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Moonbound: Journey to Our Nearest Celestial Neighbor

May 7, 2026

The lunar flyby mission of April 2026 (Artemis II) indicates our next destination in Space Travel which is that of occupying the Moon.  The concept is to construct a Moon Base to take up residency, and the expectation to build up to several moon bases as more countries become involved.

We have already successfully landed on the Moon six times and explored it in capacity including using lunar rovers and professional geologists.  Basic exploration of the Moon has already been accomplished.

The next step is to setup an outpost to orbit the Moon, similar to how the International Space Station orbits the Earth.   A lunar outpost, or Lunar Space Station, will provide a means to situate astronauts near the Moon to begin the planning and preparation of a Moon Base. Along with practical organization, space stations allow a way to accumulate and maintain a constant inflow of supplies.  Multiple moon landers are docked to the station for easy access to and from the Moon.

However, we cannot just land on the Moon and take up residency without the necessary preparations.  The Moon Base will need protection against cosmic and solar rays before humans can safely reside.  Astronauts are no match to Artificial Intelligence Robots which are immune to these harmful rays because they are machines.  They are also very dexterous and mobile when compared to an astronaut wearing a space suit.  It becomes rather unanimous who goes to the Moon first.  It will be the machines.

Galactic Cosmic Rays have been a concern since the time of the Apollo program which restricted each astronaut to one trip to the Moon.  The first man to step onto the Moon, Neil Armstrong, is described by author J. Barbree regarding how space travel should continue:

"Neil also knew .. Mars-bound astronauts would arrive as blubbering idiots from radiation poisoning - no ship headed to Mars today could carry enough lead to protect its crew.  What's needed is a lightweight radiation protection device like a small magnetic field.  .. to develop such equipment we first [need] to explore and settle our own Earth-Moon system."

In the book The Future of Humanity, Michio Kaku writes,

“Another issue to contend with is radiation.  For missions lasting a few days, it does not pose a major problem.  But if the astronauts spend months on the moon, they could accumulate enough exposure to seriously increase their risk of getting cancer.”

Findings show that prolonged exposure to cosmic rays can increase the risk of cancer, damage the central nervous system, and cause DNA damage.

Galactic Cosmic Rays, or GCRs, are thought to be a mystery because they come from not only beyond our own Solar System but beyond our own Galaxy.  From within the Galaxy, GCRs are thought to mostly originate from supernovae explosions.  These in turn caused atomic particles stripped of their electrons traveling at near the speed of light.  From outside our galaxy, cosmic rays are thought to have originated from black holes.

Along with GCRs, our Sun emits solar energetic particles due to solar flares and coronal mass ejections.  These are not new to today’s astronauts, who aboard the International Space Station, are trained to take cover in designated heavily shielded areas, which are typically the U.S. Destiny laboratory or Russian Zvezda module.  All of the Apollo missions of 1969-1972 were somehow timed to avoid such solar events and inevitably relied on the “grace of god” to make it through.  At this point our luck will have run out and it is now inevitable that sufficient preparations are needed to adequately shield space vehicles.

However, the constant bombardment of galactic cosmic rays are not so easily managed by conventional shielding, as discussed in The Complete Book of  Spaceflight (Wiley & Sons, 2003):

".. unless the shelter is massive (in which case it places a heavy burden on the propulsion system), it is worse than no shielding at all, because the impact of a GCR nucleus on a shield would be to spawn secondary radiation more hazardous than the first." 

Conventional lead or tungsten shielding can cause a harmful secondary radiation when hit by high-energy cosmic particles.  What is needed is an artificial magnetic field that simulates the protection of our Earth’s natural magnetic field:

“ .. mission designers are considering an alternative to the simpler shelter in the form of an  active electromagnetic field.  This would work like a miniature version of Earth's magnetic field- by bending the trajectory of incoming charged particles away from the region to be protected.”

During solar events, astronauts residing on the Moon will need to seek additional shelter within structures to protect against solar energetic particles (SEPs).  Weather reports from astronomers will allow several hours warning before a downpour of subatomic particles hit the Moon Base:

“The astronauts would need daily “weather reports” from astronomers monitoring solar activity.  Instead of indicating upcoming thunderstorms, these weather reports would give warning of huge solar flares that send hot plumes of radiation into space.  If there is a giant eruption on the sun, the astronauts could be signaled to seek cover. Once the warning is given, astronauts would have several hours before a deadly rain of charged subatomic particles hits the base.” (Kaku)

Current space writers have addressed concern over these two sources of cosmic rays and that we need to protect ourselves not only from the Sun’s solar events but from constant incoming GCRs.

 Based on our discussion so far, a Moon Base should consist of artificial magnetic fields to simulate our Earth’s protective magnetosphere and shelters to offer protection against solar disruptions.
  

             

                                                           

Artificial magnetic fields are arranged about a Moon Base to protect against the constant bombardment of galactic cosmic rays.  Electrical currents for the magnetic fields are supplied by a nearby solar field and can be divided-up by using several smaller loops and oriented to offer a “dome-of-protection”.  Other shelter structures which primarily serve as laboratory and living quarters offer additional protection during the event of a solar flare.

The Moon Base can be pre-constructed with Artificial Intelligence Robots since this is thought to be the most practical means.  Robots are machines not susceptible to harm from cosmic rays nor can they get cancer like a human.  They will only need a minimum of protection to maintain functioning, and their mobility and dexterity outperform any astronaut in a bulky spacesuit.

                   

Artificial Intelligence Robots take the form of mobile cranes and humanoid servants.  They are immune to harmful cosmic rays making them suitable to perform the construction of a Moon Base, later to be occupied by humans.
 

The AI Robots can be assembled and deployed from a Lunar Space Station occupied by humans who monitor and control their activity.

The AI Robots can be assembled and deployed from a Lunar Space Station occupied by humans who monitor and control their activity.  The AI Robots are remotely controlled and autonomously programmed to begin construction of the Moon Base.

Following these plans to occupy the Moon will serve as valuable practice before deciding to occupy Mars.

The proposed Gateway Lunar Space Station acts as an outpost for all activity related to building and occupying a Moon Base.  Artificial Intelligence Robots are deployed and monitored from the Lunar Space Station to begin construction so humans can later take up residency.

"Neil also knew .. Mars-bound astronauts would arrive as blubbering idiots from radiation poisoning .."

   

It is inevitable that the first step toward being moonbound is to deploy a Lunar Space Station.  This gives practical organization and provides a procedure for safely occupying the Moon.  Hundreds of astronauts have already been trained on the ISS and their training can extend to the Lunar Space Station.  Space stations allow for a constant inflow of supplies and a place to plan and organize within a shirt-sleeve environment.  Multiple docking ports allow for incoming space vehicles (e.g., Orion) and for the landers that will descend to the Moon.  It will be the mothership for all activity of landing and occupying the Moon similar to how the Apollo Command Module was the mothership for the first moon landings.

Following these plans to occupy the Moon will serve as valuable practice before deciding to occupy Mars.