Hey, I just remembered that I have a blog, so here's my post on the Moon Base. Finally. :)
NASA has been interested in building a moon base for a while now. But with everything on the ISS going so well, we now are actually able to put the effort into researching and planning for one.
As you may recall, NASA's Space Program baby steps were first to have a reusable space shuttle, a space station, a moon base, and finally Mars. We've gone over the shuttle and the ISS, (see ancient posts from forever ago), so next is the Moon Base.
We need to design a moon base that can be self sufficient. It costs money to transport things from Earth, and food can't be kept fresh long enough. Different ideas have been suggested for how to do this. Solar power is definitely an option. Every moon base design has plans to grow plants using solar power to provide heat.
Water is also a problem that we must work out. Luckily, there is a high enough amount of water at the molecular state on the moon that we can probably find a way to consolodate enough to form a miniature water cycle to sustain the station.
So we've talked about what the base will need. Where on the moon can we possibly do this? The answer is the South Pole. The lunar south pole gets enough sunlight to power the base, and it has some of the highest H2O concentration on the lunar surface. Perfect for the base.
So now we have what we need from the moon and where to put it. How will we design this?
First off, the base must protect against radiation. Radiation is super high on the moon, and there is no atmosphere or magnetic field to protect against it. Even lead will be no good against the radiation on the moon, so engineers are working to devise a new synthetic material to block radiation in the lunar habitat.
The base must be set up so as to allow for solar power.
The habitat will likely be a dome, with smaller structures surrounding it.
The base will likely have a system of tunnels connecting it.
The base must be insulated against both extreme heat and extreme cold.
And the base must be a place where humans can live independently and self-sustaining for months at a time.
NASA is working to design a moonbase that will meet these criteria. But for the meantime, the actual execution of a moonbase is still too far in advnace to have an accurate estimate, although NASA hopes to have it done by the 2020s.
There. I told you I'd get around to posting something. Eventually. :)
Next focus: Mars Mission!
