KEY POINTS:
NASA and one of its contractors are getting sorted for a working holiday - on the moon.
The space agency intends on building an outpost on the surface of the moon, with help from contractor ILC Dover.
Its plans include building a base camp that could be used and then abandoned for reasonably long periods of time.
NASA says the base would allow it to learn how to use the moon's natural resources, prepare for a journey to Mars and conduct scientific experiments.
Work on the moon camp will begin by 2020, starting with four-person crews making week-long visits until power supplies, rovers and living quarters are up to scratch.
Missions would then be extended to two weeks, then months and eventually to 180 days.
The first decade on life on the moon will be used to teach space travellers the skills needed for an eventual trip to Mars.
Boffins from NASA's Langley Research Centre, Johnson Space Centre and ILC Dover are looking at inflatable structures as part of their grand plan.
"Inflatables can be used as connectors or tunnels between crew quarters and can provide radiation shelter if covered with lunar regolith (soil)," said Chris Moore, exploration technology development program executive at NASA Headquarters.
As a starting point, ILC Dover has delivered a 3.65 metre diameter inflatable structure made of multilayer fabric to Langley for ground-based evaluation of emerging technologies such as flexible structural health monitoring systems, self-healing materials and radiation protective materials.
Attached to the structure is a smaller inflatable structure that serves as a demonstration airlock. Both are essentially pressurised cylinders, connected by an airtight door.
The "planetary surface habitat and airlock unit" can also be used to evaluate materials, lightweight structure technologies, astronaut interfaces, dust mitigation techniques, and function with robotics and other lunar surface equipment.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
