Space+Colonies+Introduction

Example Digital PBL http://mariana68.wixsite.com/marscolonyproject/the-challenge  Space Colonies A space colony is seen as one of the most important options available to the continuation of mankind in the future. Space colonies on the Moon, Mars, asteroids, other worlds and in orbit around the Earth have been suggested, designed and promoted since the 1950's. Early orbiting space stations were designed like large wheels spinning in space as seen in the film "2001". Many scientists have advocated expanding the human presence to other worlds.  There are a great many things we can do on other worlds and in Earth orbit. We can set up mining stations on the Moon, and fund laboratories in space to perform experiments you wouldn't want to do on Earth because of the risks involved to the population. We can also build observatories and factories in space. Isaac Asimov, the famous science writer wrote, " Space settlers ... might run mines on the Moon, they would travel in a spaceship <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 877.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00087,1);">that would be very much like the space stations in which they would live (maybe a little <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 900.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00121,1);">smaller but that's all). They would be living inside a world with tight cycling and varying <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 923.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998629,1);">gravitational forces. They would be the natural pioneers. They, not we, would be the <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 946.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0004,1);">Vikings, the Phoenicians, the Polynesians of the future. They would make the long trips <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 969.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00067,1);">to Mars and the asteroids and learn how to mine the asteroids. They could travel out into <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 992.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999117,1);">the solar system and make plans to reach the stars someday. All we can do here on Earth, <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1015.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00056,1);">maybe, is reach the Moon. From worlds in orbit around the Earth, we can reach all the <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1038.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.996908,1);">rest." <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1038.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.996908,1);"> <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1038.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.996908,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 187.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0584,1);">Lunar Bases <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 233.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999176,1);">By early in the next century, NASA could establish a permanent lunar base for scientific <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 256.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00074,1);">research and mining. Scientists envision an initial outpost for one to two dozen people <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 279.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00058,1);">expanding to a community of thousands as NASA finds ways for commercial interests to <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 302.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998833,1);">move into space. The International Space Station is a prelude to the moon base and that <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 325.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00038,1);">base, in turn, would be a stepping stone to Mars. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 371.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00054,1);">A lunar outpost could provide valuable information on the long-term physiological and <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 394.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00053,1);">psychological effects on humans living for long periods in space. The information could <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 417.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998605,1);">prove invaluable in the eventual planning for a manned Mars mission that would require <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 440.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998049,1);">years of travel. Also, the moon could serve as a source for the large quantities of oxygen <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 463.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998442,1);">needed to fuel a spacecraft to Mars and back. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 509.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999332,1);">Living quarters built on a lunar base would probably consist of cylindrical habitation <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 532.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998647,1);">modules made of durable lightweight materials. These modules would be connected <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 555.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998533,1);">together parallel to the ground. By connecting extra modules, the habitable lunar base can <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 578.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998975,1);">be expanded incrementally. Most of each habitation module would be buried <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 601.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00077,1);">underground to ensure its structural stability and to use the lunar soil for protecting <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 624.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998455,1);">humans from exposure to solar cosmic radiation. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 670.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998604,1);">There would be three types of modules: habitation, laboratory and factory modules. The <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 693.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00129,1);">habitat would have sleeping quarters, a kitchen (or galley) and bathroom facilities. Any <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 716.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00023,1);">windows (if any) would have to be small and made of multiple thick glass sheets to block <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 739.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998562,1);">cosmic radiation. Although the Moon is free from the damaging threats of weather, <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 762.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999081,1);">accidents or fires could occur and meteorites do impact the Moon. If an accident occurs <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 785.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998612,1);">in a large structure, it might be necessary to abandon the entire building. However in a <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 808.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00001,1);">module system, a damaged module could simply be isolated from the rest by closing the <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 831.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00031,1);">hatches shared with other modules, similar to the plan onboard the space station. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 877.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99859,1);">The modules would be filled with air to enable the crew to breathe, and pressurized like <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 900.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999472,1);">an airplane cabin at a pressure of one Earth atmosphere. Energy, oxygen, food, and water <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 923.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998731,1);">necessary to maintain life in a lunar module would have to be transported from the Earth. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 946.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999526,1);">Research and experiments would be conducted to find ways of producing or recycling <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 969.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00079,1);">some of these essentials on the Moon. For example, sunlight can be utilized to supply <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 992.