Moon Colonization Research Paper

Moon Colonization

July 20, 1989: President Bush uses the 20th anniversary of the first footsteps on the moon to declare that Americans should return, establish a permanent presence there, and go on to Mars (Hartmann). After Bush proposed this idea of creating a permanent colony on the moon to serve as a “pit stop” on the way to Mars, NASA took it as a mandate to start planning. This idea of moon colonies brought upon a mood that was not seen since the days of the Apollo missions. The possibilities of a moon colony are great.
The problem of overcrowding could be solved. Taking millions of people (over a matter of time) to the moon would greatly reduce the Earth’s rapidly growing population. While the people are living there, industrial
What effect would it have on the human body, being in an environment where there is constant sunlight? Located at the Lunar North Pole, where all the water for farming is, there is constant sunlight, day in and day out. Prolonged human exposure to solar UV radiation may result in acute and chronic health effects on the skin, eye and immune system. Sunburn (erythema) is the best-known acute effect of excessive UV radiation exposure. Over the longer term, UV radiation induces degenerative changes in cells of the skin, fibrous tissue and blood vessels leading to premature skin aging, photodermatoses and actinic keratoses. Another long-term effect is an inflammatory reaction of the eye. In the most serious cases, skin cancer and cataracts can occur (World Health Organization). These statistics were taken on Earth, where we have an atmosphere to block most of the Sun’s harmful rays. In an environment where there is no atmosphere at all, the effects would be indescribable. After a year of exposure people would end up with 3rd degree sunburns, old wrinkly skin, and a bad case of cataracts. The conditions on the Moon are just not safe for any
Exposure to weightlessness over month-long periods has been demonstrated to cause deterioration of physiological systems, such as loss of bone and muscle mass and a depressed immune system (Webster). Because this would obviously be a permanent residence for the people living there, they would be there much longer than a month. On average, people lose about 30 percent of their strength between ages 50 and 70, and another 30 percent of what's left per decade after that. Generally, people lose about 1 percent of their lean muscle mass per year after age 40. After a year on the moon a humans bones and muscle mass would deteriorate so greatly that they would have the body of a weak elderly 85 year old. In addition to those health concerns Space travel weakens the body's immune system and alters infectious diseases, making them more potent and resistant to antibiotics (Webster). Dr. Cheryl Nickerson, an associate professor in Tulane University's department of microbiology and immunology, states, "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that infectious disease could be a real show stopper in space flight, as we start sending people out on two- to three-year missions and colonizing the moon, it's not a question of if an outbreak occurs but when." Basically this moon colony could end up being eerily reminiscent of the black