Currently, the stay on the Moon is planned for one month, which, of course, greatly increases the costs of rotating the lunar base personnel.
Theoretically, without added gravity, with the help of medications and exercises, the crew can keep watch for up to 6 months. And then the crew must return to Earth and undergo rehabilitation for up to 2 years.
A special feature of the project is that the track structure of the centrifuge base is made extremely lightweight. It is an inflatable structure with a pressure of several hundredths of atmospheric pressure. This reduces the mass of the structure delivered to the Moon to several tons, that is, the mass of the structure of the system for creating artificial gravity in the residential modules is many times smaller than the mass of the modules themselves. It can be delivered to the Moon by existing Proton-type rockets.
A similar astronaut rehabilitation center could be used on Mars, where gravity is 2.6 times less than Earth’s gravity.
P.S. In addition, not everyone knows that microgravity, like space radiation, provokes dangerous mutations in bacteria. Without artificial gravity on the Moon and Mars bases, the lives of astronaut colonists are in serious danger. It also turned out that growing food plants in microgravity is also problematic – due to the action of mutated bacteria, the plants become poisonous.
Translation of the words of the speaker and the author of the development.
Voiceover. Every cosmonaut will confirm: six months in orbit equals two years of rehabilitation. Weightlessness causes a number of changes in the body: from cerebral edema to kidney damage. And the low gravity of the Moon is just as harmful to health as weightlessness.
To survive such stress, astronauts need to periodically return home and restore their bodies.
But Russian scientists have decided to simplify the task and build a sanatorium right on the satellite.
It will be enough to spend 16 hours in a lunar centrifuge (every day) to “feel at home” again.
CAPTION: Alexander Maiboroda, developer of the lunar rehabilitation center for cosmonauts with additional gravity.
NIT_ALEKSANDR_MYBORODA. It is proposed to create a ring railway structure. A car or a group of cars with a slight inclination should move along this route. Due to centrifugal acceleration and the acceleration of lunar gravity, the resultant can be equal to the acceleration of the earth’s gravity. In this case, people who are on board such cars receive the usual standard living conditions.
Voiceover. Artificial gravity on board the car occurs at a speed of 168 kilometers per hour (on a ring with a radius of 224 meters). And the centrifuge is protected from radiation and meteorites by the same regolith.
NIT_ALEKSANDR_MYBORODA. This is an inflatable torus tube, consisting of durable materials such as steel, titanium or beryllium. These are the modules that will then be loaded into this track structure, a tube, and will move. These are habitable residential modules.
Voiceover. Do you think that everything I told you is the distant future and we are unlikely to see it with our own eyes? Not at all! The Chinese intend to move to the lunar metropolis in some 20 years. Before you is an international lunar research station. China has announced its construction. They are planning to build a settlement together with Russia and other countries. Scientists are currently studying the surface of the Moon and choosing a place for the base.