A Roadmap to cave dwelling on the Moon and Mars
- Paper ID
12547
- author
- company
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)
- country
France
- year
2012
- abstract
On the Moon and Mars, Man's habitat could be situated in lava tubes recently discovered. These subterranean structures have typically a diameter around 50 meters, communicate will the surface by roof collapses, and display a length of hundreds of meters. Settling there could provide a unifying scheme for exploration, with testing survival in tunnels would start on the Moon in the 2030's and continue on Mars in the 2040's-2050's. Preparation for this option would include two types of missions, which will be discribed in detail : \begin{enumerate}\1. Cartography of lava tubes by ortital radar and thermal mapping on th Moon and on Mars ; \end{enumerate} \begin{enumerate}\2. Development of specific technology for descending in tunnels, deploying inflatable structures inside the lava tube and creating life support system adapted to caves. \end{enumerate}