Why do humans have to build a base on the moon? How to build it and when can it be completed?

The moon is a barren land, so why do people have to go there to build a base? Especially the Americans, who keep threatening to return to the moon and build a base. Many people still seriously doubt that the Americans landed on the moon in the last century, so what is the point of "returning"? Then they sneer: Humph!

So, why do humans want to build a lunar base?

Humans will eventually leave the Earth, and the Moon is the first stop that cannot be avoided. If we cannot even pass this first stop, there is no point in bragging about going to deep space. This is the most fundamental reason why humans must build a base on the Moon.

The moon is the closest extraterrestrial body to the Earth, with an average distance of only 384,000 kilometers from the Earth. It is also very large, with a diameter of 3,476 kilometers, which is 71% of Mercury, the smallest planet among the eight planets, and its mass is 22.5% of Mercury. Among the more than 200 planetary satellites in the solar system, the moon ranks fifth, and it is a rocky rigid body.

The moon has a great influence on the earth. The earth is blessed to have such a brother as its companion. The formation of life on earth has a lot to do with the moon.

If we don't take advantage of such a unique advantage, wouldn't we be foolish? So please take back your "humph" if you sneer at us. If humans want to leave the earth, they must first conquer the moon, otherwise it's all nonsense.

What is the role of the lunar base?

1. It is a springboard for humans to go into deep space. The lunar base will become a training camp for humans to go into deep space. If humans want to be familiar with the extraterrestrial environment, they must first understand the lunar environment. Since the gravity on the moon is only 1/6 of that on the earth and there is no atmospheric resistance, the spacecrafts that humans will use to go into deep space in the future will be launched from the moon, which is of great significance to the improvement of the spacecraft structure and fuel saving.

2. There are valuable resources on the moon that humans need, but are scarce on Earth. For example, helium-3 is a high-quality fuel for nuclear fusion. The total reserves on Earth are only 500 kilograms, while the moon's reserves are as much as one million tons. 100 tons can be used for nuclear fusion power generation for humans for one year, and the moon's helium-3 can be used by humans for 10,000 years.

In addition to helium-3, the moon also has relatively abundant uranium, thorium, potassium, oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, titanium, calcium, aluminum, hydrogen and other elements. If humans want to develop and utilize these resources, they must establish production, processing and transportation bases on the moon.

3. The vacuum and low gravity conditions on the moon are a special environment that is difficult to replicate on Earth, and have special utilization value for scientific research. For example, studying the origin of the moon, the earth, and the solar system; genetic engineering of biological microorganisms under low gravity conditions; deep space life support, artificial biosphere, etc., are much better than the conditions on Earth. Therefore, the moon will become a special scientific research center different from the earth, and all countries will set up their own scientific research branches there.

4. Tourist attractions. In the future, deep space tourism centers and space business centers will be built on the moon. The moon will become a good place for people to relax and vacation, and even a center for commercial activities. For example, the World Trade Conference may be held there. People will also use it as a springboard to travel to Mars and even further celestial bodies for tourism and exploration.

5. In order to ensure that humans can carry out the above activities on the moon, a series of scientific research, production and living facilities will be established on the moon, especially oxygen, water and electricity supply and other life support systems will be established first. For this reason, the moon will eventually have a permanent population and form a lunar city. After several years, the moon people who are different from the earth people will be formed, which will greatly increase the chances of human reproduction and survival.

Progress of lunar base construction

Some of the construction tasks mentioned above are long-term goals, while others need to be solved now. Therefore, the construction may be divided into four stages:

The first step is to build a lunar base outpost on the moon, which is a temporary base in preparation for a permanent base. This stage will take at least 10 years.

The second step is to upgrade the temporary lunar base to a permanent base based on the outpost, with people stationed there for a long time. This stage will take about 10 years.

The third step is to expand the bases already built on the moon to form a base complex with comprehensive functions of deep space exploration, tourism, production and life. This stage will take about 10 years.

The fourth step is to form a lunar city with more complete functions based on the base cluster. From then on, life on the moon will become routine and normal, and the human lunar race will begin to emerge independently. This stage will take about 20 years.

This will probably take until the end of this century. Therefore, it can be predicted that by the end of this century, ordinary people will have the opportunity to travel to the moon. Can the friends who read my article hold on until that day and get this luck?

