Luna Gaia Moon Habitat 2020

NASA Invests Sustainable Life in Space

Environmentalist Adam King, a communications manager for a renewable energy development company, has devoted his life to the cause of bringing greater access to renewable resources on earth, and says that NASA is establishing a fully sustainable habitat on the moon by 2020. King joined other students at France's International Space University to discuss the project, but cautioned that the moon's environment be protected. Space exploration stimulates valuable research that might be applied to the environmental health challenges on earth. The moon may even become a model for sustainability on earth as long as money and politics don't pollute the project.

NASA had a mandate to establish a lunar habitat by 2020, so they approached the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, where I was studying. Our research team of 32 students from 12 different countries included engineers, astrophysicists, ethics majors, architects, doctors, economists, lawyers and business planners. We were asked to design a fully sustainable lunar habitat.

Bio-regenerative systems recycle air, water, food and waste. A bio-regenerative approach to sustaining life in space has never been fully achieved in the past, due to both the complexity and fragility of such systems. However, taking 'nature's design path' is widely recognized as the only way to achieve habitat sustainability without having to re-supply food, water and air from earth. It is important to acknowledge that our team's design, affectionately called "Luna Gaia," was only 90% successful.

We came up with a design and a 150-page research report for NASA scientists. The research and design of a fully sustainable habitat for space could reveal new means of delivering access to clean water for the world's 1.3 billion inhabitants. In light of today's most pressing issues of global climate change, declining water and air quality, increasing desertification, and unprecedented population growth, there has never been a greater need for sustainable technologies and operating systems.

The space industry has enormous intellectual and economic resources available for innovative research and development re radiation protection, contamination prevention, air and water filtration, solar-thermal energy, food production in dry areas, and waste management, etc.

Solar radiation over extended periods of time, presents major health issues related to lunar dust. Lunar dust is very fine, jagged and electromagnetically charged. The project could cost up to $120 billion. International cooperation is essential to maintaining the political and financial momentum of the project..

"Space tourism" is definitely an avenue private companies are investing in. Media mogul Bob Bigelow is putting a lot of money into the research and testing of 'inflatable hotels' for the moon. Inflatable architecture is being developed because of the high cost of getting anything off the ground and launched into space. We're not yet sure how much protection it could provide against solar radiation and space debris.