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Moonbase

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Moonbase (disambiguation).
Tranquility Base:[1] (L to R) Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, scientific equipment, Apollo Lunar Module Eagle; US flag and television camera in back (photo by Neil Armstrong)

Moonbases are proposed extraterrestrial bases, supporting robotic or human activity on lunar surface, by providing surface infrastructure[2]. It is hoped to be more than a mere site of activity or temporary camp[3]. Missions to the Moon have realized single-mission bases, (Tranquility Base being the first), as well as some small permanent infrastructure like lunar laser ranging installations and Foundation Surface Habitat (FSH)[4], but NASA seems inclinded to chose the lunar south pole as a landmark for future bases. Therefore, the proposed site for the first major, modern, long-term moon base (under NASA's Artemis program) has been selected. NASA has chosen to focus on the lunar South Pole region, specifically identifying 13 potential landing spots for the first crewed missions, with the Shackleton Connecting Ridge being a prime candidate[5].

Plans for establishing moonbases, with surface or sub-surface research stations, have also been proposed and are actively being pursued nationally and increasingly internationally under NASA leadership[6]. As a matter of fact, the Artemis Agreetment itself suggests that it's a multinational effort meant to bring together the world's brightest minds ,,to commit to responsible space exploration for the benefit of all humanity''[7]. It is important to note the fact that The Artemis Accords reinforce the commitment by signatory nations to The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, The Registration Convention, The Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as other best practices and norms of responsible behavior for civil space exploration and use[8]. Under international space law, specifically the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the Moon and other celestial bodies are not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means, which means per se that any base built on the surface on the Moon would be considered as built in ,,international waters''[9]. The practice of these international treaties remains notheless a subject of intense debate as The Second Space Race is heating up which by itself would lead to a new era of space exploration and technological development. It is important to note the fact that a special Wikipedia page should be dedicate for this unique subject as history is being written right before our eyes[10]. Still, the main competitors in this new era are The Unitated States of America and The People's Republic of China. This is due to the fact that Russia initially had it's own plan for a lunar base[11].

Moon bases are now being designed and developed primarily as permanent or semi-permanent, high-tech research facilities, serving as crucial testbeds for technology and science that will eventually enable human exploration of Mars and beyond. These bases, often planned near the lunar South Pole to harness continuous sunlight and access water ice, are not just temporary camps but rather hubs for scientific, geological, and astronomical research[12]. The Moon offers a unique, stable environment for telescopes, with the far side being an excellent location for radio astronomy without interference from Earth[13]. These future lunar bases will also be used to investigate the Moon’s formation, explore lava tube caves, where other future bases could be built as they provide both protection against cosmic radiation[14] and natural insulation[15]. Future research will also heavily focused on using local resources, by ,,living of the land'', such as turning regolith into 3D-printed materials for construction or extracting water and oxygen[16]. As main goal though, multiples countries, under NASA leadership on one hand, and People's Republic of China, and on the other, future ,,colonists'' will the low gravity effect on the human body and more about using solar power to sustain their bases[17]. It is considered that the Moon would provide a grand leap forward on the way to the Red Planet[18], of which Elon Musk is a great supporter[19]. Elon Musk is also heavily involved in the preparations for the upcoming future lunar base with the Starship programm[20] and other pieced of critical rocket infrastucture[21], stating on X (formally Twitter) that: ,,A permanently crewed lunar science base would be far more impressive than a repeat of what was already done incredibly well by Apollo in 1969''[22]. This particular situation reffers to the fact that the rocket development delay could cause NASA to look for other partners[23].

