"The moon has no atmosphere, let alone oxygen," Zhang said. The Moon's slow rotation would allow objects in the sky to be followed, without interference from clouds or haze, for two weeks at a time. It takes less than 5 percent as much energy to lift a quantity of matter off the Moon than it would to lift the same quantity off the Earth. In a major breakthrough, research has suggested that water could be distributed right across the lunar surface. With the recent successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to the ISS, we may very well be well on our way to those two steps. You go home. Of course, going there is expensive – realistic estimates are about 35bn (27.9bn euros). But in this case, the answer probably isn’t as interesting as the question itself – more specifically, when, and why, and how will we do it? "Moonmovers," adapted from Earthmovers, would excavate building and mining sites. The Moon is a dead, desolate world, without air or water. Mind you, I’ve skipped some steps here. Spe cial units would process oxygen and refine new ceramic and metallurgical materials. But that's dependent on quite a few factors. But we have been sharpening our space abilities, and when we return to the Moon, it will be to stay. There's now some evidence that there may be water, in the form of buried ice that has collected at the south pole of the moon. There was no motion anywhere, no sound of living things. If all goes well, there is no reason why work on the project cannot be initiated in the 1990s. Can people live in such a place? The Moon has 38 million square kilometres of real estate, so we’ve literally only scratched the surface. Then, too, since the Moon exists and is already constructed, so to speak, it can surely be developed first and be used to experiment with artificial ecologies. So what is there to make us want to go there, let alone live there? We Could Be Living On The Moon In 10 Years Or Less. The plan is to send someone to the planet by 2040. There could be more than a thousand days in one year! Eventually, Rogers wants to send humans to the Moon to live in these structures and become self-sufficient. This kind of thinking doesn’t lead to sustainability, and that’s why Apollo was canceled prematurely. This would not be difficult because the Moon is relatively small and has a gravitational pull much weaker than that of Earth. Solar storms, sharp sand, and near-weightlessness are just the tip of the iceberg. He said: "This really might come down to: Are we going to create a self-sustaining city on Mars before or after World War 3. Going to the Moon itself has many benefits, and I think in the long run it will prove itself a worthy venture. Quantities of lunar soil can be hurled off the Moon by a "mass-driver,” powered by an electromagnetic field based on solar energy. And with no atmosphere to erode its surface, it’s like a history book of the solar system. Some scientists think humans could survive comfortably on the moon. The resulting energy would support not only human explorers but a broad array of science and industrial activities, principally lunar mining and astronomical observation. We need cheaper and more reliable access to space, and a pathway established so that the public has a clear understanding of how all this will be done. Think of the efficiency of the solar power stations we could build on a world without an interfering atmosphere to scatter, absorb and obscure light. During the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972, 12 American spacemen set foot on the moon, and hauled back a whopping 842 pounds of rock and soil samples. Other elements, particularly iron, aluminum and titanium, all very useful structurally, are common in the lunar crust and can be smelted out of the soil. The absence of an atmosphere makes telescopic visibility far more acute. Think of the nuclear power stations we could build...where safety considerations did not bulk so large. With NASA's plans to return to the moon in the coming years and President Trump's recent executive order clearing the way for companies to start mining the moon, Asimov's vision is more relevant than ever. A critical aspect of this is being able to mine asteroidal material and process it, which Nasa and its contractors are studying. Satellite communication. Whether or not we choose to follow the Ride recommendations, the Moon will probably play an important role in man's future space explorations. Because of the Moon's feebler gravity, it would be a particularly useful site for the building and launching of space vessels. You’ll want to pack heavy coat. A bubble dome is the most efficient way of encasing civilization on the moon. And those are just concrete benefits from looking down from space. But it is now 1988. At intervals, he could see the Earth, or a portion of it, edging above the crater wall. Treatment with hydrogen can cause the oxygen of ilmenite to combine with the hydrogen, forming water, which can be broken up into hydrogen and oxygen. More Space. How Much Would it Cost to Live on the Moon? See how a moon colony could work here . Musk says humans will live in glass domes when we … Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the Moon, said that the Milky Way must be full of small, rocky worlds like this, and if we can learn to live here we can live anywhere. On the other hand, if affairs on Earth are so mismanaged that there seems no money or effort to spare for space, or if humanity concentrates its efforts on turning space into a military arena and is not concerned with peaceful development or expansion, or if humanity ruins itself forever by means of a nuclear war in the course of the next few decades, then clearly there will be no Moon base, and perhaps no reasonable future of any kind. And wherever we go, people will have skies like that. If you already have those pieces in space, the cost is far less. Some of those ways are not material in nature. Why? March 10, 2016. Which will lead to the hugely important third step: this needs to be sustainable. Thousands of photos, reconstructed into a 3-D model, are helping Purdue researchers evaluate lava tubes as a potential habitat for humans on the moon or Mars. The planet could offer humans a "brand new life with brand new vistas," Green said. In space exploration, there are always benefits found along the way that are difficult if not impossible to predict. Literally. This was not the only Moon base. A much more specialized one existed on the Moon's far side where a huge radio telescope, insulated from Earth's radio interference by 2000 miles of solid Moon, was being completed. Not surprisingly, your evening on the Moon is similar to your day; pitch black. And it involves something of a surprising and indirect stepping stone. He had come from Earth and when his 90-day stint was over, he would return to Earth and try to readjust to its strong pull of gravity. Mining asteroids for platinum and gold right away is not cost-effective. While we’re pretty sure it coalesced from material blasted away from Earth after a massive impact billions