HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
THE MOBILE NEST
THE MOBILE NEST a project by Karmen Janzekovic, Edis Kujovic
ABSTRACT The mobile nest is a project that investigates possibilities of the human kind out of the box and out of the everyday comfort. It is a journey in an environment no one has ever seen or written before. It is an opportunity to remind us how far we have come and how far we still can and shall go. What we were interested through our project journey, was to adapt the technologies to the harsh environment and the psychological effect that an environment as that can have on a us as humans. We asked ourselves what would we miss the most and the answer was inevitable.
Please, join our journey. We are ready to take off!
1
2
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
THE MOBILE NEST
LUNAR OASIS “But oh!” thought Alice, suddenly jumping up, “if I don’t make haste I shall have to go back through the looking-glass, before I’ve seen what the rest of the house is like! Let’s have a look at the GARDEN first! Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass (Chapter One)
Lunar oasis is a reciprocal journey. It is a privilege and goal. It is a light after darkness and a rain after storm. We can sense it as a meditation, a guidance, a shelter and an orientation. It is attractive and fertile. It is our valuable hope and reward. It is our reflection and proximity of who we are.
3
4
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
CONCEPTUAL IDEA
THE MOBILE NEST
We were asking ourselves, what would we miss the most while traveling into the outer space. Our people, our daily routine, our plants, our garden. This would definitely have the biggest psychological effect on us. Therefore we focused from the beginning, on the prehuman phase on the lunar surface, for the astronauts to enter the new habitat as if it were home - by looking at the GARDEN first. Our mission would start by sending the equipment and rovers for excavation of the lunar regolith and preparation for our habitat, focusing on the lunar south pole, because of its minimal extreme temperature and sunlight conditions. After successful landing, the main focus would be on our deployable structure, which would be brought to the lunar surface in its minimal and shrunken surface, inspired by Hoberman sphere. Already from the beginning we got inspired by Water walls bag support system developed by Marc M. Cohen. We thought of having the bag system all around the sphere surface, that would get activated after filling of the bags with water from the lunar south pole. This would give the structure pressure, stability, radiation shielding and an approach to a life support system. We also wanted for our main sphere to be able to move, find the best spot for the further habitation and to focus on the research of the behaviour of the plants in low gravity. Surrounding design and habitation space would follow radial after the arrival of the astronauts. 02 01 03 03 03
01 water feature - 02 greenhouse - 03 technical part - 04 personal space - 05 monitoring room - 06 labs and storage
I AM A GARDENER. WHAT IS YOUR SUPERPOWER?
image description (credits) 5
6
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
THE MOBILE NEST
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN From the beginning, we strongly believed in human and natural environment as the fundamental basis for the creation of a new habitat. Our thoughts went back to Vitruvius and the Primitive hut that was shown to us in early phase of studying. How to build in a new environment? What to use, where and why? While researching more and more about the conditions and hazards, it was clear to us that any long-term human presence on the Moon will require protection from surface hazards such as radiation, micrometeorites, temperature amplitude etc. We solved our first sustainable aspect by choosing the existing cave, the Marius hills pit, around 80 meters deep in the west side of Oceanus Procellarum. It is an environment that is naturally protected from the hazards and the extreme temperature differences between the lunar day and night therefore being a favourable environmental condition for a human being. As we mentioned earlier in the concept phase, we got inspired by another sustainable aspect, water wall life support system. We chose this system because of its integration of the air treatment, solid waste treatment and thermal control recycling all in one. These water wall bags would consist of series of the membrane bags that would be pre-integrated into existing modules and would function via forward osmosis that replicates the processes of the mechanically passive methods in the nature. With an approach of the thermal and osmotic differences, we would avoid many conventional failure prone mechanical systems. It provides 100% reuse of all metabolic waste with gray and black water processing of urine and wash water, air processing for CO2 removal and O2 revitalisation and thermal and humidity control, including of the algae growth that would play an important role in psychological colour scheme and well-being of the astronauts. Next step was to include the higher plants and finding a way to grow food for a one year mission. In further research we focused on the greenhouse and aquaponics system.
Primitive hut by M.A Laugier Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Primitive-Hut-frontispiece-of-the-second-edition-of-Marc-Antoine-Laugiers-Essai_fig3_329661276
image description (credits) 7
8
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
THE MOBILE NEST
RESEARCH TOPICS
02 AQUAPONICS Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. In aquaponics, fish and plants are reared together in one integrated, soilless. The fish waste which is an output of the fish food being eaten by fishes provides a food source for the plants and the plants provide a natural filter for the water the fish live in. aquaponics produces safe, fresh, organic fish and vegetables. When aquaponics is combined with a controlled environment greenhouse, quality crops can be grown for few months. Our prototype consists of an inflatable, transportable greenhouse that will help with plant and crop production for nourishment, air rejuvenation, water recycling, and trash recycling. This is referred to as a bioregenerative life support system
In the research part we focused mainly on the four topics, that were relevant for our project development and what is our actual goal on a one year mission: greenhouse, integration of an aquaponics system, energy and mobility in the cave and water walls life support system implementation.