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998918,1);">energy, and oxygen could be produced from oxide compounds existing on the Moon. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1015.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00072,1);">Settlers would grow plants and possibly breed fish on the lunar surface. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1061.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99925,1);">What kind of people will live on the lunar base? The construction of a lunar base would <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1084.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00064,1);">be a major international project similar to the construction of the International Space <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1107.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00052,1);">Station. Crews sent to the lunar base would most likely be made up of men and women <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1130.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00101,1);">from participating countries around the world. This team would include doctors,<span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 118.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998907,1);">researchers, engineers, and scientists. As the colony grew, other personnel such as cooks, <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 141.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00079,1);">and gardeners would to be added to the team. Journalists may also invited to join them. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 187.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99921,1);">The crews would do research and conduct experiments in the Moon laboratories, work on <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 210.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999143,1);">lunar base construction, maintain the base, mine resources, etc. These crews would be <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 233.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998922,1);">replaced on a regular basis in the same way that teams who work at U.S. and Japanese <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 256.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998574,1);">Antarctic Bases on Earth are. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 302.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998615,1);">In addition to living quarters, a lunar base would also need a landing/launch pad, a power <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 325.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998887,1);">plant - either solar or nuclear, construction equipment, a spare parts and maintenance <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 348.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00065,1);">garage, a central control and communications center, and life support systems. Mining <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 371.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00065,1);">equipment and a solar oven could be used in building the initial lunar base and then be <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 394.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998444,1);">employed for supplying material for industry in orbital space. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 440.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00035,1);">Frozen soil at the moon's poles may contain as much as 1-10 billion tons of water locked <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 463.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998634,1);">into deeply shaded craters, according to data from the Lunar Prospector spacecraft. That <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 486.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00013,1);">is an amount equal to what is consumed by U.S. cities in 10 days. More important, it <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 509.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998129,1);">would be enough to supply the population of a lunar base for a long, long time. In <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 532.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998673,1);">addition to sustaining life in a colony, water can be used for rocket fuel by breaking it <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 555.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00032,1);">into its constituent chemicals - hydrogen and oxygen. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; height: 1319px; left: 150.067px; top: 555.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00032,1); width: 1019px;"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 118.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.03596,1);">Mars Bases <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 164.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999002,1);">If humans are to live on Mars, even for brief periods, they are going to have to be <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 187.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999357,1);">supported by a wide range of infrastructure. They'll need a place to work, rest and live. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 210.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999932,1);">They will need power, light, food, water, and heat. They'll need robust transportation, <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 233.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0004,1);">equipment able to operate in low temperatures and the hostile environment on Mars. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 279.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998891,1);">Current NASA exploration plans envision an early prototype of a Mars habitat that could <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 302.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998555,1);">be launched into orbit. The prototype habitat would be joined to the international space <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 325.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00066,1);">station for testing and final training of the Mars exploration crews. Systems to support <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 348.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998739,1);">the crew on Mars would be delivered to the planet nearly 26 months prior to the first <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 371.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00033,1);">crew's arrival. The first elements delivered will include the crew's ascent vehicle, which <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 394.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00078,1);">arrives with empty propellant tanks, propellant production equipment, and various <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 417.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998975,1);">surface habitation and exploration systems. Once the surface payload is unloaded, <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 440.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999086,1);">propellant production begins. The carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars is reacted with <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 463.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999108,1);">hydrogen imported from Earth to make the nearly 30 metric tons of oxygen and methane <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 486.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999283,1);">required to eventually deliver the crew from the planetary surface back into Mars orbit. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 509.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998999,1);">The ascent vehicle is fully fueled before the crew leaves Earth to begin their journey to <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 532.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99747,1);">Mars. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 578.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00102,1);">An international crew of six would spend the 180-day journey to Mars in the habitat they <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 601.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0003,1);">will live in on the planet's surface. This habitat will be a duplicate of one delivered to <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 624.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998971,1);">Mars nearly 26 months earlier. Once on Mars, the crew connects the two habitats <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 647.