of years ago, we don’t actually know. But where would the hydrogen come from? Before we talk about settling down on our rocky neighbour, we have to ask why we should head there in the first place. Super-Sahara or not, the Moon would be useful, even vital, to us in many ways. Wheeled lunar rovers powered by the Sun would provide close-in transportation and cargo handling. Humans will live on the Moon within 30-40 years, predicts Commander Chris Hadfield . Scientifically, the Moon is fascinating. A life-giving atmosphere "manufactured” on the Moon would promote ecological and agricultural pursuits, helping to make a Moon base self-supporting. Building vehicles and other space-based structures on the Moon is vastly easier and less expensive than it would be here on Earth. Tapping into a water supply on the lunar surface is critical for humans to live on the Moon for extended periods of time. Circling the Sun between Mars and Jupiter are billions of asteroids, chunks of rock ranging in size from footballs to gigantic Ceres, 1,000 km (620 miles) across. The Moon has not been seriously disturbed after the first half-billion years of the existence of the solar system (something that is not true of the Earth). The NASA Scientists say that is could be possible to construct a base that can accommodate 10 astronauts for more than a year by 2022 as the technologies required for it already exist in present. He was not a true Lunarian, of course. But, without atmosphere to trap in heat, your evening temperatures will plunge almost instantly to nearly -250º Fahrenheit! After humans become established on the Moon, some visionaries foresee a complex of habitable dwellings and research labs for geochemical, physical and biological research. The moon is quite different from Earth. Tucked away in high-tech laboratories, a team of 30 researchers are studying new ways to keep humans alive on a potential moon or Mars. And they have plans in place to make money along the way, while increasing human knowledge of space exploration. Planetary Resources, on the other hand, has the right idea. NASA planners foresee a manned lunar base in the early 21st century. But there might be another reason to go, one that could swing the argument in its favour. They look identical to “Earth People” but more advanced. Former astronaut Dr. Sally K. Ride, America's first woman in space, recently produced a report outlining this nation's space goals. Once the lunar colonists discover how to create a balanced ecology based on a limited number of plant and animal species (which may take awhile) that knowledge can be used to make space settlements viable. China is building a space station (the first module is already in orbit) and has plans to go to the Moon; India and Russia have made similar musings – but it would be a big mistake to think of this as a second space race. A much larger one existed near the lunar equator, where the soil was mined and hurled into space to be used as a construction material. Why send humans when we can send machines? Looking back on nearly 60 years of space exploration, the answer is obvious. But when will this colonization take place? Unlike man's initial forays to the lunar surface, future trips to the Moon will be greatly aided by a space station positioned in low Earth orbit, by orbital transfer vehicles and by expendable lunar landers. But the "Ride Report” also stresses a manned permanent presence on the Moon before we embark on a manned mission to Mars, hoping to fully exploit the Moon's resources and scientific opportunities —while boosting our own interplanetary learning curve—before engaging in a Mars space spectacular. Think of the efficiency of the solar power stations we could build on a world without an interfering atmosphere... To what purpose? Without the moon, a day on earth would only last six to twelve hours. Commander Chris Hadfield, the astronaut who captured the public's imagination when he … Initially, astronauts will live there for six- to 12-month stints like they do on the space station. A day will come in the future after which there will never be a time when human beings will not be living on the Moon. It is a large super-Sahara. moon. Those portions of the Moon we have studied are lacking in the vital light elements: hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen. Other reasons to go – potential cheap energy from helium-3 mining, tourism, and the like – are too vague at the moment to count on. This can be isolated. But we’ve been to the Moon before; six times, in fact. By 2005, the first outpost could be established, and by 2015, a permanently occupied Moon base may be in existence. Their plan is not pie-in-the-sky; in fact they think – and I agree – that in the long run they can make money in this venture. If Earth should be struck by an unexpected catastrophe from without, say by a cometary strike such as the one that may have possibly wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago—or if humanity's own follies ruin Earth through nuclear war or otherwise then a second world will exist on which humanity will survive and on which human history, knowledge and culture will be remembered and preserved. To support a starting population of a few hundred people on the moon, we'd have to start by transporting air to the lunar surface, pumping it into sealed structures in which humans would live. That makes it seem that these "volatiles” will have to be imported from Earth (which has plenty), but there may be places where they can be found in small amounts on the Moon, especially in the polar regions where there are places where the Sun rarely shines. NASA is already planning Moon bases. Naturally, you will have no Moon to sparkle in your night sky, because…well, you are … But that’s not the company’s plan; instead, they are taking many small steps to get to asteroids, including launching tiny telescopes to map the Earth and sky, identifying potential targets, upgrading those probes to actually get to asteroids, and then finally prospecting them. Second, a lunar gravity, though weak, will be constant. Really, you would have to definitely live in caves on the moon, but on Mars, it might be possible to live above-ground. Read about our approach to external linking. NASA has confirmed that the Moon definitely has water - boosting hopes that a lunar base could be built there.. Disaster warning. Watch the video to find out. From there, the rest of the solar system is an easy trip. Humans could set up robot-constructed mining outposts at the moon's poles. Four decades after the Apollo missions, the idea of colonising the Moon is still the stuff of science fiction. After that, it may be that the Moon settlers will have developed their world to the point of being independent of Earth by the end of the 21st century. Water is trickier. In March 1988, Popular Mechanics ran an article, written by sci-fi legend Isaac Asimov, exploring humanity's future on the moon. In a little over a decade, a small number of humans will be living on the Moon. 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