Moon Park has been proposed as an International Space Year (ISY) event for international cooperative efforts. Moon Park will serve as a terrestrial demonstration of a prototype lunar base and provide research and educational opportunities. The kind of data that can be obtained in the Moon Park facilities is examined taking the minimum number of lunar base residents as an example

Kuriki, Kyoichi

Ogawa, Yukimasa

Saito, Takao

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

PRECEDING P_:
MOON PARK: A RESEARCH AND
EDUCAXIONAL FACILITY
Kyoichi Kuriki
Institute of Space and Astronatafcal Science
Yoshinodai
Sagamthara-shi
Kanagawa 229
Japan
Takao Saito and Yukimasa Ogawa
o_vasta corpor, ufon
Kanda Tsukasa -cbo
_-ku
Tokyo101
Japan
673
15
Moon Park has been proposed as an International Space Year (ISY) event for international cooperan've
efforts. Moon Park will serve as a terrestrial demonstration of a prototype lunar base and provide
research and educational oppomtnities. The kind of data that can be obtained in the Moon Park fazifi_ies
is examined taking the minimum number of lunar base residents as an example.
INTRODUCTION
As announced by President Reagan in his State of the Union
Address to Congress in January 1988, mankind is expected to
return to the Moon around the year 2000. The purpose of the
return to the Moon is lunar base construction for permanent
residence, which is required for lunar industrialization. In order
to show the feasibility of lunar base construction, a ground-based
demonstration is considered the most feasible approach in
validating the lunar base design.
At the Pacific International Space Year (ISY) Conference held
in Hawaii in August 1987, the present authors proposed the Moon
Park concept as an ISY event to be achieved under international
collaboration. Although 1992 is the year proposed for either
operation or starting construction, the facilities constituting Moon
Park are designed to be permanently operational.
The main facility of Moon Park is the training center simulating
an outpost on the Moon, which is combined with the Controlled
Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) as depicted by the
diagram in Fig. 1. The CELSS is not only for the life support of
the training center but is also studied as a key technology. Crew
activities are observed by behavioral scientists and are even open
to the public, as long as they are not significantly disun'ixxl or
degraded by doing so. If an open demonstration is supplemented
by lectures and exhibits in the museum, the involvement of young
students will be greatly promoted.
Basic technological development in the training center puts em-
phasis on CELSS demonstration and on studies in human behavior
and psychological factors in a confined space. These technologies,
together with others listed in Fig. 2, contribute to the lunar base.
The CELSS in Moon Park is not a fully closed system, but is pro-
vided with several functions: water purification and recycling,
management of human waste products, and cleaning and recycling
of atmospheric gases.
Taking into account oxygen production firom lunar soil, the first
two items are regarded as urgent issues and discussed in the
present paper in some depth. The objective of the present paper
is to define the roles of the training center with its simulation
of the crew habitat so as to derive conclusions for the design
guidelines of the lunar base.
The major objectives of the studies on the CELSS and the human
factors in the training center are to find the design guidelines for
the minimum required number of crew for the proposed task,
and the minimum dimensions of working and living space
required for this crew, in conjunction with the life support needs
and psychological factors affecting a small, isolated task group
working in a confined space. These criteria will be necessary to
design a manned outpost for lunar and planetary exploration. The
TRAINING CENTER
ICELSS,I IBE"AV,ORI
MEDICAL
I SUPPORT
I I
I CREW HABITAT
& I Inllllnl Inl Inl II
CELSS I
l
I
I
TOUR, | TRAINING
||
I EDUCATIONAL CENTER
EXP
i MAINTENANCE
|
|
TOO I,o  OMI
Fig. 1. Moon Park complex.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19930004827 2020-03-17T08:51:27+00:00Z
674 2nd Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities
i ENVIRON-
I REDUCED IMENTAL
I BEHAVIORAL IGRAVITY /
I C LSSI s c.o-I I-----
I M'TF"''LI
ENERGY I TATION
I
PROCURE- [_
MENT
Fig. 2. The key issues of lunar industrialization.
present paper gives preliminary estimations for these values and
points out influential factors that should be intensively studied in
the Moon Park.
CONTROLLED ECOLOGICAL
LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
The CELSS in the lunar base or Moon outpost will not be
entirely closed but will be periodically replenished with protein
food from Earth and provided with oxygen from the lunar factory.
Vegetables, on the other hand, should be supplied from the
hydroponic plant unit in the lunar base. The simulated CELSS of
the training center in Moon Park is designed as shown in Fig. 3.
The outside environment depicted in this diagram may corres-
pond to the lunar regolith and landscape, and the oxygen factory
outside the lunar base. Human waste and kitchen garbage are
stored and processed in the biological reactor. The fertilizer
generated in the reactor is transferred to the vegetable plant trait.
One of the problems related to the bioreactor is its conversion
