Colonization of the Moon

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"Moonbase" redirects here. For other uses, see Moonbase (disambiguation).

1986 artist concept of a lunar colony

Colonization of the Moon is the proposed establishment of a permanent human community or

robotic industries on the Moon.[1][2]
Discovery of lunar water at the lunar poles by Chandrayaan-1 in 2008–2009 has renewed interest in
the Moon. Locating such a colony at one of the lunar poles would also avoid the problem of long
lunar nights—about 354 hours long,[3] a little more than two weeks—and allow the colony to take
advantage of the continuous sunlight there for generating solar power.[4]
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 vision of space colonization as an achievable and worthwhile goal has
gained momentum.[5][6] Because of its proximity to Earth, the Moon is seen as the best and most
obvious location for the first permanent off-planet colony. Currently, the main problem hindering the
development of such a colony is the high cost of spaceflight.[7]
There are also several projects that have been proposed for the near future by space tourism startup
companies for tourism on the Moon.

Contents

 1Proposals
o 1.1NASA
o 1.2Project Horizon
o 1.3Lunex Project
o 1.4Sub-surface base
o 1.5Moon Village
o 1.6Other proposals
 2Moon exploration
o 2.1Exploration through 2017
o 2.2Planned crewed lunar missions 2021–2036
o 2.3United States
o 2.4Global organizations
 3Lunar water ice
 4Advantages and disadvantages
 5Locations
o 5.1Polar regions
o 5.2Equatorial regions
o 5.3Far side
o 5.4Lunar lava tubes
 6Structure
o 6.1Habitat
 6.1.1Underground colonies
 6.1.2Surface colonies
o 6.2Moon Capital
o 6.33D printed structures
 7Energy
o 7.1Nuclear power
o 7.2Solar energy
o 7.3Energy storage
 8Transport
o 8.1Earth to Moon
o 8.2On the surface
o 8.3Surface to space
 8.3.1Launch technology
 8.3.2Launch costs
o 8.4Surface to and from cis-lunar space
 9Economic development
o 9.1Space-based materials processing
o 9.2Exporting material to Earth
o 9.3Exporting propellant obtained from lunar water
o 9.4Solar power satellites
 10See also
 11References
 12Further reading
 13External links

Proposals[edit]
Space colonization
 Solar System
o Inner
 Mercury
 Venus
 Earth
 Moon
 Lagrange points
 Mars
 Phobos
 Deimos
o Asteroid mining
 o Free space
o Outer
 Jupiter
 Io
 Europa
 Ganymede
 Callisto
 Saturn
 Titan
 Uranus
 Neptune
 Colonization of Triton
 Trans-Neptunian objects
This box:
 view
 talk
 edit

The notion of a lunar colony 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.[8] Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935), among others, also suggested
such a step.[9]
From the 1950s onwards, a number of concepts and designs have been suggested by scientists,
engineers and others. In 1954, science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke proposed a lunar base of
inflatable modules covered in lunar dust for insulation.[10] 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.[11] The proposed design consisted of a half-
cylinder with half-domes at both ends, with a micrometeoroid shield placed above the base.
NASA[edit]
Main article: Lunar outpost (NASA)
The United States space administration NASA has requested an increase in the 2020 budget of $1.6
billion, in order to make another crewed mission to the Moon by 2024, followed by a sustained
presence on the Moon by 2028.[12]
Project Horizon[edit]
Main article: Project Horizon
Project Horizon was a 1959 study regarding the United States Army's plan to establish a fort on the
Moon by 1967.[13] Heinz-Hermann Koelle, a German rocket engineer of the Army Ballistic Missile
Agency (ABMA) led the Project Horizon study. It was proposed that the first landing would be carried
out by two "soldier-astronauts" in 1965 and that more construction workers would soon follow. It was
posited that through numerous launches (61 Saturn Is and 88 Saturn C-2s), 245 tons of cargo could
be transported to the outpost by 1966.
Lunex Project[edit]
Main article: Lunex Project
Lunex Project was a US Air Force plan for a crewed lunar landing prior to the Apollo Program in
1961. It envisaged a 21-person underground Air Force base on the Moon by 1968 at a total cost of
$7.5 billion.[citation needed]
Sub-surface base[edit]
In 1962, John DeNike and Stanley Zahn published their idea of a sub-surface base located at
the Sea of Tranquility.[10] This base would house a crew of 21, in modules placed four meters below
the surface, which was believed to provide radiation shielding on par with Earth's atmosphere.
DeNike and Zahn favored nuclear reactors for energy production, because they were more efficient
than solar panels, and would also overcome the problems with the long lunar nights. For the life
support system, an algae-based gas exchanger was proposed.[citation needed]
Moon Village[edit]

