CHICAGO — American architecture firm, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, worked with the European Space Agency and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop a concept for the first self-sufficient human lunar settlement which they are calling 'Moon Village'.<br /><br />According to a press release by SOM, the village would be built on the edge of the Shackleton Crater which is located near the Moon's South Pole and receives a consistent amount of sunlight throughout the lunar year. <br /><br />The settlements would be placed near the crater's water-ice deposits. This water would be used to make breathable air as well as rocket fuel for transportation and industrial activities within the modules.<br /><br />Each inflatable module would be interconnected by pressurized walkways and have up to four floors which include workspaces, residential areas as well as life support and environmental systems built inside a protective shell made of regolith. This base would be resistant to extreme temperatures, projectiles, lunar dust, and solar radiation.<br /><br />For all you space junkies out there, don't get too excited, this is a proposal for space exploration after the year 2050. Regardless, humans on the moon again, ain't that exciting?
