What The First Year In A Lunar Colony Will Be Like 

Seeing lights on the moon would really be something

Mankind's curiosity is second to none. I really hope that to see multiple moon colonys some day. It would be like living in a real life science fiction movie/book.

I never thought about the sun reflecting towers than can simulate the day cycle over the colony. That’s definitely going to be one of the first things to achieve and it will be awesome to see

2:36 personally I think as long as its more than 5 people, those people have 24/7 virtual contact to earth, and have hope of returning to earth safely, that group of astronauts could survive well over a year without going insane. Assuming they can get along with each other.

Unlike a Martian colony, which would cost trillions and decades of research and construction, a lunar colony would be much more prone to updates, changes, etc. Earth is constantly in contact and only 3 days away. Problems that would be fatal on Mars might be an inconvenience. The first goal of lunar settlers is to derive oxygen and other useful products from the surface, as well as once and for all determining what to do with the lunar 'soil', so useful and harmful at one and the same time.

Imagine if we lived in a world without SpaceX. All these possibilities would still be in the realm of science fiction. Starship is a true game changer

A great way to mitigate the risks of radiation and lower gravity on Mars would be a lead lined compression suit worn inside and outside. The Martian colonists would feel like they were normal weight, feel Earth like pressure and have an extra layer of protection from solar radiation. … this is something that they could trial with the Lunar colony.

If Starship is fully reusable they could be getting new shipments every month. If not faster. It'd be like living on a submarine, which is pretty awful tbh heh. But the fact that you could "rotate" back to Earth every month would make it viable. I personally feel like we shouldn't leave people in space nearly that long anymore, you can do 90 days and come back. The multiple year thing isn't going to work or will be a one way trip.

As meteor crater in Arizona shows, there is NOT likely to be meteorites in large crater bottoms. They vaporize on impact and disperse over wide areas as small fragments. An example of how far they disperse is illustrated by the rays of the crater tycho.

I think the key to not going mad is actually to have a colony large enough that there are enough people where there are plenty of strangers in your day to day life. They say we can accommodate around 150 people on average as 'friends'. So say a colony of 500+ people?

It is likely that sometime in the first decade, at least one person in the lunar settlement(s) will suffer a health problem that makes it impossible foe them to survive return to Earth. This may become the beginning of true permanent habitation.

So exciting, I'm 69, I've been interested in NASA and now SpaceX since 1969, although 20 more years is a long time to wait but I guess I just should have been born later, so much more to come

I never knew there were such extreme temperature swings on the moon.. Always thought of it as a frigid, bone-dry harsh place. With full range radiation from the sun..

This video is exactly the way I would work toward colonizing the moon. From the experience I would then be able to make corrections to work our way to Mars.

I don't think I'll see a colony on the moon. But I think my kids will. And that's exciting. Excellent video.

It's really 6 astronauts who died to put us on the Moon. Clifton Williams also died in an Apollo training accident. As well Charles Bassets and Elliot See died in a Gemini training accident and Project Gemini was for all intents and purposes part of Apollo.

I can't imagine how great and also weird it will be the first time I drink water "from space" that comes from asteroids...Even if it's just technically water 😄😄

NASA actually has made it clear that they intend to stay on the moon with the Artemis program, based on the videos they have on their youtube channel

The writing / narration is lucid / superb sir! Very engaging presentation.

I like how you laid out the moon situation. Especially the reflective sun tower/communication antennae, Brilliant! And the lava tunnels are a great place to avoid the radiation! Plus they should scout out 3 alternate locations and stock them with oxygen or some form of livable habitat, Plus if they can build a small centrifuge on the surface of the moon to be enclosed with air and powered by solar energy they could replicate earths gravity or as close to it as possible to sleep in at night and reduce the exhausting physical workouts to keep bone mass. They could use that time to explore and experiment and build satellites on the moon for early warning signs of asteroids or comet threats to earth or the moon and a relay station for mars in the future. Just some thoughts I had on this . Thanks for all you do and the hard work you put in to do this site.

The use of gravity on the moon to keep physically fit would easily be served by creating a full body suit consisting of weighted footwear as well as a weighted full body suit worn inside of the habitat while using a more conventional lunar excursion suit for outside of the habitat. You cannot do that m a microgravity environment like the one on the international space station. In a low gravity environment such as the moon it would be possible to fill out the remaining mass of your earth weight using this weighted suit design and yet design it in such a way that when you move your mobility is not impaired and your movement would be the equivalent of one gravity.

I wonder if anyone tried designing a space suit that has built in movement resistance. Just enough resistance to exercise the body during every day tasks

I really enjoy your clear-headed and science-based data.