efficiency. If it is too low, vegetable supply will not satisfy" the
crew requirement and will have to be procured from outside. In
this case, the secondary waste in the reactor will have to be
managed ,somehow. The second problem is the .speed of the
reactor. If it is slow, the size of the reactor or reservoir will
become large. Iarge size, however, is advantageous from the
viewpoint of system stability, as will be discussed later.
The stability issue is most crucial in determining the crew size
of the lunar base. Disturbance may arise from both quality and
quantity of the waste and there is a maximum level of fluctuation
that the reactor system can tolerate. Suppose such a threshold
value for instability is 25% and the type of disturbance is disease,
which should be a minor problem, or the absence of a crew, the
minimum crew number is estimated to be four, which corres-
ponds to the shoulder of the CELSS curve in Fig. 4. In the
following, the technological bases for the characteristic values of
the reactor are introduced.
WATER RECLAMATION AND
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Due to lack of hydrogen on the Moon, water will be a precious
material and its use must be optimized. An ordinary Japanese
citizen uses about 2501 of water a day for the purposes listed
in Table 1. The amount of cooking may be reduced to about one-
third of terrestrial use by avoiding the boiling method of cooking
and using the microwave oven. Water required for toilet flushing
is related to the scheme employed for waste management. The
water in a conventional toilet is not used as a processing agent,
but as a carrier to a processing facility. The water required for
this purpose, therefore, may be reduced by directly transporting
the waste to the bioreactor as had been done in Japanese Farming
in the past. Taking these modifications into account, the lunar base
water requirements will be reduced by two-thirds, as shown in
Table 1.
in manned spacecraft to date, a physicochemical system has
been employed as the most reliable method of water reclamation.
In the lunar base, however, physicochemical systems are not
suitable because of their increased water requirements; thus, we
should apply the water generation ,system with microbes, as is
widely used on Earth.
There are two kinds of microbial water treatment: aerobic and
anaerobic. With limited resources of energy and oxygen on the
Moon outpost, the anaerobic s3_stem is preferred. The anaerobic
LOGISTIC
SUPPOBT
!
,  owER' II,
!1°if!/
PROTEIN CREW HABITAT I t GROWTH UNIT
WASTB GAR:II_!ST1EISLUDGBGEEI_T CH -_-]4_ I
__
I
POWER & THERMAL CONTROL
03
Ba_,_a _ ""_"" _ QI_'%'%% TOTAL
%-%%
oom._m'"tm"'"",_,o,,., CELSS ( Waste Management )
oo ° 'fit
oo I ".o
y .i,tllll#llll I t#llllfllo_llt _jll I
BEHAVIORAL
(Antarctic Research Expedition)
t ! I
4 8 12
CREW NUMBER
Fig. 3. Diagram of CEI&_. Fig. 4. Stability of closed ecos3._tem.
Kuriki et aL: A research and educationaI facih'ty 675
TABLE 1. Water consumption.
Purpose Terrestrial (l/man/day) Lunar Base (l/man/day)
Drinking 2 2
Shower 50 15
Cooking 50 15
Toilet flushing 50 15
Clothes washing 50 10
Cleaning ( facility ) 10 3
Others 38 33
Total 250 93
microbes, which are active in oxygen-free environments,
decompose the organic waste in the used water, produce organic
acids, and then convert them into methane and carbon dioxide.
Because the extent of decomposition by the anaerobic system is
limited, the assistance of an aerobic system is required for
complete decomposition. In the further evolved lunar base where
oxygen is available from a lunar factory, the aerobic system will
be totally used, as it is more ef_cient and productive.
The water treated in the bioreactor is further processed
physicochemically, as shown in Fig. 5, and is turned into drinking
water. Methane, the by-product from the above system, is useful
as an energy source, and the sludge is useful as fertilizer for the
vegetable plant. The technologies of the water reclamation system
discussed above have been terrestrially demonstrated in Tokyo in
1983 (Ogawa, 1985). A glass of water, about 100 ml, is obtained
for a cost of less than one cent, only a few times as expensive
as the city water in Tokyo.
The solid human waste will also be decomposed by the
microbes in the compost tank. As discussed earlier, this may
reduce the toilet water requirement. After releasing CH4 and COz,
the processed solid waste will be sterilized with UV radiation,
completely sanitized, and eventually applied as fertilizer for the
vegetable plant.
When the microbial system is applied to the lunar base, as
demonstrated on Earth, two problems may arise. One is the
applicability of lunar soil or crushed rock for the filter. However,
no hazard was observed in a terrestrial experiment at NASA
Johnson Space Center where a simulated lunar soil was applied
as a medium for plant growth. The prospects of the use of lunar
soil for a filter also seem hopeful. The other problem is the bubble
handling at {/6 g on the Moon. An artificial acceleration will be
required for emcient operation of the liquid/gas system.
}_[ Lunar Rock HBioreactor Filter
Remove
organic suspension
Ozonation
-4[ Reverse Osmosis L----JMembrane ]-'-'_ UV radiation
Hygienic Kill bacteria
}_/[ _ DrinkingChlorination Water
Fig. 5. Water regeneration process.
CREW BEHAVIOR AND ROLES
The minimum crew number for the Moon outpost is assessed
from two factors. One is the stability of the crew's emotional
behavior in confined habitat space. When the number of crew
