Fly me to the moon

Decades after humans first set foot on the Moon, SOM and the European Space Agency are proposing a bold new initiative to return — this time, on a permanent basis.

The Moon Village is based on a set of habitable modules that can be transported to the Moon separately and seamlessly linked on site in a variety of configurations. 

The individual modules will be inflatable, enabling them to be compressed for transport via rocket and then inflated to their full size on site. This ensures that their occupants will have sufficient space to move freely, conduct their work, and live in comfort.

The innovative structural design of the modules is a hybrid rigid-soft system, made of two key elements: a rigid composite perimeter frame and an inflatable structural shell that integrates a multi-layer assembly with an environmental protection system. 

Unlike other inflatable designs that center structural and mechanical systems, this solution allows for more flexible interior arrangements to optimize environmental conditions, air distribution and recycling, visibility, workstation flexibility, and movement between spaces.

Story by: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)