Looking for a home-bound project? Show us how you would live on the Moon!
What does it take? Is it similar to how you would live on Earth?  

Dive into this interactive project for students, families and/or teams to understand how systems work on Earth and how they can be modified to work on the Moon. The steps and videos below will guide you through the process of how to build your own habitat and ways to share it with us.  

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

The mission of the Aldrin Family Foundation and ShareSpace Education is to inspire the next generation of space explorers in the areas of science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics. Recognizing that many people are looking for educationally valuable things to do at home, we have developed a project that is very flexible as well as practical in nature. This project can be done as a small team, a family, or even as a team connected through technology. Like most projects in the real world, it makes application of skills and knowledge across multiple subject areas. 

There are a variety of ways to approach this project. We recognize that children (and adults) over a wide range of ages and abilities may choose to participate. It is not necessary to follow every step or do them in the suggested order. You will recognize that the Backstory is a projection of what may someday occur. Despite what you will read in the Backstory, the winners will not really be given a house of their design on the Moon. Please create a project that works for you. Who knows the ideas you will generate and the fun you will have working together? The big idea is for kids to understand how systems work on Earth and how they can be modified to work on the Moon. Designing your home on the Moon gives kids a chance to understand the systems within your home and to think about improving or even designing new ways to meet needs for a home on the Moon. There will be multiple ways to share your project. 

One area for thoughtful consideration is how a sense of community can be strengthened in a context where families are literally separated by significant distances and a hostile environment. Intentional design to connect people will be essential. In some ways, establishing a Family Home Outpost (FHO) on the Moon will be similar to homesteading on the prairies of Nebraska in the 1860’s. In other ways it can similar to the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous as designs may include lavish systems and capabilities. 

T.S. Eliot once wrote, “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” In our case, we want you to know your home so well that when you depart for your explorations, you can create a comfortable place for you and your family to live……on the Moon. 

THE BACKSTORY 

After the Apollo landings of 1969-72 and return to the Moon by the Artemis program in the 2020’s, NASA established permanent research footholds on the Moon. The first was located at the lunar north pole due to the presence of water and lava tubes that simplified the initial construction of the station. The second station was located at Shackleton Crater at the lunar south pole due to the presence of significant water resources. As soon as these two surface stations were declared operational, the original orbiting Gateway station, used as a part of the Artemis missions, began a process of upgrades and enhancements to allow it to serve as a way station for travel and a depot for high value items that must be supplied from Earth. These three sites and resulting infrastructure made it possible to begin the process of bringing more people to live on the Moon. The north pole area was designated as a science research zone. To avoid contamination, this area is accessible only to the people conducting and supporting this fundamental research. The south pole has taken on the role of supporting commerce on the Moon. This commerce is taking the form of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), the idea that we can live off the land by using resources found on the Moon, primarily in the form of mining for water and distributing this water as well as its components, hydrogen and oxygen. The abundant water resources in this region can be used as the rocket fuel that opens the rest of the Solar System to further exploration, as well as for supporting life. The station at the south pole also has the capacity to serve as a transportation hub connecting the Earth, through the upgraded Gateway, to outposts scattered across the Moon. 

To accomplish this scattering of outposts across the Moon, NASA, in collaboration with all of the International Space Station partners as well as China, Brazil and India; are seeking to place families on the Moon in locations beyond the poles. A first priority is to establish families in locations that will serve as caretakers for each of the six Apollo landing sites. These habitats will be referred to as Family Home Outposts (FHO). One of the responsibilities of the family will be to establish a border around each landing site to assure that it remains untouched pending the date that a Visitors’ Complex can be established at each location. In return, each family will receive a home of their own design in the location of their choice.

In order to select the families who will take on the challenge of living on the Moon a Request for Proposal (RRP) has been created.  This RFP specifies what will be judged in order to select families for this mission. Judging will be based upon the quality, thoroughness and thoughtfulness of the plans and models they create describing the homes they will construct on the Moon, and how these homes will accommodate the needs of their family. 

THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

ShareSpace Education has been selected to administer the initial placement of families on the Moon. Interested families are asked to create a proposal for the design and construction of a Family Home Outpost (FHO) to be constructed at a location of their choosing on the Moon, consistent with stated requirements. Funding for the construction of the Family Home Outposts on the Moon will be provided by ShareSpace Education. 

The FHO must provide a livable and sustainable habitat for a family and potential guests. As the FHO will be established in conjunction with an historic Apollo landing site, the residents of the FHO will be responsible to establish and maintain a border around their selected Apollo landing site to assure that it remains undisturbed pending the date that a Visitors’ Complex can be established at each location. It is anticipated that a Request for Proposal will be forthcoming for design and construction of a Visitors’ Complex and associated infrastructure and support.