There is an increasing chance that people will live on the Moon one day. However, our future lunar housing does not have to be an underground cave or a square space station. You can use new aesthetic techniques to improve homes on earth satellite.
People from all over the world sent their vision of a lunar colony, which is suitable for life, work and research. All this took place in the framework of the competition on space architecture on the moon. Since companies like Boeing and SpaceX intend to send people to the satellite, an understanding of the design of buildings in space is becoming an increasingly important area of study.
Winner - Testlab
At the heart of Testlab is the design of the usual Russian dolls. It all starts with a single settlement inhabited by astronauts. As the number of people grows, the architecture can grow and be created using 3D printing technology. Inside the village there are “Pods”, which include private bedrooms, dormitories, a greenhouse, experimental laboratories and equipment for maintaining life on the moon.
Testlab project whitened in the competition. The design is based on the design of the doll, and the colony itself develops as the population of the moon grows. To protect the locals, Testlab has an outer membrane based on a simple origami pattern and made of programmed carbon fiber that can deform itself depending on pressure changes and solar winds. The membrane can also be printed in 3D and assembled on site. It not only protects the colony, but also creates air with oxygen, converting hydrogen atoms from solar winds.
Second place - MOMENTUM VIRIUM
This project requires that the infrastructure be built and maintained in the lunar orbit, and not the surface of the Earth’s satellite. This will preserve the Moon as much as possible and observe it in its original state. However, people can use the space elevator, which will connect the artificial space city in orbit with the surface of the moon.
The MOMENTUM VIRIUM project took the second place. Unlike other constructions here, the habitat is in orbit of the moon.
The habitat is surrounded by a set of rings that use the gyroscopic effect to rotate. These rings will be made of aluminum and titanium, and will be connected using magnetic pendants. To provide energy, the habitat employs a solar cell. In such a place can accommodate 100,000 people, and from the time of the colony will grow. The main idea of the concept is to respect the right of the moon to immunity. Creating a colony on an earth satellite will require its transformation, and the MOMENTUM VIRIUM developers do not want to allow this.
Selection of viewers - Modulpia
The project is based on the Weir-Phelan structure, resembling geometric bubbles joined together. The construction consists of dodecahedra (12 pentagons) and tetradecahedra (2 hexagons and 12 pentagons). In order to accommodate more people, Modulpia is able to grow organically with time, and provide itself with food and plants, as well as receive drinking water. There is also a multilayer radiation sheath and a double vacuum layer for thermal insulation.
The Modulpia project received the “Viewers Choice” award. The design is based on a Weir-Phelan structure that can grow over time.
When people settle near the first crater, the plant will begin to produce the first modules of Modulpia. They will be installed under the surface, where the research laboratories and living quarters will be located. Living below the surface will also protect colonists from meteorites. As it grows, it will be possible to start building buildings above the surface.