01 GREENHOUSE Plants can play a significant role in the biological life support system (BLSS) in future journeys to space (Meggs, 2010). In the late 20th century, several experiments were done regarding agriculture in space; since plants grown in space will not only be able to substitute food carried from Earth and save weight in the spaceship but will also provide a refreshing atmosphere in the Space Cabin, as they scrub the Carbon Dioxide in the air and produce Oxygen. Studies also showed that plants can help lower humidity levels in the cabin. In addition, growing and caring for a garden will contribute to the physiological well-being of astronauts that are away from home (Ivanova, 1997). Providing light for the plants to grow is also incredibly challenging. The moon stays dark for a period of 14.8 days (about 2 weeks) and follows it 14.8 days (about 2 weeks) of successive light. A hybrid illumination system can collect natural light on sunny days and use LED technologies to provide light on days of successive darkness. The two systems should work coordinatively but not be fully dependent. In addition, the moon has an atmosphere composed of 0 CO2. Gases like Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen, and carbon dioxide must be produced artificially in the lunar base. Other challenges include thermal control and Air management.
University of Arizona Prototype Lunar Greenhouse Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/University-of-Arizona-Prototype-Lunar-Greenhouse_fig4_265578099
Lettuce growing in a low-pressure dome at the Kennedy Space Center Source: https://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/livingthings/25feb_greenhouses.html
Small media bed unit Source: https://youmatter.world/en/definition/aquaponics-sustainable-benefits-system/
Aquaponics system Source: https://youmatter.world/en/definition/aquaponics-sustainable-benefits-system/
Small size growing equipment pineapple vertical planting system Source: https://m.made-in-china.com/product/Small-Size-Growing-Equipment-Pineapple-Type-Vertical-Planting-System-Aeroponics-Hydroponic-Systems-930543685.html
image description (credits) 9
10
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
03 CAVES AND EQUIPMENT The moon is made up of old basaltic lava flows and the lunar caves are borne from volcanoes, having extremely favourable environmental conditions for human. Choosing the Marius Hills pit that is around 80 m deep, with 65 m diameter, discovered by Japanaese SELENE/ Kaguya Terrain Camera, we had to think about how are we going to bring our habitat into life. 03.01 - ENERGY We need robots to drill in a cave, or even robots to move and carry cargo, so NASA developed wireless charging solutions for robots on the Moon as part of NASA ‘Tipping Point’ project with WiBotic‘s technology. Solar panels are less feasible when the sun is not shining, and the lunar night on the Moon can last up to 14 days. The goal is to develop a lunar wireless power grid that can power a variety of staffed and unmanned aircraft despite of battery type, voltage, or power level. For now there are three types of wireless charger.
THE MOBILE NEST
03.02 - MOBILITY: MOON DIVER Moon diver is designed by NASA to explore the lava tunnels, built to descend hundreds of feet into enormous pits on the surface of the moon. It would land within a few hundred meters from its target pit and serve as an anchor for Axel, a modest two-wheeled rover. The Axel would carry a variety of instruments to explore a lunar cavern, including a stereo pair of cameras for near imaging of the walls and a longdistance camera to view across the pit on the opposite side. A multispectral microscope would examine the cavern‘s mineralogy, while an alpha particle x-ray spectrometer would investigate the rock features‘ elemental chemistry. Axel would investigate the cavern floor once it reached the bottom of the pit, giving humanity its first close look at the moon‘s subterranean worlds.
end-effectors, or tools, to do tasks including hoisting, forklifting, regolith scooping, welding, and more. The new Lightweight Surface Manipulation System (LSMS) will be around the same size as the previous prototype, with a 7.62-meter reach and the ability to hoist payloads weighing around one metric ton on the Moon.
Daedalus sphere Source: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/03/Lunar_cave_explorer
03.05 - MOBILITY: DRONES Drones operate within the Earth‘s atmosphere and with a few tweaks, this technology may operate the Moon too with lithium hydride and peroxide propulsion system. The Arne mission is made of a soft-landing spacecraft and three small „hole robots,“ which are spherical flying robots with a diameter of 30 centimetres. The probe would land inside, with a direct line of sight to the earth for communications from the bottom of the pit. Once they land, tiny robots will fly into the side chambers, inspecting the walls and determining the structure. Lightweight robotic crane by NASA Source: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/lightweight-cranetechnology-could-find-a-home-on-the-moon Axel rover Source:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nasa-considers-rover-mission-go-cave-diving-moon-180971790/
WiBotic’s waterproof OC-262 Onboard Charger Source: https://www.geekwire.com/2020/wibotic-joins-astrobotics-team-build-wireless-charging-system-moon-rovers/
11
03.03 - MOBILITY: LIGHTWEIGHT ROBOTIC CRANE First we would need a lightweight robotic crane that is made of a structurally efficient truss structure with cable actuation that moves like a human arm but with a far larger reach. It may be scaled to accommodate any lander, vehicle, or surface application and it can employ a toolbox of faster
03.04 - MOBILITY: MICRO ROVER Daedalus is a robot, attached to a tether, that would drop the robot into the cave, allowing it to explore on its own. It is a 46-centimetre sphere, with a 360-degree stereoscopic camera, a LIDAR system for 3D mapping and sensors to help understand the subsurface environment, such as temperature and radiation levels. It would also have a rock-testing and obstacle-moving arm. The hanging tether would serve as a Wi-Fi receiver and wireless charging head to send data back to Earth.
