Lunar habitation

Gepubliceerd op 3 oktober 2025 om 14:22

Lunar habitation: The moon, a stepping stone to Mars and beyond.

People often ask; Why should we go to the moon? The moon is like a dry infertile dessert without an atmosphere and water (Levchenko, et al., 2021). Well, most of it is true but there is evidence of water in the lunar pole regions, most of it trapped in old craters (Li, et al., 2018; Deutsch, 2019). The presence of water on the moon opens a new era in lunar exploration (Hurley, et al., 2023). The presence of water opened an era where we can establish a permanent settlement on the moon.

A permanent presence on the moon is necessary to understand what our capabilities are in space, such as technology and understanding of operations and the exploration of the solar system (Mendell, 1991). The moon can function as a test location for vehicles, methods and the exploration of other lunar and planetary surfaces (Connolly, et al., 2018). To stay on the moon we need a safe place to work, eat and sleep. Such a place could be established in the form of a moon base as planned in the Artemis Program. One of the objectives of the Artemis Program is the return of humans to the moon for lunar and deep space exploration (Merancy, et al., 2022).

The establishment of an occupied lunar base is a stepping stone into space and enables our species to use local resources and develop new technologies and gain more knowledge (Marov & Slyuta, 2021). At this moment in time the main reasons for a permanent settlement on the moon is for our technical, scientific and also financial development. But the moon can also reduce future costs of exploring our solar system and beyond. Rockets and future spacecrafts launched from the moon don’t need to escape the Earth’s gravity reducing cost (Ruess, et al., 2006). Besides scientific and technological development establishing a colony on the moon is a major step for our species evolving beyond a planetary species (Das, 2021).

The moon will function as a testing ground for technologies and to gain knowledge for the exploration of other planets and beyond. Establishing a permanent human presence on the moon is the first step for our species evolving from a planetary into an interplanetary species. And maybe one day we will evolve into an intergalactic species when we have to leave our solar system to secure the survival of our species.

Literature:

Connolly, J. F., Drake, B., Joosten, B. K., Williams, N., Polsgove, T., Merrill, R., ... & Percy, T. (2018, October). The moon as a stepping stone to human Mars missions. In International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2018) (No. JSC-E-DAA-TN61646-2).

Das, N. B., & Biswal M, M. K. (2021, March). Project Crescent–A Proposal to Build a Sustainable Moon Base. In 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (No. 2548, p. 2416).

Deutsch, A. N., Head III, J. W., & Neumann, G. A. (2020). Analyzing the ages of south polar craters on the Moon: Implications for the sources and evolution of surface water ice. Icarus, 336, 113455.

Hurley, D. M., Siegler, M. A., Cahill, J. T., Colaprete, A., Costello, E., Deutsch, A. N., ... & Schaible, M. (2023). Surface volatiles on the Moon. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 89(1), 787-827.

Levchenko, I., Xu, S., Mazouffre, S., Keidar, M., & Bazaka, K. (2021). Mars colonization: beyond getting there. Terraforming Mars, 73-98.

Li, S., Lucey, P. G., Milliken, R. E., Hayne, P. O., Fisher, E., Williams, J. P., ... & Elphic, R. C. (2018). Direct evidence of surface exposed water ice in the lunar polar regions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(36), 8907-8912.

Marov, M. Y., & Slyuta, E. N. (2021). Early steps toward the lunar base deployment: Some prospects. Acta Astronautica, 181, 28-39.

Mendell, W. W. (1991). Lunar base as a precursor to Mars exploration and settlement. Moon, 110(6), 660.

Merancy, N. F., DiGiuseppe, M., & Nelson, G. C. (2022, September). Artemis lunar mission availability & design. In 73rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC).

Ruess, F., Schaenzlin, J., & Benaroya, H. (2006). Structural design of a lunar habitat. Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 19(3), 133-157.

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