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0006,1);">together and begins a variety of surface exploration and habitation activities. By using <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 670.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999222,1);">resources available at Mars and emphasizing the development of a robust set of surface <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 693.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998693,1);">systems, the crew's safety and the scientific and economic return of human missions to <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 716.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999798,1);">Mars are dramatically increased, while the cost of such missions decreases substantially. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 739.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00043,1);">After the habitats are joined, the crew members would have multiple pressurized spaces <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 762.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999594,1);">available for conducting greenhouse experiments, biological research, chemical analysis <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 785.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999392,1);">of samples, and general crew accommodations. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 831.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999005,1);">The crew would prepare their ascent vehicle in anticipation of returning to Earth. Its job <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 854.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998824,1);">complete, the propellant production plant would be removed from the lander and <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 877.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998893,1);">connected to the outpost, providing future crews with caches of breathing gases and other <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 900.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998827,1);">consumables. After spending nearly 500 days on Mars, the crew would begin their 180- <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 923.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998943,1);">day voyage back to Earth by ascending into orbit to rendezvous with their Earth-return <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 946.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99506,1);">vehicle. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 992.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00014,1);">Subsequent human missions have the option of returning to the site established by the <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1015.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998906,1);">first crew, or placing additional footholds on the surface of Mars. The Earth-return <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1038.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00049,1);">vehicle will have awaited the crew's arrival in Mars orbit for nearly three years. After <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1061.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998563,1);">checking out its systems, the crew would embark on the final leg of their journey in the <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1084.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99977,1);">now familiar Mars habitat. This familiarity will pay off in terms of increased crew safety <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1107.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999239,1);">and reduced program costs. Having spent nearly 900 days away from home, the six crew <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1130.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998528,1);">members would return to Earth landing at the Kennedy Space Center.

<span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 555.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00032,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 743.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.01333,1);">NASA Advanced Life Support Program <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 788.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998972,1);">When humans establish permanent bases on the lunar surface or travel to Mars for <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 811.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00027,1);">exploration, they will continue to need food, water and air. For long term missions it will <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 834.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999072,1);">not be economically feasible to resupply these life support elements from Earth. Humans <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 857.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998702,1);">will need to develop systems to produce food, purify their water supply and regenerate <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 880.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998434,1);">oxygen from the carbon dioxide they expel. A life support system that would perform <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 903.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998497,1);">these regenerative functions is called a Controlled Ecological Life Support System <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 926.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99969,1);">(CELSS). A CELSS is a tightly controlled system, using crops to perform life support <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 949.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00004,1);">functions, under the restrictions of minimizing volume, mass, energy, and labor. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 995.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00068,1);">Research on human life support began in the 1950's with oxygen regeneration using <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1018.87px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00029,1);">algae. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) became interested in <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1041.87px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00033,1);">the CELSS effort in the late 1970's in order to support long-term space missions. Since <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1064.87px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999267,1);">that time, the Advanced Life Support (ALS) program at NASA has examined growing <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1087.87px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00082,1);">plants for food and oxygen regeneration, and use of chemical and biological methods to <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1110.87px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00091,1);">process waste into usable resources, and has begun human testing within ALS at JSC. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1133.87px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998811,1);">Between 1995 and 1997, NASA conducted four experiments with humans in sealed <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1156.87px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00103,1);">CELSS facilities for one, two and four months each. Longer missions are currently<span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 118.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999564,1);">planned. These experiments were conducted at the NASA Johnson Space Center in <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 141.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00084,1);">Houston, Texas. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1156.87px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00103,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 187.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.03327,1);">Mars Arctic Research Station <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 233.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998915,1);">The privately-funded Mars Society is planning a Mars Arctic Research Station (MARS) <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 256.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99847,1);">for the year 2000, as a practical attempt to solve many of the problems facing those <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 279.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00082,1);">wishing to build habitats that will one day be deployed on Mars. The base will be <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 302.