is extremely limited, fewer than four for example, the crew will
find it hard to get along with one another. If the team size exceeds
about 10, on the other hand, the crew will tend to lose frequent
contact with each other. According to the summary report of the
Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, such loss of human
communication will cause an unstable psychological state of the
crew (N_, 1958). This may result in a catastrophe for the
team. An optimum number of crew members is suggested to be
five or six so that they have frequent communication with each
other and thereby make their community stable as described by
the curve in Fig. 4. The bold dotted curve represents the product
of the other two items.
The minimum number of crew is also discussed from the
standpoint of the expertise required for lunar base operation. The
type and miminum number of experts are listed in Table 2. The
two electrical engineers are assumed to be spedalists in power/
electrical engineering and telemetry. One of the two mechanical
engineers is an expert on CELSS, and the other is responsible for
the O2 generator. If a biological scientist supports the CELSS
maintenance and a geologist supports the Oz generator, the
reliability of the lunar base community will be enhanced.
From the assessment given above, the most probable number
of the Moon outpost crew is 8 to 10. An eight-person crew is
assumed for the discussion in the next section.
TABLE 2. Crew composition.
Role Number
Cook/Nutritionist 1
Medical Doctor 1
Mechanical Engineer (CELSS/02) 2
Electrical Engineer 2
Scientist (CELSS/Oz) 2
Total 8
BASE VOLUME REQUIREMENTS
Within the crew habitat with CELSS, the areas for water and
gas treatments and waste management have to be taken into
account. Based on the previous system design, about 120 m 3 is
required as the volume of water and waste management facilities
for eight people. If a compact 02 generator is developed for
production on the Moon, the CELSS operation with a bioreactor
will be greatly improved. The volume required for the O2
generator is assumed to be 100 m 3, including the storage tanks.
The design of the crew's private compartments is of prime con-
cern, since the crew must maintain sound psychological condi-
tions while being confined in a closed area for a prolonged
amount of time. The habitat volume required, as shown in Fig. 6,
depends on the length of stay. Assuming the residence time of
a crew in the lunar base to be about a year, 25 m 3 per person
is proposed for their personal compartment to allow considerable
comfort. The dining room, which is to be used as a reading and
meeting room as well, is essential. This should be lOOm 3 in
volume. In addition, the kitchen requires 25 m _, the workshop and
676 2nd Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities
20
15
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o
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• (98) • 30i HOTEL
SKYLAB
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/,
/ •
COMFORTABLE ,,,,_¢,o PRISON
, STS ,,,,,,,,,,,_,,,,_.._¢,,.,u .SUBMARINE
_,,'_ ACCEPTABLE
/""
.__._J'_r _ e_ 'lb" APOLLOrRAIN INTOLERABLE
A MERCURY • GEMINI
I I I I I I I
2 5 10 20 50 1OO 200
TIME (DAY)
Fig. 6. Space volume for tong-term habitation. Data from Architectural
Institute of J_n (1980) and Connors et al. (1985).
Fig. 7. Moon Park.
laboratories 350 m 3, and the utility space 250 m 3. These require-
ments, along with 360 m 3 for miscellaneous purposes, constitute
the total volume of the Moon outpost for eight people, 1500 m 3.
SUMMARY AND REaMARKS
From the preceding discussions, the following conclusions have
been tentatively drawn. First, the water requirement in the Moon
outpost is about (100 I per person) per day. Second, the crew
should be as small as possible: the stability of the CELSS indicates
a minimum of four, while good human relations are obtained with
five or six people, and tasks on the Moon outpost require six
technical experts and two scientists; therefore, the outpost crew
should have eight members. Third, the outpost should have
1500 m 3 space for eight people.
The data upon which the above results are based contain
uncertainties and assumptions, as discussed earlier. It is not the
intention of the present paper to calculate the minimum crew
number but to suggest that the Moon Park facilities be used as
a research center where the fundamental data are obtained for
the design of a Moon outpost.
Sociological factors have not been discussed here, yet they are
essential. Different designs may be considered depending on
whether a single international lunar base will be constructed or
whether each nation will have its own lunar base. Crews made
up of individuals with different backgrounds and cultures may
affect the design and development approach taken for the lunar
base. For these reasons, Moon Park as shown in Fig. 7 should be
of an international nature and open to international participants.
REFERENCES
Architectural Institute of Japan (1980) Architectural Design Information,
3, p. 57. Maruzen, Tokyo.
Connors M. M. et al. (1985) LtvingAlofl, p. 61. NASA SP-483.
Nishibori E. (1958) Memoirs of the Japanese Antarctic Wintering Party.
Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo. 269 pp.
Ogawa ¥ (1985) Application of waste water recycling facility. Paper
Presented to the 12th CIB-W62 Symposium. 21 pp.


Moon Park: A research and educational facility

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