Scale model of one base concept at the Euro Space Center in Belgium

“ ”
The Moon Village is not one project or one
program. It says, 'Let's do it together.'

— Jan Wörner[14]

The Moon Village concept was presented in 2015.[15] 'Village' in this context refers to international
public and private investors, scientists, engineers, universities, and businessmen coming together to
discuss interests and capabilities to build and share infrastructure on the Moon and in cislunar space
for a variety of purposes. It is neither an ESA project nor a program, but being organized, loosely, by
a nonprofit organization seeking to give a platform for an open international architecture and
collaboration. In other words, Moon Village seeks to create a vision where both international
cooperation and the commercialization of space can thrive.[16][17][18]
The open nature of the concept would encompass any kind of lunar activities, whether robotic or
astronauts, 3D printed habitats, refueling stations, relay orbiters, astronomy, exploiting resources, or
even tourism. The idea is to achieve at least some degree of coordination and exploitation of
potential synergies and to create a permanent sustainable presence on the surface of the Moon,
whether robotic or crewed.[16][17] Jan Wörner, ESA Director General, describes the Village simply as
"an understanding, not a single facility".[19] This initiative is meant as the first step in coming together
as a species and develop the partnerships and "know how" before attempting to do the same on
Mars.[16][20] The Director General of ESA, Jan Wörner, states that this vision of synergy can be as
inspiring as the International Space Station but on a truly global, international-cooperation basis, and
he proposes this approach as a replacement for the orbiting International Space Station, which is
due to be decommissioned in 2024.[20][21]
China has expressed interest,[22][23] and NASA has also expressed interest in the potential synergy it
offers to the proposed Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway.[18][24] The private aerospace company Blue
Origin has also expressed early interest and offered to develop a cargo lander with a 4,500 kg
(9,900 lb) capacity of usable payload.[25] Astronaut Buzz Aldrin has long urged his fellow Americans
to cooperate with international partners to reach the Moon.[26]
While Woerner is the most famous advocate for Moon Village, it is not an ESA program. Instead, the
concept is being organized, loosely, by a nonprofit organization established in November 2017
called the Moon Village Association.[27][28] It is a non-profit organization, registered in Vienna with the
mission to create a global forum for the development of the Moon Village, and to potentially
implement a permanent human settlement near the lunar south pole, taking advantage of near-
continuous sunlight and nearby deposits of ice and other useful volatiles.[27]
Other proposals[edit]

Concept art from NASA showing astronauts entering a lunar outpost

In 2007, Jim Burke, of the International Space University 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.[29] Subsequent planning may be taken up by the International Lunar
Exploration Working Group (ILEWG).[30][31][32]

