THE COLONIZATION OF THE MOON.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there was no certainty that humans would reach the Moon before 2000. In 1953 the dream of stepping on the Moon seemed like a utopia because none of the technologies existed to carry out this great deed. Years after thanks to the evolution of technology, in 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik, and twelve years after, a group of American astronauts managed to travel to the Moon.

Today, considering the idea of living on our satellite doesn’t sound so far-fetched because human ingenuity has proven to be limitless. To realize the dream of lunar colonization man will have to face many challenges, and in today’s blog, we will tell you some of them.
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1. No atmosphere and no air

Unlike the Earth, the Moon has no atmosphere. It does not have any clouds, so it does not rain, no air on the Earth contains the gases necessary for humans to survive, and especially, it does not have fields that can host crops. The lunar surface experiences intense electromagnetic radiation, extreme temperature changes, and long alternating periods of light and darkness becoming a challenge for anyone who dreams of inhabiting it.

For future colonizers, a solution for the lack of air could be transporting it from the Earth and injecting it into closed compartments. ESA’s Markus Landgraf considers this a cost-effective strategy until the population grows too much.
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2. Lack of water

​In the case of water, the initial plan to solve the problem could be to transport it from Earth for the first lunar settlers and, after this, to use systems such as those used in the International Space Station to recycle and purify the liquid shower, the urine and sweat of its inhabitants, achieving better use of this essential resource.

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​3. Food on the Moon

One of the biggest questions to achieve colonization is, How will colonizers be fed? Although we have already made some progress in this regard, being able to transport products from Earth could be a costly response, luckily there is a large multitude of projects to grow different types of food in space, such as lettuce, tomatoes, and cereals.

Now, we can only hope that man will fulfill his dream and reach our natural satellite, ensuring humanity´s future in space and discover if inhabiting the Moon will cease to be a utopia or become a project that will never be fulfilled. 
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