Why colonize the moon

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By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Share Twit Share Email. March 21, Explore further. Citation : Why colonize the Moon before going to Mars? This document is subject to copyright.

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Tiny chip provides a big boost in precision optics 10 hours ago. Load comments 0. Let us know if there is a problem with our content. Your message to the editors. The creation of this village would rely on the same inter-agency partnerships as the ISS, as well as partnerships between governments and private interests.

It goes without saying that the creation of a lunar colony would be a massive commitment in terms of time, resources and energy. While the development of reusable rockets and other measures are reducing the costs of individual launches, sending payloads to the Moon is still a very expensive venture — especially where multiple heavy launches would be called for. Most of the lunar surface is also exposed to impacts from meteoroids and micrometeoroids.

The Moon also has an atmosphere that is tenuous, it is practically vacuum. This is part of the reason why the Moon goes through such extremes in temperature and why the surface is pockmarked by impacts i. It also means that any settlements will have to be airtight, pressurized and insulated against the external environment. The lack of an atmosphere as well as a magnetosphere also means that the surface is exposed to far more radiation that what we are used to here on Earth.

This includes solar radiation, which gets much worse during a solar event, and cosmic rays. Since the beginning of the Space Age, multiple proposals have been made for how and where a lunar colony could be built.

The where is of particular importance since any settlement will have to provide a degree of protection from the elements. One of the main draws of this region is the fact that it is permanently shadowed, which mean that it experiences much more stable temperatures. In addition, multiple missions have confirmed the presence of water ice in the region, which could be harvested to make everything from hydrogen or hydrazene fuel and oxygen gas to drinking and irrigation water.

Beyond that, any attempt to colonize the Moon will need to leverage technologies like additive manufacturing aka. The base or bases will also need to be manufactured and supplies as much as possible using local resources, a method known as in-situ resource utilization ISRU.

NASA and the ESA have been exploring the concept for many years and both have produced their own methods for turning lunar regolith and other resources into usable materials. Their proposed method for building this base consists of placing inflatable frameworks on the surface which would then be covered with a form of concrete made from lunar regolith, magnesium oxide, and a binding salt. This consists of melting regolith by bombarding it with microwaves, then printing it out as a molten ceramic.

Other ideas involve building habitats into the ground and having an upper level that provides access to the surface and allows natural light in. This concept was presented by civil engineer Marco Peroni at the AIAA Space and Astronautics Forum and Exposition and consists of transparent domes enclosed by a torus of high-voltage cables. This torus would provide active magnetic shielding against radiation and would allow for settlements to be built anywhere on the surface. The abundance of ice around the polar regions will provide settlers with a steady source of water for drinking, irrigation, and could even be processed to produce fuel and breathable oxygen.

A strict recycling regimen will be needed to ensure that waste is kept to a minimum , and composting toilets will most likely be used instead of flush toilets. These composting toilets could be combined with lunar regolith to create growing soil, which could then be irrigated using locally-harvested water. This would be essential seeing as how the lunar colonists would need to grow much of their own food to reduce the number of shipments that would need to be sent from Earth on a regular basis.

Lunar water could also be used as a source of power if the colonies are equipped with electrolysis batteries where water molecules are split into hydrogen and oxygen and the hydrogen is burned. Other power sources could include solar arrays, which could be built around the rims of craters and channel power to the settlements within them.

Space-based solar power would also be able to provide abundant energy to settlements all over the lunar landscape. Nuclear reactors are another option, as are fusion tokamak reactors. This latter option is especially attractive given the fact that Helium-3 a power source for fusion reactors is more abundant on the lunar surface than on Earth.

To be fair, establishing a colony on any of the celestial bodies in our Solar System has some serious potential benefits. But having a colony on the nearest celestial body to Earth would be particularly beneficial.

Not only would we be able to conduct research, extract resources, and reap the benefits of new technologies, having a base on the Moon would facilitate missions and colonization efforts to other planets and moons. To put it simply, a colony on the Moon could act as stepping stone to Mars, Venus, the Asteroid Belt, and beyond.

By having infrastructure on the surface of the Moon and in orbit — which could refuel and repair spacecraft heading farther out into the Solar System — we could shave billions off the costs of deep-space missions. Yesterday on futurism. Best Gifts For Gamers in Keep up. Subscribe to our daily newsletter to keep in touch with the subjects shaping our future. Topics About Us Contact Us. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Futurism.

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