Moon exploration[edit]
Exploration through 2017[edit]
Main articles: Exploration of the Moon and List of missions to the Moon
Exploration of the lunar surface by spacecraft began in 1959 with the Soviet Union'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 robotic lunar explorations.
Responding to the Soviet program of space exploration, US President John F. Kennedy in 1961 told
the US 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.
Crewed 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 Apollo 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. The use of a
crewed vehicle on the Moon's surface was demonstrated in 1971 with the Lunar Roving
Vehicle 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
crewed missions in near Earth orbit.
In addition to its scientific returns, the Apollo program also provided valuable lessons about living
and working in the lunar environment.[33]
The Soviet crewed lunar programs failed to send a crewed 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 the Moon about four months only but covered a
third more distance. 1974 saw the end of the Soviet Moonshot, two years after the last American
crewed landing. Besides the crewed landings, an abandoned Soviet Moon program included building
the moonbase "Zvezda", which was the first detailed project with developed mockups of expedition
vehicles[34] and surface modules.[35]
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,[36][37] as
did the potential growth of a Chinese space program that contemplated its own mission to the
Moon.[38] 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.[39] However, in September 2009, the Chandrayaan probe of India, carrying
an ISRO instrument, discovered that the lunar soil contains 0.1% water by weight, overturning
hypotheses that had stood for 40 years.[40]
In 2004, US President George W. Bush called for a plan to return crewed missions to the Moon by
2020 (since cancelled – see Constellation program). On June 18, 2009,
NASA's LCROSS/LRO mission to the Moon was launched. The LCROSS mission was designed to
acquire research information to assist with future lunar exploratory missions and was scheduled to
conclude with a controlled collision of the craft on the lunar surface.[41] LCROSS's mission concluded
as scheduled with its controlled impact on October 9, 2009.[42][43]
In 2010, due to reduced congressional NASA appropriations, President Barack Obama halted the
Bush administration's earlier lunar exploration initiative and directed a generic focus on crewed
missions to asteroids and Mars, as well as extending support for the International Space Station.[44]
Planned crewed lunar missions 2021–2036[edit]
As of 2016, Russia is planning to begin building a human colony on the Moon by 2030. Initially, the
Moon base would be crewed by no more than four people, with their number later rising to maximum
of 12 people.[45] Japan also has plans to land a man on the Moon by 2030,[46] while the People's
Republic of China is currently planning to land a human on the Moon by 2036 (see Chinese Lunar
Exploration Program).[47]
United States[edit]
A stated goal of aerospace company SpaceX is to enable the creation of a colony on the Moon using
its upcoming BFR launch system.[citation needed] Billionaire Jeff Bezos has outlined his plans for a lunar
base in the 2020s [48]
In March 2019 NASA unveiled the Artemis program's mission to send a crewed mission to the Moon
by 2024,[49] along with plans to establish an outpost in 2028.[50]
Global organizations[edit]
In August 2019, the Open Lunar Foundation came out of stealth with an explicit plan to develop a
collaborative and global open group to allow denizens of all nations to participate in building a
peaceful and cooperative lunar settlement. The effort got underway in early 2018 when a group
of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs came together after realizing that significantly-reduced launch
costs of private companies could make possible a lunar settlement that might be instantiated with
an investment of "single-digit billions", perhaps US$2–3 billion. Founders include Steve
Jurvetson, Will Marshall, Chelsea Robinson, Jessy Kate Schingler, Chris Hadfield, and Pete
Worden. Initial funding for Open Lunar was US$5 million.[51]

Lunar water ice[edit]

Main article: Lunar water

Beginning with a full-frame Moon in this video, the camera flies to the lunar south pole and shows areas of
permanent shadow. Realistic shadows evolve through several months.

On September 24, 2009, Science magazine reported that the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on
the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-1 had detected water on the
Moon.[52] M3 detected absorption features near 2.8–3.0 μm (0.00011–0.00012 in) on the surface of
the Moon. For silicate bodies, such features are typically attributed to hydroxyl- and/or water-bearing
materials. On the Moon, the feature is seen as a widely distributed absorption that appears strongest
at cooler high latitudes and at several fresh feldspathic craters. The general lack of correlation of this
feature in sunlit M3 data with neutron spectrometer H abundance data suggests that the formation
and retention of OH and H2O is an ongoing surficial process. OH/H2O production processes may
feed polar cold traps and make the lunar regolith a candidate source of volatiles for human
exploration.
The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer, was one of the 11 instruments on
board Chandrayaan-1, whose mission came to a premature end on 29 August 2009.[53] M3 was
aimed at providing the first mineral map of the entire lunar surface.
Lunar scientists had discussed the possibility of water repositories for decades. They are now
increasingly "confident that the decades-long debate is over" a report says. "The Moon, in fact, has
water in all sorts of places; not just locked up in minerals, but scattered throughout the broken-
up surface, and, potentially, in blocks or sheets of ice at depth." The results from
the Chandrayaan mission are also "offering a wide array of watery signals."[54][55]
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,
president of the Mars Society, 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."[56] Although the
Moon is very dry on the whole, the spot where the LCROSS impactor hit was chosen for a high
concentration of water ice. Dr. Zubrin's computations are not a sound basis for estimating the
percentage of water in the regolith at that site. Researchers with expertise in that area estimated that
the regolith at the impact site contained 5.6 ± 2.9% water ice, and also noted the presence of other
volatile substances. Hydrocarbons, material containing sulfur, carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, methane and ammonia were present.[57]
In March 2010, ISRO 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.[58]
In March 2014, researchers who had previously published reports on possible abundance of water
on the Moon, reported new findings that refined their predictions substantially lower.[59]
In 2018, it was announced that M3 infrared data from Chandrayaan-1 had been re-analyzed to
confirm the existence of water across wide expanses of the Moon's polar regions.[60]