Spherical pitbot Source: https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/drnesmoon-180956187/
12
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
THE MOBILE NEST
TIMELINE I EXPLORATION
II AUTONOMOUS BUILDING
III HABITAT
prehuman mission starts with landing of the first rocket in radius of 5 - 40 km around Marius hills pit
excavation and sending of the samples about the floor consistency and possible integration
preparation of the pre-integrated modules on Earth with personal space design by the crew
first to exit is the rover with pre-integrated aquaponics system, deployable structure and devices for exploration
after finding the suitable position for the future habitat, the aquaponics system in the rover gets activated
landing of the second rocket, close to the first one, with four modules and four crew members
followed by the lightweight crane which is going to allow objects to enter and exit the pit
first results of the green house and aquaponics are positive, the rover is able to deploy itself and awaits the crew
modules are being moved to the pit by NASA athlete, brought down by the lightweight crane and attached to the deployable structure
micro rover and drones get activated after entering the pit and start sending informations back to Earth
13
crew of biologist, geologist, doctor and engineer enters the habitat by looking at the GARDEN first
14
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT & DESIGN
THE MOBILE NEST
LANDING - EXCAVATION - EXPLORATION
SAMPLES - COMMUNICATION - AUTONOMOUS BUILDING
The prehuman phase starts after landing of the first rocket. All of the equipment exits and gets to the bottom of the Marius hills pit by the help of a lightweight crane. All set for exploration and defining of the position of the habitat.
After successful sending of the consistency information and samples, we can determine the floor stabilisation and suitable position. The aquaponics system in rover gets activated and is ready for the deployment, creating space for circulation and leisure on 80 m2 for the future inhabitants.
MODULE ASSEMBLY While researching the life support system we got inspired by water walls bag system which influenced our spherical form finding for the modules of around 25 m2. Walls of the modules would consist of the water wall bags pressed between the rigid outer structure with technical part and heating of the modules in the part below and storage space in the part above. The most important focus would be on equipping of the modules on Earth, which would have a positive psychological effect on astronauts and would consist of a sleeping module, kitchen module with bathroom, suitports module and research lab module. Transportation of these modules would be possible with NASA athlete, which would be able to attach or detach the modules from the rocket and once arriving to the lunar surface being able to move. After arrival, our modules would connect via preintegrated system and attach to the deployable structure with already functioning lab and greenhouse.via pre15
16
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
THE MOBILE NEST
7
II
I
IV
III
6 3
2
section
2
2
1
3 2
2
1
8
5
10
1
ground floor plan
3 1
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
4
2 1 greenhouse 2 monitoring 3 leisure 4 gym 5 research lab monitoring 6 recreation track 7 suitports 8 personal space 9 kitchen and bathroom 10 research lab station
1st floor plan
9 2 2
2 2
access to the platform and lightweight crane (1) 6,5 m2 personal living room (2) 6,5 m bedroomvand 2
(1) 20 m2 kitchen (2) 10 m2 bathroom
(1) 18 m2 suitports (2) 7 m2 technic
(3) 25 m2 storageystem
(3)25 m2 storageh
and attach to the 17
to the deployable
5 m2 mobile research station
9
3
1
4 10
18
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
19
THE MOBILE NEST
20
HB2 | LUNAR OASIS
THE MOBILE NEST
DETAILS - WATER WALLS
WW
storage
heat
airflow
WW
hygiene facility WW
Walls of the modules consist of the water wall bags pressed between the rigid outer structure with technical part and heating of the modules in the part below and storage space in the part above. This life support system would have calming psychological effect because of the algae green colour which would be able to shine through the translucent perforated inner membrane, while also having control over temperature and humidity in the modules. We would also include smart mechanism for switching between different colours and daily needs.
moisture
mechanism
heating
5 cm exterior rigid construction 5 cm of vacuum for thermal insulation 25 cm interior rigid construction to support the walls and floor with pre-integrated water wall bags 5 cm perforated inner membrane for the possible temperature and humidity controlling, with translucent electrochromic layer and switch off/ colour change mechanism
21
22