Architects plan robotic construction of the Moon’s first human havens

With the European Space Agency, NASA, Roscosmos, SpaceX and China all planning to send astronauts to the Moon, and even begin colonizing its craters, one coterie of architects has emerged at the forefront of designing the first human habitats on the lunar surface.

“Astro-architects” at the London-headquartered Foster + Partners, working with the European Space Agency (ESA), say advances in robotics, AI and the Interplanetary Internet are powering their breakthroughs in robotically constructing a new-millennium outpost on the Moon.

Three lightweight modules they have designed to accommodate astronauts, along with two dozen robo-builders, would be rocketed to a crater on the Moon’s south pole. These modules will provide an oxygen-rich haven for human explorers, says the head of the Foster team.

To shield astronauts from high-energy particles shot out by the sun or distant exploding stars, the robots will sculpt a life-preserving dome of Moon dust around each structure while microwaving the dust into a crystalline shell - all before the first astronauts touch down.

ESA’s visionary leaders are using Fosterʼs renderings of cyborg-constructed sanctuaries to promote their conceptual designs for a freewheeling Moon Village. They are joining up with NASA to launch a lunar space station and map out expeditions to this celestial New World.

The head of Foster’s robotic architecture lab, Samuel Wilkinson, says as astronauts begin inhabiting the Moon Village, the studio will tweak designs to adapt to the orb's alien physics. Increasingly intelligent robots will be deployed to expand this first colony.

While NASA is targeting 2024 for the first new lunar landing, SpaceX – perhaps the planet’s first independent space superpower - could eclipse that mission by rocketing private spacefarers around the Moon by 2023.

The Japanese billionaire/art collector commissioning the SpaceX flight, Yusaku Maezawa, says he wants to invite eight artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers on the celestial sojourn. He’s asked creatives worldwide to email him missives outlining why they would like to join.

SpaceX is still testing its Starship – potentially the most advanced spacecraft ever developed by humanity – for the cosmic culture flight. NASA’s commissioned the Starship to land its astronauts on the Moon, so SpaceX seems destined to dominate this second globe's colonization.

Domed Moon villages – a staple of science fiction films and novels – are being transmuted into reality. With engineering challenges being solved, architects, designers and artists will interpret the meaning of life beyond Earth, creating a feeling of home – 384,000 km away.