Living on the Moon Why, Where, When, Who, How
Professor Alan Smith Director Space Domain
Space and Climate Physics UCL UCL
NASA
Why
• Lunar science • Life sciences from on the Moon • Other science on the Moon • Astronomy • A haven from a damaged Earth • A vehicle for international collaboration • A vehicle for economic and technological
progress • A stepping stone to Mars • Because its there
P
Where?
Permanent or Semi-Permanent Living on the Moon
Power Water Mineral Resources
The Sun
Polar Ice
Lunar material
Where?
ESA Lunar Lander Concept
Moon 1.5o
Earth 23.5o
Shackleton
Shoemaker
Faustini
Hayworth de Gerlache
Bussey et al, 2010 Kaguya laser altimeter
• 1994: Lunar Prospector • 2003: Smart-1 • 2007: SELENE (Naguya) / Okina / Ouna • 2007: Chang’e 1 • 2008: Chandrayaan-1 / MIP • 2009: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter • 2009: LCROSS • 2010: Chang’e 2 • 2011: Ebb / Flow • 2013: LADEE • 2013: Chang’e 3 / Yutu • 2014: Manfred Memorial Moon Mission • 2018: Queqiao / Longjiang-2 • 2018: Chang’e 4 / Yutu-2 • 2019: Chandrayaan-2
Who?
Successful Lunar Missions
Since 1994
Phase
• Precursor
• Pioneering
• Consolidation
• Settlement
How?
Artemis
LRO +
Pilot Power Plant Pilot Resource Plant Pilot Regolith moving equipment Lunar Base Construction Shack
Will NASA’s Artemis programme turn into Apollo 18?
Elements
• Landing and Launch
• Power Plant
• Habitation
• Transport
• Resource extraction
• Resource processing
• Laboratory
How?
Issues
• Sustainability • Dust • Radiation • Human Safety
• Low technological maturity of almost every aspect
How?
Dust
• Abrasive
– Rubbing
– Equipment wear
– Viewing surfaces
• Electrostatic
• Vacuum seals
• Irritant
• Difficult to remove
– E.g. from Velcro fasters
• But, Equipment needs to be:
– Safe and reliable
– Low maintenance
– Easy to repair
– Low mass
How?
NASA
How? Space Suits
• Apollo: 88 kg • ISS: 285 kg
• 0 g =/= 1/6th g
• Apollo suits not good for
long duration – Wear – Uncomfortable – Tiring – Bulky
NASA
Two possible routes
• Human pioneers who build the infrastructure ready for consolidation and settlement
• Robotics and AI used increasingly to replace human presence of the surface
• Largely robotic assembly with controllers either on the Moon (in relative safety) or Earth
• Permanent human presence follows
How?
Concept of Operations
• Humans live mostly below the surface
• Much work is performed either autonomously or through local tele-robotics
• Some is performed by tele-robotics from the Gateway or from the Earth
How?
Whys
• Lunar science • Life sciences from on the Moon • Other science on the Moon • Astronomy • A haven from a damaged Earth • A vehicle for international collaboration • A vehicle for economic and technological
progress • A stepping stone to Mars • Because its there