Considering the fact that a lunar day lasts for 2 weeks and the night for 2 more[24], solar power could not be sufficient to power up a lunar base[25]. Therefore, there came the idea of building a nuclear reactor on lunar surface[26]. As NASA itself is suggesting, a lunar base would not be a temporary outpost or a mission campaign similar to The Apollo Programm, this is meant to be a first and permanent human settlement on the surface of the Moon, which by definition would the first of it's kind in outer space[27]. As a matter of fact, to maximize the chances of succes and to hurry up preparations, NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy have signed a deal for the development of a nuclear reactor which is hoped to be finished by the year 2030. This is part of their larger renewed commitments to their longstanding partnership to support the research and development of a fission surface power system for use on the Moon under the Artemis campaign and future NASA missions to Mars. A recently signed memorandum of understanding between the agencies solidifies this collaboration and advances President Trump’s vision of American space superiority by deploying nuclear reactors on the Moon. This grand and ambitious effort by NASA will ensure the United States leads the world in space exploration and space commerce. In fact, nuclear power is considered to be an important part of any NASA future Moon bases plan, as NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says[28]. Considering the importance of the future lunar base, NASA and the DOE (The U.S. Department of Energy), along with partners like Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse, and IX (a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and X Energy), are putting peddle to the metal meet the 2030 deployment deadline[29].

The future nuclear reactor will likely use low-enriched uranium, using heat pipes with liquid metal for cooling, and will be designed to operate for at least 10 years without refueling[30]. The reactor now being designed to launch with cold, unirradiated fuel, activating only after reaching the moon. It will likely be shielded with moon soil (regolith) and operated remotely[31]. In fact, research shows that lunar regolith-based geopolymers can act like cement concrete for building, and lasers can melt it to create solid landing pads and roads[32]. In the meanwhile, The IPEx (ISRU Pilot Excavator) is also being currently developed to be able to move at least 10 metric tons of regolith[33], therefore helping to build structures[34] and extract water in the form of ice which is mixed to regolith[35]. Functioning as both a bulldozer and a dump truck, The IPEx is being engineered to efficiently mine and transport lunar regolith, the loose rocky material on the Moon’s surface, which is crucial for future lunar missions and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) processes[36]. The IPEx will therefore be the next generation of robotic excavators to use bucket drums as excavation tools[37]. This new revolutionary piece of engineering could as well be used to carry thick layers of compacted regolith over the lunar habbitats which will provide the necessary shielding for astronauts against cosmic radiation and micrometeoroids. This is part of a larger NASA - ESA (European Space Agency) partnership meant to build human infrastructure on the Moon from lunar soil, including by heating it into compressed & reinforced lunar structural material[38]. Water would have to be extracted, as mentioned before, and it is not typically found as large, pure ice sheets or glaciers, but rather as small ice crystals, chunks, and molecules intimately mixed within the regolith, forming what is sometimes described as a "dirty ice" or cemented permafrost-like mixture[39]. This is due to the fact that over billions of years, the lunar surface has been constantly hit by meteorites and micrometeorites. This process, called "impact gardening," churned the soil, mixing ice that may have landed or formed on the surface deeper into the regolith layer[40].

NASA’s flagship Artemis program aims to therefore return humans to the lunar surface and to ultimately build a permanent lunar outpost. The first crewed missions of the program, Artemis 2 and 3, were recently delayed by nearly one year in order to address technical challenges impinging upon crew safety.  Artemis 3 might slip a bit further due to the long development roadmap for the Starship lunar lander.  However, these setbacks have not diminished NASA’s ambitions for the long-term future of its lunar program.  A recent paper by three aerospace engineers provides the first details on the interior of the Foundation Surface Habitat, which will become humanity’s first ever permanent home on another celestial body. This facility, which will be known as The Artemis Base Camp (or ABC), will be located near the lunar south pole in order to access deposits of water ice in permanently-shadowed craters.  It will feature pressurized and unpressurized rovers, nuclear power systems, cargo landers for logistics, and instruments for geophysics and astronomy[41].  Astronauts, which at first will inhabit the habitat on a rotational basis, similar to the ISS, will in time become permanent residents[42].  Two of the four crewmembers will venture out into the lunar landscape to collect samples in a pressurized rover which will be analized inside the compound. In the grand scheme of things, the famous Toyota japanese car maker names the vehicle as The Lunar Cruiser which seeks to achieve a high level of mobility and allow astronauts to explore safely and comfortably on the lunar surface. Toyota adds it's high manufacturing expertise to this endeavor by offering reliability, durability, driving performance, and FC (fuel cell) technology that Toyota has cultivated through long years of vehicle development. Technologies developed for the Moon can then be fed back to Earth and be used to create better vehicles and develop technologies for sustainable society and the planet itself[43].

