DESTINATION MOON

Evaluation by Marc M. Cohen

This concept was based upon the idea of trade routes on the Moon in the future when there are multiple settlements and bases scattered around the surface. The Moon Nomadic base is almost entirely mobile; it draws from a sequence of mobile base and rover concepts that have made an impact upon lunar/Mars exploration thinking over the past quarter century, notably the Habot and the Lunar Electric Rover. To highlight the mobility across empty wastelands, the architects adopted a logo of a camel wearing a spacesuit helmet. This project presented the most “promotional” image of all the conce pts.

The key design is a habitat on a six-legged rover, reminiscent of NASA JPL’s ATHLETE. This Moon Nomadic habitat incorporates a solar storm shelter beneath the water tanks. The pressure vessel module sitting on the ATHLETE derives closely from John Frassinito’s pressurized rover design with the clear glass hemispherical end dome at the driver’s seat. In one version of the concept, the Moon Nomadic consists of two mobile rovers on the ATHLETE-like base plus two stationary modules of essentially the same configuration. These stationary units appear to consist of “tuna can” units that the Moon Nomadic rover carries beneath the deck of the ATHLETE, such that its legs must stand straight up at all times. However, it is not really clear to extent to which this arrangement could actually travel safely and successfully across the lunar topography. Here is where the architects seemed somewhat unsure in their reasoning. If the designer follows the logic articulated in the Habot project, then all the assets become mobile; the entire base moves together in an ensemble.

In the preliminary review, the architects presented the example of trade routes in Eurasia including the Silk Road and the Atlantic sea-lanes to the Americas and around Africa to India and the Far East. The weakness of this approach was the assumption that trade routes are static. Although this point may seem obscure it goes to an important point for understanding the purpose and application of mobility: in fact the Silk Road and the Atlantic routes did not exist simultaneously. Once the Turkish Empire blocked the overland routes from Europe to China, it gave an impetus to exploration – to find sea routes either east or west to the Indies and China. In the same way, the mobility systems on the surface of the Moon will need to be flexible and responsive to changes in location, operation, and purpose. The reviewer pointed out this error to the architects during the preliminary review, but they retained the mistaken trade route schema and map.

“ Unfortunately the group did not make as much of an effort as they could in developing this project. It is a pity because they had an interesting approach.” [Instructors]

The designers could have done much more to develop the cabin design for the Moon Nomadic rovers. As the drawings were presented, the interiors are represented in a minimal fashion, both in plan and in the interior el evations. The interior el evations are drawn in isolation from the rest of the rover or base module. It would be far more helpful to portray them in a complete transverse building section that would show the relationship to the entry port, hatches, airlocks, and surface.

The Moon Nomadic project raises a paradoxical and somewhat troubling question. Architecture studios generally reward creativity and inn ovation. Space Architecture studios tend to reward designs that are realistic enough to be feasible in some ideal economy and program. In Moon Nomadic, the architects attempted to make their project as close to a type of professional precedent as they could; they pursued Space Architecture and mobility realism more than the other proje cts. However, the faculty found a serious weakness in Moon Nomadic insofar as the architects borrowed so liberally from existing concepts and systems, but did very little to transform these precedents to serve the design brief or to create their own approach. myo

Project by Marcus Czech and Elisabeth Lang

Location South pole

Year 2050

Mission Objective Scientific Moon base and spaceport

Mission Length 2050 to 2100

Crew members 6 to 100 (+)

Typology Surface, compatible

Specific Characteristics

Adjustable shell, regolith pillows