Architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, working with specialists from the European Space Agency and scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have developed a project called Moon Village. This large-scale settlement on the lunar surface will be located near the South Pole on the shaft of the Shackleton crater, such a location was chosen because of the fact that this place receives an almost uninterrupted flow of light throughout the year, which will be the main source of energy.
Initially, the Moon Village base will function as a research station. But later, its functionality could be expanded to include a permanent human presence on the Moon and space tourism. The South Pole area, as mentioned above, is not chosen as a location for the base. In addition to the nearly eternal flow of sunlight, the area has deposits of water in the form of ice and is present with a surface virtually untouched by time, the study of which will add much new knowledge about the early history of the solar system.
The Moon Village base will consist of single-type buildings of modular construction. Each structure will have a rigid frame and an inflatable, multi-layer outer shell, which also serves to protect people from cosmic radiation. The frame elements are made of strong and lightweight titanium alloys, while the outer shell layers are made of mylar film with a double-sided aluminum coating. The space between the mylar layers will be filled with polyurethane foam, giving the structure extra strength.
The interior space of the building is divided into several levels, connected by vertical stairs, movement through which should not be a problem, taking into account the low lunar gravity. Each level of the structure can serve a different function and be used as laboratories, recreational areas, meeting rooms, hydroponic farms and living quarters divided into separate cubicles.
The choice of materials for construction of the future lunar base buildings was made in favor of lightweight and compact materials due to the fact that all these materials would need to be transported from Earth by cargo spacecraft. In order to reduce base construction costs, all other infrastructure elements will be erected with maximum use of construction materials made locally and lunar materials, such as regolith.
