On this day in 1969, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission landed humans on the Moon for the first time.
As Neil Armstrong’s boot print, still enshrined in lunar regolith, gathers dust – the US, China, Russia and their partners are racing to backtrack.
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The Apollo 11 crew – Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin – will soon be some of the few humans to have observed the Moon in all its pristine glory.
The future of the Moon in the coming decades that the US and China envision is that of a futuristic metropolis and a gateway to planets beyond.
3D printed cave houses
For starters, the astronauts exploring the Moon and helping to build a permanent housing base will need a place to live.
That’s why NASA has been partnering with 3D printing company Icon since 2022, as part of a $57 million contract.
The printer can build cave-like dome structures in just 48 hours – which could also revolutionize home construction on Earth.
Astrofarmers
But we will need more than just astroexplorers.
Astrofarmers will be the key to a long-term off-planet future.
Analysis of lunar samples returned to Earth in the past shows that the Moon’s soil – also known as regolith – contains most of the minerals essential for plant growth.
All except one.
Regolith lacks nitrogen. Lunar soil also compacts when watered, which can suffocate and harm root growth and plant germination.
But scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) have drawn up plans to grow plants outside the lunar soil, using vertical gardens.
This is called hydroponic farming and involves growing plants directly in nutrient-rich water rather than soil.
However, researchers have successfully grown beans in lunar soil, so the use of lunar regolith is not completely out of the question.
Food grown on the Moon could be even healthier.
Researchers at the University of Florida announced in 2022 that the stress of growing plants in foreign soil increases levels of protective compounds, commonly found in superfoods like blueberries and kale.
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Getting around
NASA has chosen three companies to develop a new lunar racing car that astronauts will use to cross the Moon in the 2030s.
Lunar buggies will help astronauts reach destinations never before explored and considered inaccessible on foot.
The lunar terrestrial (LTV) will be an essential piece of NASA’s bow in terms of scientific research and exploration of the Moon’s south pole during the Artemis V mission.
Artemis V, currently scheduled for 2026, aims to land two astronauts on the Moon for the first time in 55 years.
By 2050, transportation systems around the Moon are expected to be even more advanced.
The US Department of Defense has proposed a lunar rail system that could transport humans and supplies across the habitation site – or possibly across multiple bases.
The “lunar railroad” is expected to enable serious and sustained economic development on the Moon as nations seek an abundance of pristine lunar minerals.
Nuclear reactor
Now, all of this infrastructure will require a lot of energy, with a completely new energy grid.
The freezing two-week lunar night presents obvious problems with dependence on solar energy.
The Moon also does not experience wind.
That’s why NASA introduced the Fission Surface Power Project, which aims to put a nuclear reactor on the Moon.
It’s one of the biggest goals of NASA’s next Artemis program.
Surface energy from fission could provide abundant and continuous energy on the Moon, regardless of environmental conditions.
It could also enable exploration of deeper space destinations in the future.
The UK Space Agency has backed Rolls-Royce’s design for a futuristic nuclear power plant.
But it is not just a Western objective.
Russia and China also plan to place a nuclear reactor on the Moon in the next decade.
Yuri Borisov, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, announced in March that the two nations hope to install a nuclear unit by 2035.
Built by robots, the plant will be part of China and Russia’s plan to build the International Lunar Research Station – a sprawling space base expected to begin construction in 2026.
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Neil Armstrong boot print
Despite concerns that China is hiding secret military projects in space, and may even try to claim parts of the Moon as its own, Beijing and the US have agreed on one thing.
China is working with the US to preserve Neil Armstrong’s footprint on the Moon, along with other “historical relics” from previous human landings, according to the South China Morning Post.
Therefore, the future may reserve space for a lunar museum.
Lunar time zone
The Moon will also get its own time zone as plans to develop permanent living bases progress rapidly.
The White House has reportedly instructed NASA to create a standard lunar time for all nations, following a similar proposal from ESA last year.
Spacefaring nations currently use their own time zones when carrying out lunar missions.
But scientists have warned that this will not be sustainable in a future when humans are establishing permanent living quarters – let alone when grand plans for the lunar rail network are revealed.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