Planning and feasibility

Humans landed on the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. So far, only 12 people have set foot on the moon, and none of them urinated on the moon. Of course, at that time, humans did not have the conditions and ability to urinate outdoors in the space environment, so the astronauts who landed on the moon probably brought their excrement back.

Since then, humans have never visited the moon again. So do we have the ability to build a base on the moon now? I think so. Although no one has returned to the moon in the past 50 years, human civilization and aerospace technology have undergone earth-shaking changes in the past 50 years. Human spacecraft have already flown to all the planets in the solar system, and have also visited asteroids and comets. The farthest Voyager 1 is now 22.9 billion kilometers away from us, having already flown past the farthest planet in our solar system and is heading out of the solar system.

Humans have entered the information, automation, and intelligence era, and their space capabilities have changed dramatically. In particular, human "gene mutation" has produced an outlier, Elon Musk, who has greatly advanced space technology and greatly shortened the timeline for humans to become a multi-planet species.

For Musk, the lunar base is really child's play. His goal is to build a city of one million people on Mars within a few decades!

The United States has launched a plan to return to the moon in 2024, with three tasks: first, to land on the back of the moon, survey the situation on the back of the moon, and train astronauts going to Mars in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface to prepare for a manned landing on Mars; second, to establish a space station in lunar orbit, named the Moon's Gate, to serve as a buffer for lunar landings and as an intermediate station support for deep space spacecraft; third, to lay the groundwork for the construction of a lunar base, including site selection and positioning, and the construction of simple temporary settlements.

Whether it is possible to realize manned return to the moon in 2024 as scheduled, according to the current news from the US, seems to be difficult, mainly for two reasons: the first point is to start with NASA's bidding for the lunar lander. In the plan to return to the moon, NASA will only send any cargo to the Lunar Gate space station, while the shuttle from the Lunar Gate space station to the moon and back will be tendered to the private sector. NASA once claimed that it would bid for two companies to undertake this task.

The problem was that after the bidding, NASA found that only one company, Musk's SpaceX, met the requirements, so the contract was awarded to Musk. This caused indignation and dissatisfaction among Blue Origin, which lost the bid. After the county government complained unsuccessfully, it filed a lawsuit in court, forcing NASA to suspend the execution of the contract.

The second point is that NASA recently announced that the manufacturing of lunar spacesuits may not be completed by 2024, so the manned return to the moon plan is likely to be delayed. However, NASA officials said that the moon landing plan will not be cancelled and the mission will be implemented in 2025 at the latest.

I think, no matter what difficulties the subsequent plans may encounter or how long they may be delayed, what is certain is that this plan will definitely be launched. The plan to return to the moon and build a lunar base is already on the agenda and must be launched. It is feasible.

Which countries may be involved in the future lunar base?

No matter how many countries will participate in the future, judging from the current situation, it can only be the United States, the leader in aerospace, that will take the lead.

More than a decade ago, the United States formulated a plan to build a lunar space city, with an intended investment of 100 billion US dollars in three steps: first, build a temporary base with a dozen to dozens of permanent residents; on this basis, build a small permanent base with the permanent population increased to a hundred people, forming a complete production system of mining, smelting, and transportation.

The third step is to build a lunar space city on the moon that can accommodate 1,000 people. The production, living and entertainment facilities will become increasingly complete, and the means of production and living can be self-sufficient and even "exported" to the earth.

The blueprint for the second step of the permanent base has also been announced long ago: it covers an area of ​​about 8,000 square meters, is a three-story dome building with a diameter of 64 meters and each floor is 4.5 meters high. The walls and roof are built with concrete, and the inner and outer walls and the roof are covered with 0.7 to 2.5 meters thick lunar soil, which serves to protect the base from cosmic rays and solar wind, as well as the hazards of small meteorite impacts.

There is also a circular air-raid shelter inside the building. Once the building is damaged and the atmosphere leaks, people can take refuge in this cave which has been stocked with emergency survival supplies. In this way, the survival of the advance residents of the moon will have a double insurance.