The low time delay is also a big psychological plus as it allows for practical realtime communications. With mars, any communication will be more like getting a letter from home rather then talking to you wife and kids - A HUGE difference.

Im like "they got mad after two years? man, i've been isolated in my apartment for 5 years only going out for groceries and doctors appointments, and im happy as a ... idk someone happy." Dont have any friends, and the only social interactions i have is through games with random people. I would think that these individuals who were sent in there was mad to begin with, and most likely highly extroverted. Most people these days dont really have any hobbies, other than sitting on social media comparing themself to other people, or taking photos of their food and pets. And most people are mentally challenged, when it comes to being alone or secluded from their social circles. Our society is built so that extroverted people can climb the social hierarchy of a company, where introverted who is far better at their work, becomes stationary in their career. What im trying to say is that the people who decides who goes to the moon, and the people being sent to the moon are most likely extroverted, and has a higher chance of failing because they're not mentally capable in terms of the psychological strain of being alone. They may be highly educated and a high iq, but what does that mean if they end up clawing their eyes out or sabotaging the base just to go home earlier then planned. Or the most popular option to create drama for no reason. Jobs like these are for the introverted people, which in most cases are the most reliable to begin with when it comes to education and making decisions based on their current situation. Maybe my opinion is based on biased research or im just generally dumb and dont see things for how they really are, so feel free to enlighten me.

Interesting Subject Thanks for Update

The number of people in a research station on the Moon should be at least as many as in an Antarctic research station. Unlike Mars the Moon is close enough to exchange station staff relatively frequently, say every three or six months.

Imagine a massive underground gymnasium setup for training parkour, with increased sizes of everything. That would be so fun to train in. Or a trampoline park with incredibly high ceilings.

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard," - John F. Kennedy

so much is dependent on spacex starship as the best path

The main and likely only reason to go is to make more space exploration easier

If I was there I wouldn't go insane infact I would love it ,solitude is my friend

One little foothold for some humans, one giant springboard for humankind…? What’s the best way to word that?

This was fantastic, thanks.

Bro you're totally inside my head and just say it as it is I love it love your work 💪👌👊🙏😎

Don't forget to send exercise equipment with friction dynamos included that could add to the energy equation! ;P

The moon will be the training ground for colonizing the rest of the solar system, and beyond.

Apollo 13 put the best people to work to figure out complex problems and solve them with items aboard the LEM and Crew Capsule. Reminded me of a Macgyver rescue mission. In any case, it should have never set Apollo back but made sure to bring a tool kit along for the ride into space with teathering equipment. It was a dramatic improvement over missions that were becoming invisable to maintain interest in new missions.

a moon base be in your face always even if on the dark side (rockets are eternal)

Great show

I think it is a FANTASTIC STEP and the Idea is fantastic actually.

The ending is one of the reasons ppl fan boy over spacex so hard it’s like we’re living in the dark age of space travel and spacex is the only one promising to do anything at least

I want to go

I agree! Good research also

The first task of the colony will be to find a better location for the colony ... we shouldn't assume the first location is the best for the final location for the colony ... so the first colonists's job will be exploring and preping the site for the million tons of cargo.

Good video

I think (hope) there might be a couple of areas where you've been overly pessimistic by looking at previous experience. I'm absolutely not saying that either of these issues won't be significant and very important to solve but they might not be quite as challenging as you suggest. Firstly the psychological issues and your comparison with that disastrous 2-years-in-a-glass-dome experiment. I would hope that by the time we get to permanent bases on the Moon re-usable launch vehicles, probably from more than just SpaceX (e.g. Sierra Space Dream Chaser), will have optimised getting from Earth to LEO so much that the overall cost of getting astronauts to the Moon and back (maybe by transferring to a dedicated Lunar transport in LEO) will have reduced to the level where an ISS-like crew rotation schedule could be affordable so a lunar stay might be more likely to be in the 3-6 month range rather than multi-year stays. Secondly the heart/health issues. Yes astronauts on the ISS need to exercise 2.5 hours a day for 6 days a week but that is in essentially no gravity. At least the Moon has approx 1/6th Earth gravity to give some extra constant resistance vs the ISS and I wonder if the benefit of that could be amplified by standard Lunar clothing including weighted vests, weighted shoes (and/or ankle weights) plus some sort of weighted splints for the forearms. I'm not saying that would avoid the need for an additional pretty intense exercise regime but even if measures like that could reduce the exercise requirements from 2.5 hours a day to 1.5 hours a day that could be quite a big win for productivity and mental wellbeing.

