lunar colonies
Extraterrestrial human outposts
Lunar colonies are permanent human settlements on the Moon—not mere research outposts but self-sustaining communities where people live and work long-term.
The term appears most often in speculative and science fiction contexts, though space agencies increasingly discuss lunar colonies as realistic near-future goals: The mission aimed to establish the first lunar colony by 2040.
- regolithFragmented covering over bedrock
- moduleIndependent functional component
- moonbaseFacility on Earth's satellite
- selenologyScientific study of the moon
- domeRounded vault forming roof
crater · astronaut · life support · moonquakes · dust storm · settlements · rover · space habitats · habitat · terraforming · low gravity · hatch · micrometeorites · solar panel · airlock · space suit · radiation shielding · rare earth elements