Human habitats: Prospects for infrastructure supporting astronomy from the Moon

C. Heinicke, B. Foing

Research output: Contribution to JournalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

There is strong interest in lunar exploration from governmental space agencies, private companies and the public. NASA is about to send humans to the lunar surface again within the next few years, and ESA has proposed the concept of the Moon Village, with the goal of a sustainable human presence and activity on the lunar surface. Although construction of the infrastructure for this permanent human settlement is envisaged for the end of this decade by many, there is no definite mission plan yet. While this may be unsatisfactory for the impatient, this fact actually carries great potential: This is the optimal time to develop a forward-looking science input and influence mission planning. Based on data from recent missions (SMART-1, Kaguya, Chang'E, Chandrayaan-1 and LRO) as well as simulation campaigns (e.g. ILEWG EuroMoonMars), we provide initial input on how astronomy could be incorporated into a future Moon Village, and how the presence of humans (and robots) on the Moon could help deploy and maintain astronomical hardware. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Astronomy from the Moon: The next decades'.
Original languageEnglish
Article number20190568
Pages (from-to)1-15
Number of pages15
JournalPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Volume379
Issue number2188
Early online date23 Nov 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Jan 2021

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