Is it possible for humans to live a life on the moon and start a community?

Question

Food,water and basic needs could be delievered to the moon by space shuttle..

Answer 1

It is possible today for us to do this.

But it would be very expensive and politicians want to spend money on other stuff.

In theory, once built and running, a moon base would need little in the way of supplies.  It is possible to construct a closed loop ecosphere that provides what astronauts would need with no need for supplies (or very little supply).  Afterall the earth itself does this.  So, an astronaut drinks water, pees, that is recycled back into water and so on.  Oxygen can be made by separating it out of water with solar energy and so on.

Doing it on a vastly smaller scale for a moon base is technically challenging but doable (they tested such a sealed environment in Arizona awhile back).

Answer 2

well the space shuttle is only meant for low earth orbit.you would need a much bigger rockect,but I suppose if you had all the resorces it would be possible to make a thriving community

Answer 3

of course, they culd live in a dome wif plants and trees fr oxygen

Answer 4

Yes it will be in about twenty years.  Nasa already has a project going that will test this idea.  If they are successful in getting at least a few colonized astronauts on the moon for a few months, then Mars will be their next step. (This is the main purpose of the Orion spacecraft project)

Answer 5

the main problem would be with the low gravity. our bodies are designed specifically for our gravity. if they could overcome that then there is no reason why not.

Answer 6

well the moon receives lots of radiation from the sun.

it also has a violent history with millions of craters small and big.

there is no atmosphere on the moon.. or an ozone to protect us from solar storms and radiation.

along with no soil(to grow plants)

there is a little carbon monoxide and dioxide gases.

but other than that there cant be a good way to live on the moon without dying..

Answer 7

if you have $11 trillion dollars to spare than you can

Answer 8

Seeing as their attempt to create a dome here on earth with plants for oxygen can't even sustain humans, I don't think it would work so well in space.  I suppose they could do whatever it is that they do to maintain life on space crafts, but I don't think permanent settlement is quite possible.

Answer 9

Yes.  Of course, "The" shuttle wouldn't be used, but some kind of shuttle service would be needed, sort of like in "2001: A Space Odyssey".  I think it will happen before the century is out, maybe sooner.  And I WANNA GO!  I WANNA I WANNA I WANNA!!!!!

Answer 10

not in the foreseeable future.

it's just too expensive to get there, to bring supplies.

not to mention dangerous.

remember, you can't grow anything on the moon.

you might also check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2

Answer 11

It is certainly possible, given enough money.    Pretty much all the technology we would need has been developed for the International Space Station, and the moon itself provides materials that could, at least in principle, be used to grow plants and such.

Whether or not it would be economically viable, however, is another matter.   First of all, lunar soil is extremely different from Earth soil. It is likely that we would have to figure out a way to make it palatable to Earthly organisms.  Moreover, lunar soil, not subject to to weathering effects of wind and water as Earth soil is, is extremely abrasive, and tends to stick to everything.  Moonwalking Apollo astronauts were literally covered with it after their brief excursions.   It is thought that working with this material might prove very difficult.

Consider how much effort it took to land just two men in a very flimsy vehicle (the LEM) roughly the same weight as a small truck, without even enough room for chairs, for just three days (at most) with little margin for error.   The Saturn V, the most powerful rocket ever made, over 365 feet tall, was needed to get this tiny "spider" of a craft to the moon and back.   The cost was, well, astronomical...

Now imagine getting something substantial and self-sustaining up there (I'm thinking of something along the lines of "Biosphere 2", the marginally successful experiment to determine the feasibility of a long term, self sustaining, space habitat).  People who lived there would need room to move around in, long-term protection from radiation and extremes of heat and cold, all the equipment necessary to do work and create a self-sustaining community, and a way to get back home again when the time came.  And that's all before any sort of "production" or "growing" could be done.  The mass, the effort, and therefore cost, would be many times greater.  

Incidentally, the Space Shuttle is not a very good candidate for delivery of materials to any sort of moon base. The Space Shuttle was designed to work in low earth orbit- that is, only a few hundred miles up.  Getting to the moon would require far more energy than the engines for the Space Shuttle could provide.    It's a common misunderstanding about space that once a craft gets "up there" in space, it can be moved around at will.  This is far from the case.  Getting into orbit (17,000 miles per hour)  is only half the story.  Getting to the moon requires speeds of 25,000+ miles per hour- plus fuel enough to ensure a soft landing, and to take back off again.  You'd need to strap a whole new rocket on its side to send the Shuttle to the moon.

Answer 12

The space shuttle is NOT built for or capable of reaching the Moon under any circumstances.

Otherwise, assuming some different delivery vehicle, the possibility is feasible enough.  They would need to either find or import water (hopefully find ice in polar craters, because water is prohibitively heavy = expensive.), and also dig into the surface for long-term shelter from cosmic radiation.  We haven;t yet determined if lunar soil will grow plants well.