The foundation of a first human colony, or research base, rather said (for the very beginning), involves a lot of effort. Scientists and engineers are helping NASA to determine the precise location of the Artemis Base Camp concept. Among the many things NASA takes into account in choosing a specific location are two key features: The site must bask in near continuous sunlight to power the base and moderate extreme temperature swings, and it must offer easy access to areas of complete darkness that hold water ice which can be extracted and used in the camp, as mentioned above. While the South Pole region has many well-illuminated areas, some parts see more or less light than others. Scientists have found that at some higher elevations, such as on crater rims, astronauts would see longer periods of light. But the bottoms of some deep craters are shrouded in near constant darkness, since sunlight at the South Pole strikes at such a low angle it only brushes their rims. These unique lighting conditions have to do with the Moon’s tilt and with the topography of the South Pole region. Unlike Earth’s 23.5-degree tilt, the Moon is tilted only 1.5 degrees on its axis. As a result, neither of the Moon’s hemispheres tips noticeably toward or away from the Sun throughout the year as it does on Earth — a phenomenon that gives us sunnier and darker seasons here. This also means that the height of the Sun in the sky at the lunar poles doesn’t change much during the day. If a person were standing on a hilltop near the lunar South Pole during daylight hours, at any time of year, they would see the Sun moving across the horizon, skimming the surface like a flashlight laying on a table[44]. As part of the training for the future astronauts to be sent at the future lunar base, NASA takes into account high physical capacity for some of the crew as it plans to train the very first ,,lunar mountaineers''. This is due to the fact that NASA considers important for astronauts to be able to take short trips into permanently dark lunar craters[45].

To enhance communication between Earth and the lunar base, radio communication systems are not only being planned, but are also actively being developed, tested, and deployed in mock lunar camps for the very first sustainable Moon bases as part of NASA’s Artemis program and other international efforts[46]. Therefore, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate awarded Nokia $14.1 million to deploy the first LTE/4G communications system in space. The system could support lunar surface communications at greater distances, increased internet speeds and provide more reliability than current standards, said NASA in its announcement of the 2020 Tipping Point Selections. Nokia has partnered with Intuitive Machines, a company selected by NASA to carry payloads to the lunar surface, to integrate this groundbreaking network into its lunar lander and deliver it to the Moon in late 2022.  The network is being designed to self-configure upon deployment and provide critical communication capabilities, including command and control functions, remote control of lunar rovers, real-time navigation and streaming of high-definition video. Nokia’s lunar network consists of an LTE base station with integrated evolved packet core functionalities, LTE user equipment, RF antennas and operations and maintenance control software. The small, lightweight, low-power solution has been designed to withstand the launch and lunar landing and to operate in the extreme conditions of space[47]. As a matter of fact, Marcus Weldon, former CTO at Nokia (Chief Technology and AI Officer of Nokia) and former president of Nokia Bell Labs, stated that this new lunar network will be ,,reliable, resilient and high-capacity, providing communication networks which will be key to supporting sustainable human presence on the lunar surface''[48]. By building the very first high performance wireless network solution on the Moon, Nokia Bell Labs is once again planting the flag for pioneering innovation beyond the conventional limits[49]. While part of the initial deployment faced limitations in the year 2025, the effort successfully validated key aspects of operating cellular networks in space, with further development ongoing to support future lunar missions[50]. The project demonstrates the viability of commercial, cellular technology in space, supporting NASA's Artemis program and the growing future lunar economy[51].

