it? We may grow all food on the moon using some ingenious agriculturing to suit the 354 hour day and 354 night cycle. Moon has extremes of temperatures ranging from -150 degree centigrades to 123 degree c. We have to protect the residents against such huge swings of the temperatures. The communication link up with the earth has to be very strong. So we ensure a 24x7 communication system in place for communicating between residents and the earth. In terms of emergencies earth may send a helping team. The purpose of the moon lab is carrying out primarily research. So we carry on setting an observatory for the exploration of stars where the atmospheric disturbance is the least and we go about prospecting for helium and other precious minerals. Testing of rockets with minimum fuel may be experimented. Research in any other conceivable form suitable on moon should be carried out. Setting up waste mangagement systems and use of such waste for agricultural purposes may also be taken up. Transporation within the settlement and out of it on the surface of moon has to be arranged. Medicinal care, recreation, kitchen, cooking, bath and bed rooms will all be taken into account I wish to go into the elaborate details of each of the above suggested provisions and arrangements. That would defeat the purpose of the challenge for the teams. The teams have to come up with their own plans demonstrating the self-sustaining designs of a research lab for 100 residents to last a decade. But I am giving them the following links for further reference. They may go into it and enlarge upon them to come up with their own ideas and designs

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon 2. http://www.soe.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/gset/lunar.pdf - lunar structures 3. http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2005/04/67110 -moon dust 4. http://www.space.com/2079-solving-settlement-problems-dealing-moon-dust.html This blog/article is not elaborate it in itself it just outlines the areas and points the teams have to take into account in designing the moon lab. Come on guys and gals. Squeeze your brains and come up with ingenious ideas and designs. I am also looking forward to your exciting designs. All the best. -Mohan Sanjeevan.