Cool.

An underground moon base sounds so cool

I saw Neil Armstrong step on the moon. I was 12 yrs old. Take ME to the moon!!!

The reasons to put a base in a crater are numerous: 1) Possible resources within the crater. 2) Lunar regolith is a cheap and plentiful source of insulation and radiation shielding. 3) Solar panels along the rim could provide power 24/7 as well as sunlight for a day/night cycle. 4) The walls of the crater will provide protection from nearby strikes. 5) Material dug to sink the base can be reused, making construction more efficient.

The bio sphere in the 90s was an engineering issue not a psychological issue. They had co2 poisoning from the concrete.

A light minute is not a length of time but rather a distance.

Uh, the polar craters may NOT be such a great place to inhabit. According to some studies, the fact that the solar wind will blow horizontally across the mouths of these craters means the electrons will follow the contour of the crater while the heavier protons continue on a horizontal path, building up dangerous electric potentials inside the craters. Subsurface or heavily regolith-sheltered habitats will be more likely IMO.

the modest of opinions thank

15:15 IDK-available traction will also be much less in 1/6 g.

The best way to fight bone and muscle mass Lost in space is to create a space suit that.. combines springs and basically like a Bowflex.. woven into the lining of the suit that fights you no matter what you're trying to do.. any which way that you could normally move you're fighting resistance.. like rubber bands that go down to your feet that connects your waist.. I made one back in the 90s that want some to pressurize suit.. but it's simulated my 130-lb body at the time making me feel like I weighed 800 lb.. basically if you weigh 200 lb of be like carrying a dumbbell across your shoulders that raise an additional 600 lb.. I figured out on Earth that it was much easier to put 80 lb on each ankle 40 lb on each one of my rist's where vast that has 180 lb of lead weights and then on my belt basically use a scuba divers belt with 120 lb of lead weights.. the fastest route to my upper body the belt the weight belt added weight to my hips 80 lb in each angles to each time I picked up my foot making every step much harder.. course I didn't start off at that level I started off with like two and a half pounds on my wrist 20 lb in each one of my ankles.. you get the idea.. I started off with low weight and eventually I got to a point where I was walking around with just under six hundred pounds of weight on me at all times. And the 90s I was in school and I got a lecture from my gym teacher that kids like me need to workout constantly so we don't end up fat and lazy.. I gave him the finger.. and then told him how I workout everyday all day long. And then right in front of them took off all of my weights.. the funny part is he tried picking them all up and he couldn't.. with all of my weights off I took a basketball and I threw it at the concrete wall about thirty feet away from where I was standing and it popped it blew up... What the weight off I can jump higher I could run faster.. I could punch harder.. adding led to your body on earth works... And space you have to use springs cables and rubber bands.. and it really wouldn't be hard to make a suit like that with today's technology for some reason they just don't..

I cackled at “show the world they could still win at a pissing contest” lmao😂

Solar isn't the only option for power; thorium is theoretically abundant too.

I do appreciate this video and it's very informative and one idea I just thought of is that once we established a colony on the moon could we probably build vehicles that would totally protect people from the radiation when they're on the surface and if they lived in the tubes below the surface that would pretty much eliminate most of their exposure to radiation unless they walked on the surface and hopefully space suits could eventually be designed to totally protect a person from exposure to radiation when walking on the surface. Otherwise I can't imagine convincing a whole lot of people to go work on the moon for mining, etc. knowing they would have a higher chance of developing cancer etc. Because in order to be successful in mining on the moon et cetera you may have to have people living there for longer than just two years, endless robots do all the work on the moon, which is a scary thought.

why does every simulation build domes or other buildings on the surface? one micro meteorite could destroy an entire habitat, not to mention the heat & UV differentials. build caves into craters for insulation, install easy to replace solar panels on top and have nice holo panels everywhere for a pleasant environmental psychological ambiance. hah literally what you said in fact.

First we need a dense web of sati lites that function both as GPS and STAR-LINK and “Spy Satellites” We will also need GPS beacon stations on the ground so the satellites can figure out where they are Now we can put rovers on the moon to both 3D map and explore THEN we can find the place to build Moon Base Alpha but I would recommend putting the base UNDERGROUND by digging into the walls of an crater

The only thing holding this back is the FAA!

I could see moon mines set up by private companies, like you said the lower gravity in mars would be way more efficient, which is a word that big companies love

7:45, yip that works great. Guess that’s why they found miles high towers there decades ago. Mostly on the backside.

