A Lunar Base with Astronomical Observatory

Abstract

The concept of a Lunar Base for a crew of 10 (LB10), with an astronomical telescope is presented in this paper. The focus is on the architectural solutions for a lunar habitat with an astronomical observatory as well as site selection for the location and deployment of the settlement. LB10 is a base designated for scientific research but also commercial utilization of permanent human presence on the Moon. The architecture of the LB10 is driven by minimum mass of the structure components transported from the Earth and maximum safety during construction and use of the base. A number of robotic and deployable structures are used to achieve this goal. The base architecture is based on utilization of inflatable, rigid and regolith structures for different purposes. The inflatable, fragile, inner part of the base holds the human's biosphere while the exterior regolith shell provides solid shield against radiation and micrometeoroids. The architecture exterior thus resembles terrestrial fortification design to endure object impact, while the interior provides comfortable and safe living in the sphere. The observatory in the vicinity of the base is also a self-deployable structure which uses liquid mirror technology and is located on the North Pole of the Moon 4 km from the base. Nomenclature ECLSS= Environmental Control and Life Support System EVA = Extra Vehicular Activity LB10 = Lunar Base for 10 astronauts LB10T = LB10 Telescope LEO = Low Earth Orbit LLO = Low Lunar Orbit LLMT = Lunar Liquid Mirror Telescope HSF = Human Space Flight ISRU = In Situ Resource Utilization ISU = International Space University IR = Infra Red JWST = James Web Space Telescope NASTRAN = NASA Structure Analysis

Extra-terrestrial construction processes – Advancements, opportunities and challenges

“…Thus, 2.12 J/mm 2 would be equivalent to 23,556 kWh/m 3 or 12,398 ~ 15,704 kWh/MT (metric tonne), considering the average density of lunar regolith (Heiken et al 1991) is around 1.5 ~ 1.9 tons/m 3 (see Table 1). However, the area and volume of one outpost would easily exceed 260 m 2 and 2,000 m 3 for ten mission crews (Doule et al 2011). Thus, the total energy required for construction of the structure protecting the volume of a practical outpost would be extremely high, e.g.…”

“…Although the proposed 1.0 and 2.5 m thickness are based on the use of unsintered regolith, which may not be applicable for sintered regolith, it still suggests that a decent thickness of protection cover would be needed. Considering the expected volume of habitat/outpost (Doule et al 2011), a single printing system may not be an ideal solution to complete an entire protection cover as it would require a long construction duration. Thus, an alternative construction operation scenario, e.g.…”

Microwave processing of lunar soil for supporting longer-term surface exploration on the Moon

“…Ondrej et al [22] proposed an idea for a lunar base for a crew of ten with an accompanying astronomical telescope dedicated to observations in the infrared region of the spectrum at the Moon's North Pole. They also suggested that roads for transportation connecting major units of the settlement and the landing pads could be constructed using the sintering of the lunar regolith by emitted directed microwave radiation.…”