What the Moon Will Look Like in 2100 – Underground Homes, Rail Networks, Robots and Vertical Gardens

Hobbit-style homes, ‘Jeep’ rovers, robots and vertical gardens could allow people to live comfortably on the Moon by 2100, The Sun can reveal.

Countries around the world are fighting to claim the Moon’s south pole – said to be full of “mystery, science and intrigue”.

While the Moon cannot be legally owned by any nation or organization, anyone who sets up a base there will have a piece of real estate.

Key players including Nasa, China, Russia, India and the European Space Agency have recently stepped up efforts to establish a more permanent human presence on the Moon.

The world is witnessing multiple attempts to ‘grab’ the Moon’s south pole, as it probably contains ice – an invaluable resource for future exploration.

Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science at the University of Leicester, described what the region could look like in 76 years.

What does an astrophysics professor claim?

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, he said ice at the Moon’s poles could be used to produce vital supplies such as oxygen and water.

“If you want to be there more permanently, then you have to build infrastructure that has to be powered by Earth. This is expensive. So you also need to figure out how many of these you can build on the Moon.

“I think what you’re going to find is that there’s a lot of activity near the poles, where there’s likely to be sources of ice from which you can make oxygen and from which you can extract water,” he said.

The critical supplies could, by the end of the century, be used to sustain up to 100 people on the Moon, Professor Barstow said.

Some people will be there for research purposes, while others will be there for commercial reasons. There could also be some “very rich” tourists.

Professor Barstow estimated that going to the Moon could cost tens of millions of euros – the cost of going into low Earth orbit.

Since there is no atmosphere on the Moon, anyone who wants to live there in 2100 will have to live in some kind of closed environment.

Inspiration could be taken from the International Space Station – the largest space station ever built – which is currently in low Earth orbit.

Living quarters on the space station look like a collection of tubes joined together by modules that can be added over time.

Any future lunar base would likely have to be buried in the ground as a means of protecting humans from radiation, which is a greater threat on the Moon than on the space station.

Professor Barstow explained: “Low Earth orbit is a relatively safe environment in terms of radiation. Once we get out of that zone, and certainly all the way to the Moon, we need to protect people from radiation.

This would likely involve the accumulation of a lot of material from the lunar surface onto whatever is built. So it’s going to be a bit more like a Hobbit hole, if you remember Lord of the Rings.”

Plans are already underway to develop a rail network to operate on the Moon, capable of transporting people and supplies.

Professor Barstow said people would also use jeep-like lunar rover vehicles to get around, but would have to drive more slowly and more carefully than on Earth.

The surface of the Moon is rough and covered with craters.

The inhabitants of the Moon should be supported by robots that are autonomous but can also be controlled, at least to some extent, by humans.

They won’t look much like humans, but they’ll have hands to grasp and move things, as well as cameras, instruments to take measurements, and other useful features.

Professor Barstow said: “I predict that it is possible that some kind of hybrid human-robot work will develop on the Moon. Robots will be able to go to the most dangerous places.

They can exist on the surface without life support for long periods of time, and I think that relationship is going to be absolutely critical to how things turn out on the Moon in the future.”

How humans can get to the Moon

People going to the Moon just for vacation or business could get there in vehicles like the Falcon 9, designed by SpaceX to carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has successfully landed Falcon 9 thrusters 273 times as of Monday, March 25.

Lunar tourism in 2100 may only be for the super-rich, but travelers are unlikely to eat like kings or queens.

Frozen and prepackaged meals and drinks will likely still make up the bulk of a person’s diet, but Professor Barstow predicts that an increase in the “practical volume” of the products could become possible within a decade or two.

Last year, scientists were able to grow kritamo — a small flowering plant in the same family as cauliflower and broccoli — in 12 samples of lunar soil from the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 moon landings.

Vegetables and fruits could be grown vertically on the Moon in the future, as the gardens will be more compact, using artificial light.

Because of the way the Moon’s rotation is locked with its orbit around Earth, a month on the Moon consists of two weeks of sunlight followed by two weeks of total darkness.

So future travelers may need to think carefully about their travel dates if they want some sunshine.

Professor Barstow said: “One of the real challenges of working on the Moon is energy. We think it’s easy to get solar panels up there, and yes, they work great, but they only work for two weeks. So solar panels aren’t really very useful for the two weeks you don’t get any sunshine at all.”

There will likely be “many” small modular nuclear plants on the Moon needed to support humanity in 2100, he added.

The race of nations for the South Pole of the Moon

The Moon’s south pole has sparked the interest of spacefaring nations including India, Russia, China and the US.

Last year, India made history by becoming the first country to land near the southern region.

A few days earlier, Russia also made an attempt to land at the South Pole, which resulted in an emergency landing.

NASA’s Artemis III mission is set to explore a region near the Moon’s south pole.

The mission is an important part of a multi-year plan to build a permanent lunar base by the end of the decade.