Advantages and disadvantages[edit]

Further information: Space colonization
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 source of construction materials within cis-lunar space. Rockets launched from the Moon would
require less locally produced propellant than rockets launched from Earth. Some proposals include
using electric acceleration devices (mass drivers) 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.[61][62] 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 asteroids occasionally pass closer, the Moon's distance is consistently within a small range
close to 384,400 km. This proximity has several advantages:

 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.[63] The lunar soil, although it
poses a problem for any moving parts of telescopes, can be mixed with carbon
nanotubes and epoxies in the construction of mirrors up to 50 meters in diameter.[64][65] It is
relatively nearby; astronomical seeing is not a concern; certain craters near the poles are
permanently dark and cold, and thus especially useful for infrared telescopes; and radio
telescopes on the far side would be shielded from the radio chatter of Earth.[66] A lunar zenith
telescope can be made cheaply with ionic liquid.[67]
 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 hectare space farm could feed 100 people.[68]
There are several disadvantages to the Moon as a colony site:

 The long lunar night would impede reliance on solar power and require that a colony exposed to
the sunlit equatorial surface be designed to withstand large temperature extremes (about 95 K
(−178.2 °C) to about 400 K (127 °C)). An exception to this restriction are the so-called "peaks of
eternal light" located at the lunar north pole that are constantly bathed in sunlight. The rim
 of Shackleton Crater, 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
temperature 1 meter below the surface of the Moon is estimated to be near constant over the
period of a month varying with latitude from near 220 K (−53 °C) at the equator to near 150 K
(−123 °C) at the poles.[69]
 The Moon is highly depleted in volatile elements, such as nitrogen and hydrogen. Carbon, which
forms volatile oxides, is also depleted. A number of robot probes including Lunar
Prospector gathered evidence of hydrogen generally in the Moon's crust consistent with what
would be expected from solar wind, and higher concentrations near the poles.[70] There had been
some disagreement whether the hydrogen must necessarily be in the form of water. The 2009
mission of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) proved that there is
water on the Moon.[71] This water exists in ice form perhaps mixed in small crystals in
the regolith in a colder landscape than people have ever mined. Other volatiles containing
carbon and nitrogen were found in the same cold trap as ice.[57] 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 imports. 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 plastics.[citation needed] The 2006
announcement by the Keck Observatory that the binary Trojan asteroid 617 Patroclus,[72] and
possibly large numbers of other Trojan objects in Jupiter'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 Network 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.
 The lack of a substantial atmosphere for insulation results in temperature extremes and makes
the Moon's surface conditions somewhat like a deep space vacuum.[citation needed] 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 rays and the risk of proton exposure from the solar wind. Lunar rubble can protect living
quarters from cosmic rays.[73] Shielding against solar flares 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.[74] This causes a negative charge build up from −200 V to
−1000 V. See Magnetic field of the Moon.
 Moon dust is an extremely abrasive glassy substance formed by micrometeorites and
unrounded due to the lack of weathering. It sticks to everything, can damage equipment, and it
may be toxic. Since it is bombarded by charged particles in the solar wind, it is highly ionized,
and is extremely harmful when breathed in. During the 1960s and 70s Apollo missions,
astronauts were subject to respiratory problems on return flights from the Moon, for this
reason.[75][76]
 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.[77] 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 program in
the 1970s suggest it is possible to grow conventional crops with the 354-hour light, 354-hour
dark cycle.[78] A variety of concepts for lunar agriculture have been proposed,[79] 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.[80]