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998627,1);">modeled on a Mars Habitat unit, supported by a garage/workshop used to house all- <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 325.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999552,1);">terrain rover vehicles, a solar panel array and a small greenhouse. The Mars Arctic <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 348.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00067,1);">Research Station will be the world's first fully-simulated mars base. It will enable <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 371.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0006,1);">scientists, engineers and even astronauts to test the equipment and technology (habitation, <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 394.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998693,1);">transportation, life support, recycling, etc.), that may be deployed during a manned <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 417.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00012,1);">mission to Mars. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 417.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00012,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 740.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.02984,1);">Biosphere <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 785.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00069,1);">"Biosphere 2" is a well known experimental complex with a closed ecological system. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 808.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00061,1);">Funded by Texas multimillionaire Edward P. Bass, Space Biospheres Ventures built an <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 831.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1,1);">airlock-sealed habitat in Arizona, USA, initially stocked with over 3000 species (since <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 854.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998984,1);">nobody could predict which ones would survive as food chains evolved) - food producing <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 877.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998621,1);">and other plants, fish, trees, etc., and a crew of eight people. It is the largest closed <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 900.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998736,1);">ecological system ever built, at 2.3 acres - about 13,000 square meters. In Mission 1, the <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 923.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998788,1);">facility was closed and sealed, and the crew lived inside for two years from 1991 to 1993. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 946.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999336,1);">The experiment was designed as a precursor to future self-contained space colonies. It is <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 969.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00101,1);">currently operated in conjunction with NASA <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 969.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00101,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 118.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.03572,1);">Underwater Stations <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 164.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999115,1);">Underwater colonies have been envisioned since the 1960's as testbeds for future space <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 187.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999779,1);">colonies and as research laboratories themselves. Sea colonies were considered one way <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 210.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00042,1);">to expand the human presence on this planet, but could also be used on moons that had <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 233.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.997688,1);">oceans like Europa. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 233.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.997688,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 597.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.05234,1);">Terraforming Mars <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 643.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998803,1);">To terraform a planet means to make it like Earth. The best candidate for that project is <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 666.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998733,1);">Mars which already has a thin atmosphere. It is farther from the Sun than Earth, but not <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 689.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999101,1);">too far, and it has polar ice caps, some water, and possibly frozen water ice beneath the <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 712.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.996389,1);">surface. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 758.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998735,1);">To melt the polar ice caps, some scientists advocate mirrors in space, which would catch <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 781.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998686,1);">some of the sunlight racing past Mars and focus it back on the planet. Others advocate <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 804.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999024,1);">spreading black dust or algae on the martian polar caps. The black material would absorb <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 827.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00097,1);">heat, melting the poles. Some believe that we might make breathable air on Mars in only <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 850.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00062,1);">a century or two using tiny self-reproducing robots (called nanotechnology). Others think <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 873.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00118,1);">it might take hundreds of thousands of years. Some believe in a two-part terraforming <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 896.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998828,1);">scheme. In the first part, the planet warms up and a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere is <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 919.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998446,1);">manufactured, suitable for bacteria and possibly plants. It might take only a century. But <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 942.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998764,1);">the second part, in which the plants make carbon dioxide and oxygen, would take much <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 965.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.994296,1);">longer. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 965.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.994296,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1011.47px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.02589,1);">Space Station Colonies <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1057.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0005,1);">In the 1960's and 1970's many designs for rotating space orbiting colonies were made. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1080.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999294,1);">The images below show some of the concepts. One shows a space-habitat designed for <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1103.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999329,1);">10,000 people. The inhabitants, members of the workforce of a space manufacturing <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1126.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00008,1);">complex, would return after work to homes on the inner surface of a large sphere, nearly <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1149.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00078,1);">a mile in circumference, rotating to provide them with gravity comparable to that of the <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1172.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998841,1);">Earth. Their habitat would be fully shielded against cosmic rays and solar flares by a non-<span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 118.