Rather than spend 2 hours every day in a moongym, it might be worthwhile to make the sleeping quarters into a big spinning bowl to simulate Earth gravity (or higher) with centrifugal force. Then you get 8 hours of exercise while you sleep. Or the moongym could be in a centrifuge to simulate Earth gravity too, for reducing time spent on exercise so that there's more time for science.

I hears a ration but this beats all i have seen.

... very nearly lost their life????..... Is still a success in my book.

faa needs to hurry up and aprove spacex's starship

I told my youngest that when she gets married se may be able to have her honeymoon on the moon!

8:25 Are there points in which you shouldn't point your receiver too close to the Sun or the Sun blocks a signal?

Yes, it's safer not to settle inside a crater, if there's no crater there can't be one in the future.

The lover tubes remind me of the cities on Metaluna ian the movie This Island Earth.

I dont get the sun reflecting towers. Wouldnt it be more efficient to just dim lights during the night to simulate? What am i missing?

What about making a molten core on Mars. That could make a magnetic field. Also drop a few meteors of ice to make a few lakes. Dropping iron rocks down on Mars first to help the start of teraforming.

"People get weird in isolation"..... My best friend, Rupert The Dingo, would like to know where you got this tidbit from....isn't that right, Rupert? Rupert is vigorously nodding his head.

Creating something like the AMP suit from avatar could help with exploring the caves

🔥🔥🔥

NASA and spacex needs to get vr working in space because if not astronauts are gonna go mad especially the trip to mars and back to earth

I thought this video was super interesting. I also think expanding and deepening our country’s effort to see it through might, somehow, show the way for the peaceful exploration of space. They’ll never shrink the pentagon, but maybe Musk and NASA with other partners can build something exciting, something aspirational!!

Can't wait to see hotels on the moon. Initially only the rich will be able to afford to use them, but as the technology improves, & gets cheaper, it will eventually be a holiday for all. How about getting some TELA robots making lunar structures for us.

The Adventures of Pluto Nash tell me we also need a mob run casino on the moon.

Robots that can build robots (especislly if they can build robots on the moon) creates an exponential opportunity and changes all the timelines. We're talking about a fully habital, transformed moon, Mars and O'Neill cylinders in as little as 3 years from the first self-replicating bots.

first thing i would do is power production then dig a deep cement bunker.. a safe room. then work on the farm.

Well the perfect number? I don't think it would matter as long as you had people that were driven to succeed in building the colony and give them some space apart so they don't rub each other up the wrong way .Which means the primary facility must be large enough to accommodate them all and I'd honestly pick people enjoy there own company rather that people who need to socialize as they will work harder in order to achieve having there own space

I don't know why lava tubes would be used for anything other than exploring our looking for places to mine. For habitats we should be able to mine out the space for the habitat anywhere on the moon to our exact requirements. Like a human anthill.

An earth biosphere 3 month or longer practice isolation should be a must on all moon colonists.

Will probably find ET's in one of those skylights on the Moon 🌚

The earth would always remain in the same place in the sky as seen from the moon 🌚 🌎 Although it’s phases would change

There will be tipping point where Lunar development becomes exponential driving an expansion of vender involvement further compressing timelines for expansion of Geolife into the Goldilocks Zone guided by our species.

Clothing could have built in resistance that mimics gravity

SpaceX could do or go to the Moon 🌚 and difficulty on Mars Journey. Needed different Engine like nuclear engine or proton engines. High Energy Source more power then Rocket Engine about 5 or 6 time of Rocket Engine or more Engines.

People are going to die trying to colonize the moon. People also died trying to colonize the Americas. People also died leaving Africa during the ice age. In all cases we didn't send our best, but people wanting to go. People are going to die colonizing anywhere, and no amount of preparedness is going to prevent death. Also, I don't support sending our best, but I do support sending anyone, and everyone.

the moon is a lot like training in the bottom of a pool for space and then implementing learning from the moon base to upgrade requirements for mars base imo

Here's a report from the future: It is 2023 and no humanoid robots. No self-driving Tesla taxis either.

11:09 though that was an ad read lol

I guess the Starship 2 will be like the Tesla Truck Big promo ....No Show.....

They gotta put a zip line from the tower to the base, superman style.

It would be hell some one cought the mico wave in fire which burnt out the food storage unit so now there's an Air leek from the kitchen station so food rations are short there has been a major valcanic eruption in earth so we can't send shuttles for resupply

Radiation is an extreme danger and will be for the foreseeable future. Consequently, lava tubes on both the moon and Mars will need to be utilized, particularly at the start of each colony. Did someone say, "The Boring Company"?