**McKinsey's Moon Maniacs**

**Explanations for Lunar Research Station Design**

1)  **Location**

The location that we picked is Crater Peary. Crater Peary is located at
the North Pole of the Moon. We chose the location for several reasons.
By putting the Station into the wall of the Crater, we protect if from
direct heat, radiation, and impacts from meteorites. The Crater Peary
has areas that are permanently in shadow and areas that are always
sunlit. The sunlit parts are called the Peaks of Eternal Light.

Our Station is on the lit side of the crater. We will use solar panels
to power most of the Station. Crater Peary may have water ice in it,
which we could melt for use. We would use it for grey water but if it
was clean enough we could drink it.

Before we build in the crater, we would send a probe from earth to make
sure the crater is not too deep, since we don't know now how deep it is.
We know the crater is 73 km wide, which makes it big enough to have lots
of places in it to explore.

Out station is shaped like the letter T, with the horizontal part called
the Aft Section (Starboard and Port sides) and the vertical part called
the Forward Section. We buried the Aft Section of the station in the
side of the crater so that the regolith would provide insulation and
radiation protection. The Forward Section of the station sticks out into
open space of the crater so we could have sunlit rooms. The Forward
Section sits on top of the regolith we dug out of the crater wall to
make room for the Aft Section, so we don't have to use a lot of metal to
support it.

One tunnel connects a surface storage and garage building with the
Station. Another tunnel goes further down into the regolith for a waste
treatment plant and for a place to store hazardous stuff.

Wide stairs leads down from the Station to the crater floor, where one
lunar buggy stays. These stairs are wide enough and low enough for
scientists in spacesuits to bunny hop up and down without a lot of
effort. They would use the lunar buggy at the bottom of the stairs to
explore the crater floor and bring back samples. They would also look
for water ice.

\--Submitted by Tiffany, Jon H., Adrianna and Brandon P.

2)  **Station Crew Members**

We decided to put seven scientists and engineers at our Station. This
number comes from figuring out that we need only 2 Orion launch vehicles
on the Moon for emergency escape. The Orion design we found online has a
lunar crew of 4, so two Orion rockets would hold up to 8 astronauts.
More astronauts would need more escape vehicles, which would be very
expensive.

Having seven Station members means we only need four bedrooms (2 members
per room with one private room for the Commander). This also allows 2
experts for the surface, 2 in the lab, and 2 on the crater floor. The
Station would always have at least 3 members inside.

We think the members should be scientists mostly, but have overlapping
responsibilities so if someone got sick another person could do their
job, like working the waste treatment plant or driving the lunar buggy.

3)  **Station Design**

We put the Aft Section of the station into the side of Crater Peary's
crater wall so the regolith would insulate it and keep radiation out. We
put the Forward Section of the station out into the crater so light
would reach it, providing energy through solar panels, windows for the
crew to look out, and a bright, sunny inside. It also makes a good place
to do observations. All windows and greenhouse panels are made from
Lexan plastic.

We are making the walls out of aircraft aluminum, because it's
lightweight, thin and strong.

Each tubular section is five meters wide, with walls 0.5 meters thick to
carry pipes, cables, and wires. Each tubular section holds two or more
rooms.

We made the station a T-shape because it would be more stable than
having a rectangular shape.

On the Aft Section of the station, we put in four bedrooms, two
bathrooms, the communications room, access to the two tunnels, a
spacesuit storage room, and a room for privacy. We based the privacy
room on scream rooms used by people working in hospitals and hospice
places, for getting rid of stress. It is soundproof so Station members
can unwind without bothering anyone else.

The laboratory for research is split between the Aft and Forward
Sections of the Station. The kitchen, greenhouse, combination recreation
room & dining room, and exercise room are all in the Forward Section,
the sunlit side of the Station.

We looked at South Pole research stations, prisons, underwater research
stations, and mountain climbing base camps when we researched our
design. These are all places with small spaces, a lot of stress, and
important jobs.

The Station is built in prefabricated sections that are the same
diameter as the Ares rocket---5.03 meters. That way, you could launch
the Lunar Station pieces as part of the rocket stages. You would need 5
or 6 sections to build the Station.

\--Submitted by Amanda, Courtney, John N., and Niko

4)  **Energy & Life Support**

Some kinds of energy and life support we will need on the Moon are
electricity, oxygen, food and water. Without these things, we will get
sick and not get things done.

We will get electricity by using solar panels in the crater, and on the
sunlit Forward Section of the Station.

For waste management, first we will collect the waste in a waste
treatment plant. We will recycle all the water. We will clean the air
with the greenhouse plants and carbon dioxide scrubbers. Any waste that
we can't reuse will be sent to earth in a capsule. The capsule will burn
up in the earth's atmosphere so it won't hurt anybody.

\--Submitted by Allison, Anthony, Samantha, and Vinny

5)  **Protection and Contamination Prevention**

We think we should use disinfecting spray that shoots out of sprinklers
because it would be easy to work. All you have to do is push a button
and it sprays Lysol® in that room.

\--Submitted by Jonathan, Brandon L., Samantha W., Kaitlyn, and John B.