When it comes to making a long-distance call, it’s hard to top NASA’s Deep Space Network. The largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world, the antennas of the DSN are our indispensable link to missions venturing beyond Earth. The DSN provides a crucial connection with our spacecraft, receiving never before seen images and scientific information on Earth, propelling our understanding of the universe, our solar system and ultimately, our place within it[52].The Deep Space Network (DSN) will also serve as the critical, 24/7 telecommunications and navigation lifeline for NASA’s Artemis moon base and the orbiting Lunar Gateway Space Station. As the world's largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system, the DSN will bridge the 250,000-mile gap between Earth and the Moon, enabling real-time command, control, and data transfer for human and robotic explorers. This is an important part for NASA's long-awaited Artemis II mission around the Moon[53].



deep spacenerwork - the first trip around moon in ove 50 years


Meanwhile, their colleagues will study the samples which they collect inside the habitat.

  • Strategic Importance: The initiative is part of a space race, with China and Russia also planning to install their own lunar nuclear reactors by 2035.


, India, and private companies like Blue Origin also actively competing.


apolo pohnes today and pc which all takes for grantes

As of 2025, the two most advanced projects to set up moonbases have been pursued multilaterally as part of the US-led Artemis program, with its planned Artemis Base Camp and as the China-led International Lunar Research Station.[54] A broader, international infrastructure has been envisioned with the so-called Moon Village concept, and a general international regulatory regime for lunar activity has been called for by the 1979 signed Moon Treaty, and advocated for with an implementation agreement since 2020.[55][56]

The surface infrastructure of a base may consist of pre-integrated basic landers, as supporting stations for robotic rovers, or habitation modules for crewed presence, or of surface assembled or in-situ derived and constructed surface stations for sustained lunar habitation.[2] Lunar bases may work with lunar space stations, which in contrast provide infrastructures in lunar orbit supporting activity from there, as with the planned Lunar Gateway of the Artemis program.

The development of moonbases into permanent extraterrestrial settlements has been put forward.[2][57] Broader lunar colonization or space colonization in general, particularly as laying territorial claims, which is prohibited by international space law, has been criticized for perpetuating colonialism.[58]

Past bases

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Further information: List of missions to the Moon
Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad with Surveyor 3 and Apollo 12 lunar base with the Intrepid lander and S-band antenna in the background, in a first ever visit of a separate mission beyond Low Earth Orbit[59]

The Apollo Program established the first six temporary bases on the Moon, starting with Tranquility Base (1969).

Later robotic missions set up simple robotic temporary bases, leaving their landers behind, starting with Luna 16 (1970).

Regulation

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Main article: Moon § Legal status

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty defines the Moon and all outer space as the "province of all mankind".[60] It restricts the use of the Moon to peaceful purposes, explicitly banning military installations and weapons of mass destruction.[61] A majority of countries are parties of this treaty.[62]

The 1979 Moon Agreement was created to elaborate on the Outer Space Treaty, restricting the exploitation of the Moon's resources, particularly by any single nation, leaving it to a yet unspecified international regulatory regime.[63] As of January 2020, the Moon Agreement has been signed and ratified by 18 nations,[64] none of which have human spaceflight capabilities.

Current lunar programs are multilateral, with the US-led Artemis program and the China-led International Lunar Research Station. For broader international cooperation and coordination the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG), the Moon Village Association (MVA) and more generally the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) has been established.

Since 2020, countries have joined the U.S. in their Artemis Accords, which are challenging the treaty. The U.S. has furthermore emphasized in a presidential executive order ("Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources.") that "the United States does not view outer space as a 'global commons'" and calls the Moon Agreement "a failed attempt at constraining free enterprise."[65][66]

With Australia signing and ratifying both the Moon Treaty in 1986 as well as the Artemis Accords in 2020, there has been a discussion if they can be harmonized.[67] In this light an Implementation Agreement for the Moon Treaty has been advocated for, as a way to compensate for the shortcomings of the Moon Treaty and to harmonize it with other laws and agreements such as the Artemis Accords, allowing it to be more widely accepted.[55][56]

Conservation

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In the face of such increasing commercial and national interest, particularly prospecting territories, U.S. lawmakers have introduced in late 2020 specific regulation for the conservation of historic landing sites[68] and interest groups have argued for making such sites World Heritage Sites[69] and zones of scientific value protected zones, all of which add to the legal availability and territorialization of the Moon.[70]