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998697,1);">rotating spherical shell, accumulated from the slag of industrial processes carried out on <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 141.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999218,1);">lunar surface material. Outside the shielded area agricultural crops, far less sensitive to <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 164.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998746,1);">radiation than are humans, would be grown in the intense sunlight of space. Docking <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 187.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999287,1);">areas and zero-gravity industries are shown at each end of the space-community, as are flat surfaces to radiate away the waste heat of the habitat into the cold of outer space. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1172.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998841,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 547.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0002,1);">The equator of this rotating habitat is nearly a mile in circumference, and near it wanders <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 570.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998512,1);">a small river whose shores are made of lunar sand. Natural sunshine is brought inside <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 593.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998836,1);">through external mirrors. Rotation of the sphere would produce gravity of Earth-normal <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 616.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00044,1);">intensity at the equator, gradually diminishing to zero at the "poles", where human- <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 639.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998773,1);">powered flight and other low-gravity sports would become easy. For the short distances <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 662.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998807,1);">within the space-habitat, cars would be unnecessary, and transport would be on foot or <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 685.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00062,1);">bicycle. A corridor at the axis would permit floating in zero-gravity out to the agricultural <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 708.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998672,1);">areas, the observatories, the docking ports, and the industries. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 708.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998672,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 23.4px; left: 150.067px; top: 754.457px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.01983,1);">Designing Space Colonies <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 808.007px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.02903,1);">Parts of a Space Colony <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 853.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.08088,1);">Laboratory Modules <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 876.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999692,1);"> - The crew work quarters, where experiments on materials andliving things will take place. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 899.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.06393,1);">Habitation Modules - <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 922.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998983,1);">These will have living quarters for the crews and may include ashower, private compartments, and a galley (eating area). <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 945.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.06529,1);">Greenhouses <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 968.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999359,1);"> - Used for growing food and contributing to the oxygen system, also a wayto use excess carbon dioxide. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 991.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.08531,1);">Solar Arrays <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1014.67px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00028,1);"> – To collect and store up electricity to power the various lunar basesystems and experimental activities. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1037.67px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.07558,1);">Antennas <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1060.67px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.995315,1);"> - Used for communication back to the Earth and with arriving and departingspacecraft. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1083.67px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.05126,1);">Surface Rovers - <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1106.67px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998209,1);">Pressurized rovers can be used for long journeys, simpler open roverscan be used for short trips. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1129.67px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.04518,1);">Resource Utilization Facilities - <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1152.67px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998328,1);">Used to mine the resources of the moon or planet foruse in the base, or for manufacturing propellant (fuel) for space ships. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1152.67px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998328,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 118.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.01864,1);">Telescopes - <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 141.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998794,1);">On the Moon where there is no atmosphere, telescopes would providescientists and astronomers a great view of deep space beyond Earth's atmosphere. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 164.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.04917,1);">Supply Ships - <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 278.667px; top: 164.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998667,1);">Spacecraft used to bring crews and supplies to and from the space base. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 187.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.04603,1);">Space Suits - <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 233.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00066,1);"> Astronauts will need to wear space suits for construction and repair of the space base, either on the Moon or Mars or on an orbiting space base (although the construct of each may be slightly different due to different conditions). <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 275.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00211,1);">Air Supply <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 321.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998836,1);">Consider that your space colony will need air. The modules will have to be enclosed or <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 344.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.997902,1);">the entire living area inside a protective dome. Production facilities could create oxygen <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 367.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00072,1);">from water using electrolysis. Oxygen is also produced by photosynthesis from plants <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 390.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998457,1);">and a greenhouse attached to a living area could help with this process. There is also a <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 413.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999074,1);">process for extracting oxygen from rocks and soil that is being developed for use on the <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 436.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.997622,1);">Moon or Mars. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 482.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.03489,1);">Communications <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 528.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998535,1);">Think about how people on the Earth communicate with one another. What methods <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 551.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00033,1);">work best for long distances? For short distances? Consider communicating with <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 574.