What Will Future Lunar Bases Look Like?

From New Scientist - Latest Headlines:

What will future lunar bases look like? NASA's Lunar Architecture Team is looking for the answer - the design must be able to weather a rocket launch and the brutalities of life on the Moon. The team is now weighing several options: an inflatable home that could be packed for launch and then inflated on the Moon's surface using oxygen transported in tanks, a rigid structure, or a combination of both. NASA is expected to make a public announcement about the group's work within the next few weeks. Astronauts could be back on the Moon in 2020. Initially they won't stay for more than a week, but the agency's ultimate goal is to have them spend six-month stints on the Moon. There, temperatures range from -233° up to 123° Celsius and radiation constantly barrages the surface. Without a thick atmosphere to slow them down, as on Earth, micrometeorites slam into the Moon at speeds of up to 100,000 kilometres per hour, producing abrasive dust called regolith that can do serious damage to anything or anyone, says Andy Thomas, an astronaut who heads the agency's Lunar Architecture Team.

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