Moon Village concept

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3D-printed lunar habitat (ESA, 2018)

The Moon Village concept was presented in 2015.[71] "Village" in this context refers to international public and private investors, scientists, engineers, universities, and businessmen discussing interests and capabilities to build and share infrastructure on the Moon and in cislunar space for a variety of purposes. It is loosely organized by a nonprofit organization seeking to give a platform for an open international architecture and collaboration. Moon Village seeks to create a vision for international cooperation and the commercialization of space.[72][73][74]

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

— Jan Wörner[75]

The open nature of the concept would encompass any kind of lunar activities, whether robotic or astronauts, 3D printed habitats,[76] refueling stations, relay orbiters, astronomy, exploiting resources, or 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.[72][73] Jan Wörner, European Space Agency (ESA) Director General until 2021, described in 2017 the Village simply as "an understanding, not a single facility".[77] This initiative is meant as the first step in coming together as a species and developing the partnerships and "know how" before attempting to do the same on Mars.[72][78] Wörner stateed that this vision of synergy can be as inspiring as the International Space Station but on a truly global, international-cooperation basis, and he proposed this approach as a replacement for the orbiting International Space Station.[78][79]

China has expressed interest,[80][81] and NASA has also expressed interest in the potential synergy it offers to the proposed Lunar Gateway space station.[74][82] The private aerospace company Blue Origin has expressed early interest and offered to develop a cargo lander with a 4,500 kg (9,900 lb) capacity of usable payload.[83] Astronaut Buzz Aldrin has long urged Americans to cooperate with international partners to reach the Moon.[84] The State Space Agency of Ukraine has agreed to uphold MVA principles and cooperate with the MVA to develop "sustainable habitation" of the Moon.[85]

A depiction by ESA from 2018 of a future moonbase being shielded by in-situ utilized regolith

The concept is being organized, by a nonprofit organization established in November 2017 called the Moon Village Association.[86][87] It is 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.[86] In 2018, the Vienna University of Technology received sponsorship from ESA for a design workshop on the topic of the Moon Village. 35 master students have developed hypothetical scenarios for a future Moon village. The cooperative concept of the workshop led to a number of new themes, such as multipurpose mobile infrastructure, an astro-scientist training campus on the Moon, an experimental research food lab, and a lunar recycling facility.[88][89]

Inflatable lunar base with greenhouses, all radiation shielded through regolith, while sunlight enters through mirrors (ESA, 2022)[90]

Chinese concept

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Main article: International Lunar Research Station

In 2020, China proposed the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a somewhat similar proposal to the Moon Village, with Roscosmos and ESA showing interest.[91] The first steps toward establishing the ILRS will be taken through Phase IV of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, consisting of Chang'e 6, 7, and 8, as well as the Russian missions, Luna 25, 26, and 27. Long-term robotic and short-term crew missions at the ILRS are expected to begin in the early 2030s.[92] Roscosmos signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the creation of the ILRS with CNSA on March 9, 2021.[93] There is a projected timeline stretching from the 2030s to 2045.[94]

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has commenced the Chang'e program for exploring the Moon to investigate the prospect of lunar mining, specifically for mining isotope helium-3 for use as an energy source on Earth.[95] CNSA director Luan Enjie has stated that humans must learn to leave Earth and "set up a self-sufficient extraterrestrial homeland".[95]

On March 9, 2021, Russia and China signed a memorandum of understanding for the joint construction of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) around 2035.

Russian concept

[edit]
Main article: Lunny Poligon

The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has planned a fully robotic lunar base called Lunny Poligon. The project was planned for 2020, with an expected completion date of 2037.[needs update] On March 9, 2021, Russia turned to cooperate with China and signed a memorandum of understanding for the joint construction of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).

United States concepts

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Main article: NASA lunar outpost concepts

The United states has run several attempts to design and in some cases develop lunar outposts and the needed missions, the first being from 1959, with the upcoming Artemis missions being the most advanced.

