ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Moon bases being planned now may show us how to live off-planet

By Edd Gent





Setting up a future lunar base could be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to build it from local materials. Industrial partners including renowned architects Foster+Partners joined ESA to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil.

Moon bases have long been a staple of science fiction, but a renewed push for lunar exploration suggests they’re on the brink of becoming science fact. Half a century after the last Apollo astronauts left the moon, President Trump has ordered NASA to plan a return. Other spacefaring nations are planning lunar missions of their own, as are a handful of start-ups.

Experts say the moon’s low gravity and proximity to Earth, along with its natural resources, make it a perfect staging post for missions to Mars and other deep-space destinations as well as a new frontier for humans to settle.

“The surface of the moon is the size of Africa,” says Prof. Bernard Foing, a scientist at the European Space Agency and leader of the agency’s “Moon Village” lunar base concept. “So you could really have a fully developed eighth continent playing a number of roles like a manufacturing hub, a great tourist destination, or a space port hub.”

Eventually, the moon will likely have permanent settlements — perhaps underground cities inside the recently discovered lava tubes that could protect settlers from space radiation. But plenty of lunar activity is planned for the coming decade.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)