DESTINATION MOON

LunaMonte is a research base that conducts investigations in the fields of physics and geology. The crew is composed of three scientists, one mechanical engineer and one medical doctor. Their mission is to conduct research and prepare for the arrival of new crew members.

The interior design of the Moon base focuses on comfort and innova tive living. Spending their free time together, the common room is located in the main module, which also serves as a kitchen and dining room. From the common room the crew has a view of Earth as well as the greenhouse. The dining area/kitchen is created as one transformable piece of furniture, of which the table and shelves can be pulled out when necessary. The sleeping quarters offer a special feature, an inflatable live-in-cube. The live-in-cube provides flexibility for various crew activities. The first level is meant to be for relaxing, where one can read, communicate with Earth, etc. The second level provides privacy for sleeping. Each live-in-cube also contains a micro air purifier.

Evaluation

by Marc M. Cohen

The architect presented her concept with a storyboard, at least partially hand-drawn, that was extremely helpful in expressing both the architectural concept and the beginnings of a concept of operations. The LunaMonte was inspired by 1960s projects such as the “Line-inCube,” which seemed a somewhat obscure architectural allusion. The architect provides a complete functional diagram drawn at a habitable house/human scale. LunaMonte was the only project that successfully co nveyed the functional relationships in such a heuristic.

The architectural concept is to locate the habitat or base “partially” in a lava tube. The configuration of modules consists of a combination of a rigid shell multiple berthing adapter-type (MBA) module with berthing ports for three or four other modules. The modules that connect to the MBA are inflatable. Presumably their bladders can be packaged alongside the berthing pressure ports. When inflated, they deploy away from the MBA. It was not clear the degree to which these inflatables are outfitted – whether they have all the internal structure packaged in the uninflated bladder or the crew installs the internal structure and furnishings after deployment.

LunaMonte includes an EVA Access Module attached to the MBA, which provides two pairs of Suitports. It provides also a rover port that connects to the side port of a pressurized rover that resembles the NASA Lunar Electric Rover; the side port is reminiscent of the design for the University of North Da kota EPSCoR rover.

The architect devoted a great deal of attention to detail in the design of the kitchen and the sleep compartment, which was helpful to understand the intended quality and human-scale characteristics of the living environment. The placement of two crew silhouettes in the crosssection of the sleep compartment was a little confusing; it appeared to be a “bunk bed” arrangement for two crewmembers, when in fact it was a single room accommodation.

„Aida Mulic worked on her own and had difficulties in the beginning overcoming traditional thought patterns. She took a lot of effort in studying relevant literature and communicating with us. Her diligence and attention to detail clearly shows in the resulting project.“ [Instructors]

Think Globally - Act Locally

Project by Maximilian Urs Abele and Christian

Heshmatpour

Location near Shackleton Crater

Year 2093

Mission Objective ISRU

Mission Length 2 years + Crew members up to 40

Typology stationary

Specific Characteristics first permanent Moon base