Lunar habitation
Setting up structures on a natural body would provide ample sources of material for their construction, particularly for purposes such as shielding from cosmic radiation.
Some proposals include using electric acceleration devices (mass drivers) to propel objects off the Moon without building rockets.
Furthermore, the Moon does have some gravity, which experience to date indicates may be vital for fetal development and long-term human health.
While some Earth-crosser asteroids occasionally pass closer, the Moon's distance is consistently within a small range close to 384,400 km.
[citation needed] Water transportation via electrolysis A nuclear fission reactor might fulfill most of a Moon base's power requirements.
According to NASA, a nuclear fission power station could generate a steady 40 kilowatts, equivalent to the demand of about eight houses on Earth.
Such nuclear batteries have been used for decades in spacecraft by all major spacefaring nations and some have even been implanted in humans as power sources for medical devices such as pacemakers, meaning their behavior and tradeoffs are well understood.
Pyroprocessing, which has been demonstrated at the Integral Fast Reactor prototype operated by Argonne National Laboratory, could be used instead of the de facto standard PUREX which requires large amounts of organic solvents.
The FSP system concept uses conventional low-temperature stainless steel, liquid metal-cooled reactor technology coupled with Stirling power conversion."
Since lunar regolith contains structural metals like iron and aluminum, solar panels could be mounted high up on locally-built towers that might rotate to follow the Sun.
[40] Examination of images from the Clementine mission in 1994 [41] appear to show that parts of the crater rim are permanently illuminated by sunlight (except during lunar eclipses).
[40] A 1994[42] bistatic radar experiment performed during the Clementine mission suggested the presence of water ice around the south pole.
[47] 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.
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.
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.
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 unknown early on.
Once created, some sort of hardening would be necessary to avoid collapse, possibly a spray-on concrete-like substance made from available materials.
The lunar soil is composed of a unique blend of silica and iron-containing compounds that may be fused into a glass-like solid using microwave energy.
[59] Blacic has studied the mechanical properties of lunar glass and has shown that it is a promising material for making rigid structures, if coated with metal to keep moisture out.
Artificial magnetic fields have been proposed[61][62] as a means to provide radiation shielding for long range deep space crewed missions, and it might be possible to use similar technology on a lunar habitat.
Some regions on the Moon possess strong local magnetic fields that might partially mitigate exposure to charged solar and galactic particles.
Inside, a lightweight pressurized inflatable with the same dome shape would be the living environment for the first human Moon settlers.
[64] On January 31, 2013, the ESA working with Foster + Partners, tested a 3D-printed structure that could be constructed of lunar regolith for use as a Moon base.
The ESA's SMART-1 mission from 2003 to 2006 used conventional chemical rockets to reach orbit and Hall effect thrusters to arrive at the Moon in 13 months.
NASA would have used chemical rockets on its Ares V booster and Altair lander, that were being developed for a planned return to the Moon around 2019, but this was cancelled.
The Soviet Union developed different rover concepts in the Lunokhod series and the L5 for possible use on future crewed missions to the Moon or Mars.
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 - or even higher than - aircraft on Earth.
One significant difference with lunar trains is that the cars would need to be individually sealed and possess their own life support systems.
[citation needed] One way to get materials and products from the Moon to an interplanetary way station might be with a mass driver, a magnetically accelerated projectile launcher.
[citation needed] A lunar space elevator could transport people, raw materials and products to and from an orbital station at Lagrangian points L1 or L2.