Russia, Japan, and the European Space Agency all have plans for lunar bases. China's aerospace technology has also developed rapidly in recent years, so it will not lag behind and has its own lunar base plan. But the problem is that these countries have not yet achieved manned lunar landings, and it will take about 10 years to solve this problem. Therefore, plans to independently build a lunar base will have to wait at least 10 years.

As early as July 2008, the United States, India, South Korea, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy signed a joint lunar exploration agreement and jointly launched a lunar exploration activity called the "International Lunar Network", planning to gradually establish several scientific stations on the moon. Therefore, astronauts from these countries may take advantage of the Americans' cooperation to land on the moon together, so as to enjoy a share of the lunar base.

Therefore, joint exploration and development of the moon is the only way to narrow the gap with those countries that have not yet achieved manned lunar landing. Our current relationship with the United States is sensitive and delicate. Is it possible to make a breakthrough in space cooperation in the future? It is hard to predict.

Self-sufficient solutions for lunar bases

NASA reviewed more than a dozen different designs for the lunar base, and the initial base was made of cylindrical lunar modules made on Earth, each of which would be placed on top of a lunar lander and sent to the lunar surface. The base could initially accommodate four people, each staying on the moon for 180 days, with supplies delivered at the same time as two manned missions per year.

In the first few years, the electricity was stored in solar panels. The moon has about 14 days of day and 14 days of night each month. The temperature during the day is as high as 127℃ and the temperature at night drops to -183℃. Therefore, ensuring the supply of electricity is the most important guarantee for maintaining a constant indoor temperature and the safe survival of astronauts.

Outdoor work will be mainly performed by robots. After 2030, a fully functional astronaut base will be built, and the lunar base will basically be self-sufficient.

The main facilities for survival support and self-sufficiency are:

Use solar energy and nuclear reactors to provide energy: There is no atmosphere on the moon, no wind or rain, and it is filled with scorching sunshine during the day. The radiation intensity is 1.5 times that of the earth. Therefore, solar energy is the best source of energy for the moon. At the same time, build nuclear reactors on the moon, and use solar energy and nuclear power generation to achieve a dual energy supply method to solve the energy problem needed for the lunar base.

In this way, the lighting, heating, heating, production and manufacturing of the lunar base can be guaranteed. If the controlled nuclear fusion power generation technology can be put into use, the abundant helium-3 resources on the moon can be used, and the fuel is inexhaustible.

Solving the problem of air and water by using local materials: Scientists have found that there are many oxygen-containing iron minerals in the lunar sand, so fresh water and oxygen can be produced from the lunar sand. The method is to use automatic excavators to collect sand from the lunar surface, and use intelligent machinery to select oxygen-containing iron minerals, and then reduce them through the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen-containing iron minerals to obtain fresh water; with water, oxygen and hydrogen can be obtained through electrolysis of water. Oxygen can be liquefied and stored for long-term use by residents of the base.

It has been calculated that 1 ton of oxygen can sustain the needs of 10 people on the moon for one year, and to produce 1 ton of oxygen, only 120 tons of lunar sand are needed. However, the hydrogen used at the beginning needs to be transported from the earth, and then the country will be able to produce and be self-sufficient.

Food can be obtained through lunar greenhouse planting and breeding industries: In recent years, scientists have cultivated more than 100 kinds of "space plants" on the International Space Station, including wheat, corn, soybeans, oats, radishes, tomatoes, beets, cabbage, etc., and have studied and confirmed that under the weightlessness conditions in space, plant seeds can not only germinate in the lunar soil, but also have a higher germination rate, grow faster, and bloom and ear earlier.

Scientists have also tested animal reproduction and breeding in the space station: in the space station environment, fruit flies and bees can still mate, lay eggs and build nests; quail eggs and fish eggs can still hatch after staying in the space station for 59 days and returning to Earth; mammals and mice can still mate, conceive and give birth to pups in the space station. All of these have laid the foundation for humans to establish planting and breeding industries on the moon and solve the problem of food sources.

While meeting these basic needs for survival, we can also build factories and use lunar resources to produce various necessities of life and production. In this way, the moon will truly become a paradise, not only self-sufficient, but also able to export to Earth. At that time, the fashion of Earthlings may be to get a space suit from the moon.

That's all I have to say. Whether it can be realized or not, we will have to wait and see. Thank you for reading and welcome to discuss.

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