Locations[edit]
Further information: Geology of the Moon
Soviet astronomer Vladislav V. Shevchenko proposed in 1988 the following three criteria that a lunar
outpost should meet:[citation needed]

 good conditions for transport operations;

 a great number of different types of natural objects and features on the Moon of scientific
interest; and
 natural resources, such as oxygen. The abundance of certain minerals, such as iron oxide,
varies dramatically over the lunar surface.[81]
While a colony might be located anywhere, potential locations for a lunar colony fall into three broad
categories.
Polar regions[edit]
There are two reasons why the north pole and south pole of the Moon might be attractive locations
for a human colony. First, there is evidence for the presence of water in some continuously shaded
areas near the poles.[82] Second, the Moon's axis of rotation is sufficiently close to being
perpendicular to the ecliptic plane that the radius of the Moon's polar circles is less than 50 km.
Power collection stations could therefore be plausibly located so that at least one is exposed to
sunlight at all times, thus making it possible to power polar colonies almost exclusively with solar
energy. Solar power would be unavailable only during a lunar eclipse, but these events are relatively
brief and absolutely predictable. Any such colony would therefore require a reserve energy supply
that could temporarily sustain a colony during lunar eclipses or in the event of any incident or
malfunction affecting solar power collection. Hydrogen fuel cells would be ideal for this purpose,
since the hydrogen needed could be sourced locally using the Moon's polar water and surplus solar
power. Moreover, due to the Moon's uneven surface 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:

 It is exposed to the Sun most of the time (see Peak of Eternal Light); two closely spaced arrays
of solar panels would receive nearly continuous power.[83]
 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 astronomical observation.
An infrared instrument would benefit from the very low temperatures. A radio telescope would
benefit from being shielded from Earth's broad spectrum radio interference.[83]
 The nearby Shoemaker and other craters are in constant deep shadow, and might contain
valuable concentrations of hydrogen and other volatiles.[83]
 At around 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) elevation, it offers line of sight communications over a
large area of the Moon, as well as to Earth.[83]
 The South Pole-Aitken basin is located at the lunar south 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,[84] 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 chapter on lunar architecture.[84]
At the north pole, the rim of Peary Crater has been proposed as a favorable location for a
base.[85] Examination of images from the Clementine mission appear to show that parts of the crater
rim are permanently illuminated by sunlight (except during lunar eclipses).[85] As a result, the
temperature conditions are expected to remain very stable at this location, averaging −50 °C
(−58 °F).[85] This is comparable to winter conditions in Earth's Poles of Cold in Siberia and Antarctica.
The interior of Peary Crater may also harbor hydrogen deposits.[85]
A 1994[86] bistatic radar experiment performed during the Clementine mission suggested the
presence of water ice around the south pole.[36][87] The Lunar Prospector spacecraft reported in 2008
enhanced hydrogen abundances at the south pole and even more at the north pole.[88] 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.[89] This interpretation, however, is not universally agreed upon.[90]
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.[91]
Equatorial regions[edit]
The lunar equatorial regions are likely to have higher concentrations of helium-3 (rare on Earth but
much sought after for use in nuclear fusion research) because the solar wind has a higher angle of
incidence.[92] 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.
Far side[edit]
The lunar far side lacks direct communication with Earth, though a communication satellite at
the L2 Lagrangian point, or a network of orbiting satellites, could enable communication between the
far side of the Moon and Earth.[93] The far side is also a good location for a large radio telescope
because it is well shielded from the Earth.[94] Due to the lack of atmosphere, the location is also
suitable for an array of optical telescopes, similar to the Very Large Telescope in Chile.[63]
Scientists have estimated that the highest concentrations of helium-3 can 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.[95]
Lunar lava tubes[edit]
High Sun view of a 100 meter deep lunar pit crater that may provide access to a lava tube

Lunar lava tubes are a potential location for constructing a lunar base. 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.
An underground colony would escape the extreme of temperature on the Moon's surface. The
average temperature on the surface of 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).[96] Underground, both periods would be around −23 °C (−9 °F), and humans could install
ordinary heaters.[97]
One such lava tube was discovered in early 2009.[98]

