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Going to the Moon or Mars will be one of the biggest and most difficult tasks we’ve ever undertaken. No matter how close they are, they represent a real challenge for all of technology, especially immigrants who will face extreme conditions like they have never encountered on Earth before.
There is a small architecture studio, SAGA Space Architects, in Denmark that has a great vision: to create functional homes for such extreme conditions. The firm was founded by Sebastian Aristotelis and Karl-Johan Sørensen, two Danish “space” architects. The duo have designed a new collapsible “origami-inspired” shelter for future settlers on the Moon, which is being built independently and has everything you need for a comfortable stay. This lunar module was named “LUNARK” and will be tested by designers in late 2020 in the harsh conditions of northern Greenland.
If the project may seem a little absurd, it’s a concept seriously considered by engineers who think of ways to install a base on the night star.
The designers’ creation of the moon module was clearly inspired by the Japanese art of folding paper figures: origami. One of the guiding thoughts was “the interior like the home, the exterior like a tank.” This battery-powered two-person house consists of a strong aluminum frame like its exterior, which is covered in solar cells to maximize power generation for the inhabitants. A total of 328 panels are attached to the light plate, which are attached by a flexible, watertight seam.
Inside the structure, there is everything necessary for a future refuge. It comes with a bathroom, a living room with desks and bookshelves, and an on-board 3D printer to produce new home parts that have been designed on a computer.
The LUNARK module is believed to be capable of simulating different times of the day and that the settlers are not disturbed by circadian rhythms. The module will also receive a system to simulate various weather conditions, such as hot summers, cold winters, and torrential autumn.
At the moment, the Lunark module exists only in drawings and in the form of a miniature paper model. The design team completed the project concept late last year, and in early 2020, they began developing a functional prototype.
The designers launched a campaign on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and planned to start the expedition that will start in September and will last three months. They have to live in conditions where hurricanes will rage outside the “shelter of the moon” and the air temperature will drop to -30 degrees Celsius.
The experience gained by the designers is expected to be useful to astronauts returning to the lunar surface in 2024, as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