Current: Artemis Program

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from NASA lunar outpost concepts § Artemis Base Camp.[edit]
Concept art of Artemis Base Camp

The US-led Artemis Program has scheduled several crewed landings at the Moon's south polar region, starting with Artemis III planned for mid-2027 at the earliest, setting up five temporary base camps with the Human Landing Systems (HLS) until Artemis VIII is planned to set up the fixed Foundational Surface Habitat (FSH) of the Artemis Base Camp in the 2030s.[96][97][98]

Multi-Purpose Habitation module

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Under a bilateral Moon cooperation agreement between NASA and ASI and within the Artemis Accords, Thales Alenia Space is designing a Multi-Purpose Habitation (MPH) module. The MPH module will host Artemis astronauts and support both surface operations and scientific research experiments. It will operate both with and without the presence of a human crew and will have the ability to move on the surface.[99]

Soviet Union concepts (defunct)

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Zvezda

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Main article: Zvezda (moonbase)

Zvezda moonbase (Russian: звезда, "star") was a Soviet plan and project from 1962 to 1974 to construct a crewed moonbase as successor to the N1-L3 crewed lunar expedition program. The project was ordered by the Soviet space chief Korolyov to Barmin's Spetcmash bureau. The project was named DLB Lunar Base in technical specifications and Zvezda in government documents. Unofficially, the project was called Barmingrad (Barmin's city) by its designers.

The realization of the project depended on key parts of the N1-L3 program – the N-1 superheavy launcher, all 4 launches of which failed between 1969 and 1972. Zvezda moonbase was canceled with the rest of the Soviet human lunar programs. All crewed Soviet lunar programs, including a Zvezda moonbase, had been classified as top secret and were only published in the glasnost epoch since 1990.

Lunar Expeditionary Complex

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Lunar Expeditionary Complex.[edit]

The LEK Lunar Expeditionary Complex was a lunar expedition and Moon base proposed by Valentin Glushko in 1974 as a Soviet response to the United States' Apollo program and as a successor to the Zvezda moonbase, which was based on the cancelled N1-L3 crewed Moon expedition program. If implemented, it was intended to have been operational by 1980 and used for scientific and engineering research.

Energia Lunar Expedition

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Energia Lunar Expedition.[edit]

The Energia Lunar Expedition was a project that was proposed by Soviet engineer Valentin Glushko in 1988 which would’ve aimed to create a lunar base[100] using the Energia rocket. The lunar base was to then be eventually used for mining helium-3 from the lunar surface.

Other concepts

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In 1954, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke proposed a lunar base of inflatable modules covered in lunar dust for insulation.[101] 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.[102] The proposed design consisted of a half-cylinder with half-domes at both ends, with a micrometeoroid shield placed above the base.

In 1962, John DeNike and Stanley Zahn published their idea of a sub-surface base located at the Sea of Tranquility.[103] 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]

As of 2006, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) planned a human lunar landing around 2020 that would lead to a crewed lunar base by 2030; however, there was no budget yet for this project.[104][needs update]

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.[105] Subsequent planning may be taken up by the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG).[106][107][108]

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.[109]

Surface infrastructure

[edit]
Further information: Moon § Infrastructure, and List of active Solar System probes § Moon
Apollo 11 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector

Besides temporary infrastructure of lunar missions, some of the permanently placed artificial objects on the Moon have already fulfilled long-term purposes. Since 1969, retroreflectors have been installed on the surface of the Moon and are actively used for lunar laser ranging.

In the 2010s, the International Lunar Network consisting of robotic instruments placed around the moon was also proposed.

Orbital infrastructure

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Lunar orbital spacecraft have been supporting lunar bases since the use of the Apollo command and service module in lunar orbit.

Today an increasing number of lunar satellites provide different services to surface missions and possibly to lunar bases.

The current lunar landing Artemis program is to be supported by the scheduled Lunar Gateway.

Concept art of the planned Lunar Gateway, serving as a communication hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation for crewed missions and holding area for rovers in Lunar orbit[110]

See also

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References

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