Habitation Modules
These will have living quarters for the crews and may include a shower, private compartments, and a galley (eating area).

Living Quarters and Laboratories
Consider factors such as, will each colonist have private living space? Every square foot of the base will use more resources, but people are happier when they feel they have sufficient space and privacy.

What kinds of work spaces will be needed?
Laboratories, construction facilities, recycling systems, greenhouses, fuel production facilities, mining stations, etc. Think about the purpose of your colony and what it will need to fulfill that purpose:

• Materials and shapes of the "building"
• Habitat would have sleeping quarters, a kitchen (or galley) and bathroom facilities
• Above or below the ground
• How to set up indoors so humans could be inside without protective clothing
• Power Plant - either solar or nuclear, construction equipment, a spare parts and maintenance garage, a central control and communications center, and life support systems.
• Air Supply -- Consider that your space colony will need air. The modules will have to be enclosed or the entire living area inside a protective dome. Production facilities could create oxygen from water using electrolysis. Oxygen is also produced by photosynthesis from plants and a greenhouse attached to a living area could help with this process. There is also a process for extracting oxygen from rocks and soil that is being developed for use on the Moon. Find ways of producing or recycling some of these essentials on the Moon.

Protection/Clothing
Space Suits - Astronauts will need to wear space suits for construction and repair of the space base, either on the Moon or on any orbiting space base (although the construct of each may be slightly different due to different conditions).

• How could humans protect themselves from harmful radiation, extreme temperature, low air pressure, and the lack of breathable air?
• How could humans protect their habitats from Meteorites?
  http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/13jun_lunarsporadic.htm?list11126
• How would they protect themselves and the habitat from lunar dust
  http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/04apr_magneticmoondust.htm
• What might their clothing be made of?  What would it feel like?

Food Production:
What are the basic food requirements for humans? (Consider the four food groups). Space for producing food will be very limited in a space colony. On any selfcontained colony, the food must be replenishable, as replacement stock will not be available from Earth. The space available on the ship that transports the colony to the Moon will be much more limited than even the colony itself.

• Even with limited resources, colonists will appreciate a varied diet. Some foods currently under consideration for use in space missions are soybeans and wheat. Soybeans and wheat both take up a small amount of space and are very nutritious. These crops can also be used to purify water and to produce oxygen from carbon dioxide using photosynthesis.
• Greenhouses - Used for growing food and contributing to the oxygen system, also a way to use excess carbon dioxide

Communications
Think about how people on the Earth communicate with one another. What methods work best for long distances? For short distances?

• Consider communicating with colonists who are outside of the colony (such as colonists exploring in a rover or doing repairs on the outpost).
• How will you communicate with the Earth?
• How will you communicate with other parts of the Moon such as research stations on the other side of the planet? Will you use satellites? Antennas?