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998351,1);">colonists who are out of the colony (such as colonists exploring in a rover). How will <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 597.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999246,1);">you communicate with the Earth? How will you communicate with other parts of Mars - <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 620.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00038,1);">such as meteorology stations on the other side of the planet? Will you use satellites? <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 643.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99771,1);">Antennas? <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 689.667px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.05226,1);">Food Production <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 735.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998903,1);">What are the basic food requirements for humans? (Consider the four food groups). <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 758.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998929,1);">Space for producing food will be very limited in a space colony. On Mars, or any self- <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 781.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99904,1);">contained colony, the food must be replenishable, as replacement stock will not be <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 804.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998485,1);">available from Earth. The space available on the ship that transports the colony to Mars <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 827.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00064,1);">will be much more limited than even the colony itself. Even with limited resources, <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 850.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00078,1);">colonists will appreciate a varied diet. Some foods currently under consideration for use <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 873.267px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999609,1);">in space missions are soybeans and wheat. Soybeans and wheat both take up a small <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 896.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999101,1);">amount of space and are very nutritious. These crops can also be used to purify water and <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 919.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998508,1);">to produce oxygen from carbon dioxide using photosynthesis. A greenhouse will be a <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 942.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998466,1);">necessary addition to any space base. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 942.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998466,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 988.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0419,1);">Living Quarters and Laboratories <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1034.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.99924,1);">Consider factors such as, will each colonist have private living space? Every square foot <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1057.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00062,1);">of the base will use more resources, but people are happier when they feel they have <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1080.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999163,1);">sufficient space and privacy. What kinds of work spaces will be needed? Laboratories, <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1103.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00034,1);">construction facilities, recycling systems, greenhouses, fuel production facilities, mining <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1126.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00064,1);">stations, etc. Think about the purpose of your colony and what it will need to fulfill that <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1149.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.997463,1);">purpose. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 1149.07px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.997463,1);"><span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 118.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.042,1);">Recreation Facilities <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 164.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00113,1);">What kinds of recreation facilities would be needed in a space base? Not only the body <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 187.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00042,1);">but the mind needs recreation. How will these facilities be different from those on Earth? <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 210.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998723,1);">Consider for example the lower gravity on the Moon (1/6 <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 13.4px; left: 609.267px; top: 207.527px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.01626,1);">th <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 619.867px; top: 210.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998185,1);"> that of the Earth) and on Mars <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 233.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.0001,1);">(1/3 <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 13.4px; left: 182.267px; top: 230.527px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.9876,1);">rd <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 193.467px; top: 233.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.997353,1);"> that of the Earth). <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 279.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.05766,1);">Transportation <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 325.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998439,1);">What kinds of transportation will be necessary within the base and surrounding area? <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 348.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999162,1);">What kinds of trips will the crews need to make? How far will crews need to go? Do you <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 371.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.998597,1);">need different methods of transportation for different purposes? What will you use for <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 394.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999406,1);">fuel? What equipment will you bring and what containers for returning samples will you <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 417.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.995498,1);">need? <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 463.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.02319,1);">Water <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 509.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999689,1);">Colonies will need a great deal of water for many purposes including drinking, washing, <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 532.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999071,1);">and watering plants. Where will you get the water? How will it be stored? A recycling <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 555.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00011,1);">facility may be needed. <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 601.467px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.04594,1);">Energy and Production Equipment <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 647.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.00066,1);">What energy source(s) will power the space colony? Will it be solar or nuclear? What <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 670.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999294,1);">about a back-up system? What kinds of production will take place at your colony? Will <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 693.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999406,1);">there be mining? Science laboratories? Telescopes? Fuel production systems? Water <span style="display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 20px; left: 150.067px; top: 716.067px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.999658,1);">production facilities? How will they be integrated together?

https://www.aiaa.org/uploadedFiles/Education_and_Careers/STEM_K-12_Outreach/Kids_Place/Space_Activities/Space%20Colonies-Build%20%20a%20Lunar%20or%20mars%20City.pdf