DESTINATION MOON

Evaluation by Marc M. Cohen

The MYO Space Harbor is a concept for a transit base for travellers to Mars. The architects developed a structural concept for an expandable steel spring-based compression structure. One unique feature of this concept is that it is the only one packaged for a single launch to deliver it to the Moon, on an Ariane 5.

The Ariane 5 would deliver two landers, a small node with five radial ports and five legs, plus the packaged expandable module. The concept for the module is that it has a rigid central axis, portrayed in the model by a wood dowel. To deploy the shell, the module has a mechanism that compresses the ends of the steel spring shell inward along the central axle. Once the compression is completed and secured, the module can dock to the node. Subsequent launches of more Ariane 5s can deliver more modules and nodes.

Geometrically, the expansion concept is both linear and radial. The modules expand by actually shortening along the longitudinal axis, and it is possible to line up multiple modules along the central axis. At the same time, the modules attach radially to five-port node, to extend the base in this radial fashion. The base would expand through adding modules and nodes.

The transverse section of the module shows lots of construction details, including bagged regolith placed around the module for radiation shielding. Over time, the crew or robots would effectively