Mars is often called a potential space colony for earthlings, but the Moon is no less suitable object, according to Lewis Dartnell, who presented a prototype of a settlement on a natural satellite of the Earth
Professor Dartnell of the University of Westminster imagined what life would be like 150 years from now if we colonized the Moon and made some interesting suggestions.
1. Why do we want to fly to the moon?
As resources on Earth begin to deplete, the need to think about new sources becomes more and more urgent.
The moon is much closer than the same Mars, and has valuable resources that we could extract and send back to Earth. This is a more viable option for a colony.
In addition, humanity has already proven that it is possible to fly to the moon and return back, and it is probably time to take advantage of these opportunities.
2. What will it be like to live on the moon?
Cosmic radiation, micrometeorites, lack of an atmosphere and extreme temperatures mean that life on the Moon will be very problematic. However, volcanic activity has been noted on the Moon, meaning there are a large number of lunar lava tubes. They formed naturally and can be used to build houses inside. In this case, we will have to adapt to life underground.
Lunar lava tubes can be over 1 km wide and tall enough for multistory buildings. That is, a whole city can be built inside one tube. To make them habitable, the tubes must be hermetically sealed at both ends and pressurized to keep the air suitable for the occupants. Thus, the citizens of the moon will be able to freely move around the cities without space suits. To leave the colony, a spacesuit will still be needed. To exit, you will need to go through an airlock and climb up through a natural skylight in a lava tube to the surface of the moon.
What may sound familiar to the inhabitants of some parts of the Earth are “lunar earthquakes”, but the buildings in the colony will be earthquake resistant. However, the difficulties are not limited to technical and biological reasons: we will also have to get used to a completely new diet and food sources, gravity, different light, temperature and weather.
3. What other problems might our colony have?
As exciting as it sounds to colonize the moon, it will come with major hurdles and limitations. The members of the colony will be isolated in a relatively small space with a small population. The inability to leave the colony without lengthy preparations can lead to residents feeling claustrophobic. However, it is possible that members of the colony will be able to visit their families on Earth and vice versa.
4. What will our settlement look like?
Cities will be built from scratch, so here we will need modern experience in organizing urban and residential space. From an aesthetic and practical point of view, you will need a large park area in the center of the colony. It will be a resting place for residents, in addition, trees and other plants will help produce oxygen.
The park-facing buildings will range from low-rise at the beginning to high-rise at the rear, as lighting with artificial sunlight will flow through the center of the city.
There will be either little or no transportation on the Moon: the city is planned to be relatively small, and everyone will mostly walk or use electric bicycles.
“As our understanding of the cosmos advances, the opportunity to start a new life becomes ever more tangible. Moving to a new home or another country is already incredibly exciting, but imagine what it’s like to move to a completely different environment. The problems and challenges will be new and challenging, but the potential and what the human race can achieve if we take the next step is amazing,” says Dartnell.