Structure[edit]
Habitat[edit]
There have been numerous proposals regarding habitat modules. The designs have evolved
throughout the years as humankind'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. 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. Proposals
have shifted as these hazards were recognized and taken into consideration.
Underground colonies[edit]
Some suggest building the lunar colony underground, which would give protection from radiation and
micrometeoroids. This would also greatly reduce the risk of air leakage, as the colony would be fully
sealed from the outside except for a few exits to the surface.
The construction of an underground base would probably be more complex; one of the first
machines from Earth might be a remote-controlled excavating machine. Once created, some sort of
hardening would be necessary to avoid collapse, possibly a spray-on concrete-like substance made
from available materials.[99] A more porous insulating material also made in-situ could then be
applied. Rowley & Neudecker have suggested "melt-as-you-go" machines that would leave glassy
internal surfaces.[100] 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. An alternative solution is studied in Europe by students to excavate a habitat in the ice-
filled craters of the Moon.[101]
Surface colonies[edit]

Variant for habitat creation on the surface or over lava tube

A NASA model of a proposed inflatable module

A possibly easier solution would be to build the lunar base on the surface, and cover the modules
with lunar soil. 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.[102] 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.[103] This may allow for the use of "lunar bricks" in
structural designs, or the vitrification of loose dirt to form a hard, ceramic crust.
A lunar base built on the surface would need to be protected by 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[104][105] 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 colony. Some regions on the
Moon possess strong local magnetic fields that might partially mitigate exposure to charged solar
and galactic particles.[106]
In a turn from the usual engineer-designed lunar habitats, London-based Foster +
Partners architectural firm proposed a building construction 3D-printer technology in January 2013
that would use lunar regolith raw materials to produce lunar building structures while using enclosed
inflatable habitats for housing the human occupants inside the hard-shell lunar structures. Overall,
these habitats would require only ten percent of the structure mass to be transported from Earth,
while using local lunar materials for the other 90 percent of the structure mass.[107] "Printed" lunar soil
would provide both "radiation and temperature insulation. Inside, a lightweight pressurized inflatable
with the same dome shape would be the living environment for the first human Moon
settlers."[107] The building technology would include mixing lunar material with magnesium oxide,
which would turn the "moonstuff into a pulp that can be sprayed to form the block" when a binding
salt is applied that "converts [this] material into a stone-like solid."[107] Terrestrial versions of this 3D-
printing building technology are already printing 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) of building material per hour with
the next-generation printers capable of 3.5 metres (11 ft) per hour, sufficient to complete a building
in a week.[107]
Moon Capital[edit]
In 2010, The Moon Capital Competition offered a prize for a 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 was provided primarily by the Boston Society of
Architects, Google Lunar X Prize and The New England Council of the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics.[108]
3D printed structures[edit]

1.5-metric-ton (3,300 lb) block 3D printed from simulated lunar dust, to demonstrate the feasibility of
constructing a Moon base using local materials.

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.[109]

Energy[edit]
Nuclear power[edit]
A nuclear fission reactor might fulfill most of a Moon base's power requirements.[110] 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.[110] 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.[111]
Radioisotope thermoelectric generators could be used as backup and emergency power sources for
solar powered colonies.
One specific development program in the 2000s was the Fission Surface Power (FSP) project
of NASA and DOE, a fission power system focused on "developing and demonstrating a nominal 40
kWe power system to support human exploration missions. The FSP system concept uses
conventional low-temperature stainless steel, liquid metal-cooled reactor technology coupled
with Stirling power conversion." As of 2010, significant component hardware testing had been
successfully completed, and a non-nuclear system demonstration test was being fabricated.[112][needs
update]

Helium-3 mining could be used to provide a substitute for tritium for potential production of fusion
power in the future.
Solar energy[edit]
Further information: Peak of eternal light

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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 or 14.75
Earth days) 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 crater near the north pole.
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. 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.
Energy storage[edit]
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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 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. 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.
Even if lunar colonies could provide themselves access to a near-continuous source of solar energy,
they would still need to maintain fuel cells or an alternate energy storage system to sustain
themselves during lunar eclipses and emergency situations.

