DESTINATION MOON

tower floor plan 3 sleep, privacy, individual space quiet leisure airlock, suitlock astronaut sleep, privacy, individual space inflatable space extension tower floor plan 2 inflatable space extension greenhouse storage, sanitary eat, leisure inflatabl for l sanitary fitness leisure work, laboratory tower floor plan 1 work suits walker arrival walker layer detail floor plan base walker arriving

LSS storage connection to safe heaven greenhouse section safe heaven floor plan 4 safe heaven floor plan 3 safe heaven floor plan 2 safe heaven floor plan 1 laboratory, last help, LSS-storage work, storage sanitary, health, fitness, leisure, cook sleep, storage

About the design

The base is located at the peak of eternal light at the lunar south pole. After deployment in the initial phase, the growing base shall research Helium-3, the quest for water, the genesis of the Moon, lunar tubes and craters. The research station shall have as little ecological impact as possible on the lunar environment. The interior design is relevant for the psychological and social well-being of the crew. One vital element is the greenhouse, which forms a central element within the base. Different plants and plant chambers shall offer various visual connections. assembly

The Walkers

The explorer modules are designed for two people. They can walk, run, jump and climb. The modules have arms with different attachme nts, which rotate around the explorer’s corpus. These attachments allow the walker to dig, grab, drill or screw. The walking explorer enables the crew to make short missions of up to 3 days.

Evaluation by Marc M. Cohen

The idea of Touch the Moon Slightly is to make a minimal impact upon the lunar environment, to “handle it with care,” as if it is fragile. This imported philosophy seems to derive from a misunderstanding of Planetary Protection requirements or perhaps green design guidelines. The way the architects apply the philosophy is to keep the modules physically el evated above the surface on the grid work.

The modules consist of four-legged walkers with four arms plus stationary modules. The stationary modules stand on the structural grid deck above the lunar surface. The concept stacks three cylindrical modules vertically to create a tower. The “Touch the Moon Slightly” philosophy seems to extend to installing the modules as far from the lunar surface as possible. This concept also places one module horizontally to berth to the tower at its base. The docking ports in the modules can also double as windows.

The configuration includes a “welcoming area” to receive guests and perhaps the crews from the Moon Nomadic rovers. This concept was one of the few to establish a public area for communal activities. The architects provide a functional diagram that explains the living, crew support, and agricultural functions; however the functional diagram does not include work or laboratory areas. Therefore the Touch the Moon Slightly does not seem to include a real functional construct that goes to why the crew is on the Moon and what they will do there besides minimize their interaction with it.

The concept includes both mobile and stationary eleme nts, but the functional distinction between them is not clear. In fact, the inclusion of the four-legged walkers is somewhat of a mystery given the “do not touch” design imperative.

„The students developing this project had an interesting concept as a starting point - to minimize the future human foot print on the Moon. Over the course of the studio they had many different, somtimes disparate ideas, which proved to be a challenge to combine convincingly.“ [Instructors]

Resistance/Residence under Cover

Project by Stefan Kristoffer

Location Shackleton Crater, Lunar south pole

Year 2030

Mission Objective Sciences

Mission Length 10 years

Crew members 12 - 20

Typology I nflatable / Covered / Surface stationary

Specific Characteristics

Inflatable regolith-covered habitat situated in crater

Storyboard

In 2020 the decision is made to plan an internationally manned research mission to the Moon. Lift-off is planned for 2030. The mission objectives are to prove that human habitation is possible within a distant extraterrestrial environment, to research and utilize local materials for consumable production and for construction purposes. The Shackleton Crater at the lunar south pole is selected as the location for the base because of the access to water resources and the permanent supply of solar power.

The crew size during the research and utilization period consists of 12 scientists and 8 engineers in order to maintain the lunar base facilities. During the initial period most members serve the construction of the base. The modules land and deploy before human arrival and are completed by the initial crew.

The habitat is connected to a greenhouse (for food production), to ‘supply modules’ and to pressurized rovers. Research facilities are partly integrated, partly connected or located externally. Research topics include: geochemistry (to use lunar soil for consumable production), engineering geology (to build further structures with local materials), gravitational research, agricultural research as well as health science.

ISRU: chemically bound water and oxygen resources are planned to be extracted and used

Habitat erection

as consumables (utilization period).

Habitat

The lunar environment is not hospitable for human life. The pressurized volume needs to be maintained at a habitable level. To shield the crew from dangerous cosmic radiation the habitat is situated in an impact crater of medium size and additionally covered with lunar soil.

Living quarters are located below the crater ring so that protection is provided in the case of Solar Particle Events (SPEs). The solar altitude at the lunar south pole rises to only 1.5° craters are constantly free from solar radiation. The inflatable pressure vessel that contains habitable conditions is connected to a frame structure and has no ground contact itself.