Moon Base
For the adventurous, a Moon Base is an appealing concept, but what would
spur such a development? Due to the expense it is unlikely that personal
gratification alone would warrant the creation of a "hotel"
on the moon.
Exploitation of the Moon's resources is perhaps more likely to trigger
a permanent Lunar settlement. Maybe you could conduct a
literature survey to find out which raw materials scientists believe
would benefit us? The Moon certainly attracts a lot of attention. Japan,
India, China, Europe and the USA have all sent probes to the moon.
Of course, valuable natural resources are of strategic importance and
it is not too far-fetched to imagine that disputes between interested
parties could result in armed conflict and perhaps the first lunar war?
This would be a far cry from the Moon landing of 1969 that stated "We
came in peace for all mankind".
At the beginning of the 21st century NASA planned "The Constellation
Programme", to send men back to the moon on a rocket called Ares
- the Greek god of war and bloodlust! Sounds like this Lunar war's a
"done-deal". Eventually, the Obama administration (wisely?)
cancelled the Constellation Programme.
Although America has currently ruled it out, other organizations still
harbour aspirations to go to the Moon. ESA initially sought involvement
in the Constellation Programme, then collaborated with Russia on a craft
called CSTS before announcing a plan to adapt its own ATV to carry a
crew into space. RFSA has been working on a craft designated PPTS with
the aim of taking cosmonauts to the Moon and ISRO's probe Chandrayaan-1,
along with NASA's LRO, was instrumental in discovering lunar water.
ISRO, CNSA and JAXA all have plans for future unmanned Moon landers
as precursors to subsequent manned lunar missions.
ACRONYMS
CNSA - China National Space Administration
ESA - European Space Agency
ISRO - Indian Space Research Organization
JAXA - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
RFSA - Russian Federal Space Agency
ATV - Automated Transfer Vehicle
CSTS - Crew Space Transportation System
LRO - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
PPTS - Prospective Piloted Transport System
The card model on this page is 1/250 scale (6mm scale) and includes modular
accommodation / technical areas with access corridors, chemical storage
tanks, and a control tower. Although advanced sensing and monitoring equipment
makes the requirement for an expensive control tower highly debatable,
it nevertheless looks aesthetically pleasing! Also included is a shuttle-craft
for ferrying equipment and personnel between lunar-surface and Earth-orbit.
Perhaps you could conduct an additional literature survey considering
the technical difficulties inherent in travelling to the moon and establishing
a settlement. What advanced technologies would need to be developed? What
features could be added or improved on our own speculative Moon Base model?
Download
- Moon Base model and instructions
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