Moon Village

Almost 50 years since man first walked on the lunar surface, the head of the European Space Agency explains his vision for living and working on the Moon.

Johann-Dietrich Woerner believes the next giant leap for humankind could be an international collaboration of space faring nations in the form of a Moon village. This village would be a permanent lunar base for science, business, tourism or even mining.

Woerner explains how using the Moon’s own natural resources could help build and sustain a base by 3D printing a structure or building element. Robotic rovers could inflate protective domes for astronauts. He also discusses the potential hazards of living on the Moon as well as the possible locations of he lunar base and the advantages of a new global space project.

[WilliamGilbert_KSP_Player]

"...or the mining, or whatever..." I love this guy!

[DavidODuvall]

A moon base is long overdue.  We could send robotic crawlers to level areas, dig trenches, collect resources, and prepare for the construction of habitats before we even send people.  As an American, I believe that ESA has the correct plan.  I'm not saying the USA should give up on a Mars colony - I'm saying the USA should put emphasis on supporting ESA's moon base plan first and then proceed to Mars as a part of a world project.  We also need to design and build a completely new and improved International Space Station made with the information and technology we've learned from the ISS.  We need to take "baby steps" toward long-term goals of space exploration and colonization.  Running toward a goal like colonizing Mars is silly when we haven't really learned to walk first.  Keep Mars as a long-term goal to work toward but, work on an improved International Space Station and an International Moon Base first.

[VegasBubba]

Thank you esa and all the other space agencies for showing what humanity is capable of, you make people dream and wonder thank you for your discoveries!

[Zoomer]

I've always felt going back to the Moon makes much more sense than going to Mars. Mars is so far away. The Moon is in our backyard BUT it still has all the risks of traveling to Mars (mainly exposure to radiation). So we can use the Moon to learn all these lessons close to home. The Moon is really a perfect space station. Ready to be exploited.

[lr]

Ooh.... who lives under no atmosphere up on the moon?




ABSOLUTELY NO ONE.

[unvergebeneid]

Tourism? Sweet! I want to be a tour guide! "And to your left, you can see .... nothing at all. Also, more dust. That might incidentally be hazardous to your health when you come back inside. Hope you enjoyed the trip!"

[gaius_enceladus]

I can't wait to see a small lunar base set up! They could start off with a habitat for maybe 6-8 people and then expand it from there. A lunar-orbiting station would be excellent too. Shuttle services could go from earth orbit to that, and then shuttles to and from the moon surface.

[nightlightabcd]

Like all the other moon base sales hype, they never mention that the moon has about 1/6th gravity of earth. Humans can not live for extended periods of time in a reduced gravity or no gravity environment. EVERY study reveals this! There is a good reason why none ever address this! Foe the same reason a realtor might not tell you that this nice house is on a flood plane!

[DNH]

Bravo JD. We need people like you. this is a gift to humanity and knowledge. well said. let's work together.

[charlesbrightman]

If the base were built within a crater that was also inside a crater, then it might be possible one day to have water in that inner crater with oxygen being generated to fill the outer crater where people live. Might also possibly find material from the previous impacts that caused the craters that could potentially be useful. Could also one day possibly have some sort of dome around or over the outer crater depending upon it's size. The outer crater could also act as a shield to some extent from harmful electromagnetic radiation energy as well as a possible having safety zone under even the water in the inner crater for added safety if needed. Send robots to build the initial infrastructure.

[l.m.p.t.]

IT IS TIME FOR EUROPE TO REGAIN ITS PLACE AS EXPLORERS. Peace and cooperation between our nations could brewing the EU back to the Center of discussion... we shall do everything we can for not being forgotten in humankind’s future ! 🇪🇺

[herpsenderpsen]

The idea of going to the moon just for a small amount of time sounds terrifying. There's a million things that can go wrong when traveling in space. I'll keep my feet safely planted on mother earth.

[ayushnarayanaganta]

We indians are feeling very proud a lot for mentioning India in the list of most know space

[obsidaisy]

Bro, once you get your little village going, the first step (a costly step but worth it) should be to get a Bobcat up there. Send it up in pieces and assemble it on site if you have to. Once you get it going, you can start building a rough lunar runway. Even a crude runway on the moon would let you land big ass rockets and bring in shitloads of heavy machinery, excavators, trucks, drills, and materials needed for all kinds of construction. You get a runway on the moon and I guarantee there'll be lunar cities, roads, (and a new Lunar Kennedy space Centre) within a century. And then--and only then--we can go to the moons of Mars.

[eldjr]

Moon-base structures could be "printed" out of a slurry of water and Moon dust. At approximately 200 degrees below 0(F), the resulting built-up layers of frozen slurry would be almost as hard as rock. Such work could be accomplished remotely by automation which already exists. The only truly difficult hurdle is supplying adequate water to the site. Building inside the perimeter of a northern or southern crater would provide a modicum of lateral protection from meteor-strike fragmentation, and make any solar heating less impactful on the frozen structure by limiting exposure to a narrower portion of sky. An additional benefit of using frozen water is its characteristic of blocking ionizing radiation, or at least a significant portion thereof. Structures like these could at least form a temporary platform from which to complete more durable an permanent structures.


Just a thought.

[feynstein]

I'm not a big fan of villages but I'd love to live in this one. And maybe even design it :)

[sdprz]

Why are we waiting for the Americans? Europe should just go ourselves, we have the tech we just need the money

[deimosk]

Despite the fact that they somehow made it to the Moon with the Apollo missions, a really giant leap for mankind will be first of all to manage with the big problem caused by the Van Allen belts region, it's a highly dangerous zone to pass through for any life form. Then, we will eventually be capable to bring humans on the Moon or Mars with decent safety.

[burgzaza]

I'd love to see this happen !
But what about micro meteors ? Wouldn't that be a permanent threat ? Would these structure resist to them ?

[hallahsabbath]

It may be easier to construct dome like structures like the millennium dome. Given that these structures May easily enclose larger areas allowing construction to take place inside.