Transport[edit]
Earth to Moon[edit]
Conventional rockets have been used for most lunar explorations to date. 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 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 four at a time in
NASA's Orion spacecraft.
Proposed concepts of Earth-Moon transportation are Space elevators.[113][114]
On the surface[edit]

A lunar rover being unloaded from a cargo spacecraft. Conceptual drawing

Lunar colonists would need the ability 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
pressurized modules with lab equipment, and also a few flying or hopping vehicles.[citation needed]
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 (as of 2008) are the three Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicles (LRV), developed
by Boeing, the two robotic Soviet Lunokhods and the Chinese Yutu rover in 2013. 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 crewed pressurized 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 crewed missions to the Moon or Mars. These rover designs were all
pressurized for longer sorties.[115]
If multiple bases were established on the lunar surface, they could be linked together by permanent
railway systems. Both conventional and magnetic levitation (Maglev) 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. One significant difference with lunar trains, however, is that the cars would need to be
individually sealed and possess their own life support systems.[citation needed]
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, while Bell proposed the Manned Flying
System, a similar concept.[citation needed]
Surface to space[edit]
Launch technology[edit]
A lunar base with a mass driver (the long structure that goes toward the horizon). NASA conceptual illustration

Experience so far indicates that launching human beings into space is much more expensive than
launching cargo.[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. Cargo would be picked up from orbit
or an Earth-Moon Lagrangian point by a shuttle craft using ion propulsion, solar sails 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.[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. Chemical rockets would take a payload from Earth to
the L1 lunar Lagrange location. From there a tether would slowly lower the payload to a soft landing
on the lunar surface.[citation needed]
Other possibilities include a momentum exchange tether system.[citation needed]
Launch costs[edit]

 Estimates of the cost per unit mass 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.[116][117][118] 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%.[119] 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.[120] 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.
 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 would be more expensive than production costs 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 silane,[121] 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 would be an impediment to colonization.
Surface to and from cis-lunar space[edit]
A cislunar transport system has been proposed using tethers to achieve momentum
exchange.[122] 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[edit]
For long-term sustainability, a space colony should be close to self-sufficient. Mining and refining the
Moon's materials on-site – for use both on the Moon and elsewhere in the Solar System – could
provide an advantage over deliveries from Earth, as they can be launched into space at a much
lower energy cost than from Earth. It is possible that large amounts of cargo would need to be
launched into space for interplanetary exploration in the 21st century, and the lower cost of providing
goods from the Moon might be attractive.[99]
Space-based materials processing[edit]
In the long term, the Moon will likely play an important role in supplying space-based construction
facilities with raw materials.[115] Zero gravity in space allows for the processing of materials in ways
impossible or difficult on Earth, such as "foaming" metals, 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. The annealing process 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.)
Exporting material to Earth[edit]
Exporting material to Earth in trade from the Moon is more problematic due to the cost of
transportation, which would vary greatly if the Moon is industrially developed (see "Launch costs"
above). One suggested trade commodity is helium-3 (3He) which is carried by the solar wind and
accumulated on the Moon's surface over billions of years, but occurs only rarely on Earth.[123] Helium-
3 might be present in the lunar regolith in quantities of 0.01 ppm to 0.05 ppm (depending on soil). In
2006 it had a market price of about $1,500 per gram ($1.5M per kilogram), more than 120 times the
value per unit weight of gold and over eight times the value of rhodium.
In the future 3He harvested from the Moon may have a role as a fuel in thermonuclear fusion
reactors.[123][124] It should require about 100 metric tons (220,000 lb) of helium-3 to produce the
electricity that Earth uses in a year and there should be enough on the Moon to provide that much
for 10,000 years.[125]
Exporting propellant obtained from lunar water[edit]
To reduce the cost of transport, the Moon could store propellants produced from lunar water at one
or several depots between the Earth and the Moon, to resupply rockets or satellites in Earth
orbit.[126] The Shackleton Energy Company estimate investment in this infrastructure could cost
around $25 billion.[127]
Solar power satellites[edit]
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 Moon.[128] Launch costs from the
Moon would vary greatly if the Moon is industrially developed (see "Launch costs" above). This
proposal was based on the contemporary estimates of future launch costs of the 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.[129]
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.[130] 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.