Recently, the problem of space colonization has become especially acute – no one doubts whether a person can live on the same Moon or Mars. Now experts are only concerned about when this will happen and how it can be implemented technically. And NASA decided to answer one of these questions – representatives of the space agency showed and described in detail the housing modules that will be used for colonization of the Moon and Mars in the near future. But they will first be tested on the surface of Earth’s natural satellite, and then sent to the “Red Planet”.

Accordingly, the first residential module to colonize in space is the Surface Habitat (SH) platform – it will be tested as part of the Artemis space mission, as it will become the main “home” for astronauts after landing on the Moon. NASA has announced that this residential module’s artificial habitat can support two crew members during various missions for 30 days. Also, the same module can be used at the same time in case of a short stay of four crew members – this is necessary to change from one team to another.

This module is planned to be lowered to the south pole of the Moon, which is illuminated by sunlight approximately 200 days a year. As a result, four cosmonauts can live on the surface of the satellite at once – two of them will be provided with everything necessary in the SH module, and two more will live in the landing module. Experts will travel from one point to another on a special lunar rover, moreover, in the future, when the SH module is “pumped”, it will be able to support the vital activity of two cosmonauts for 60 days. This is a significant advance compared to the landing of the Apollo astronauts, who were only able to stay on the lunar surface for 14 days.

The SH module will allow NASA experts to create a live Mars Transit Habitat (MTH) module that will be used for colonization of Mars. To do this, various technologies must first be tested and developed (which will simulate a Mars landing with MTHs landing on the Moon), but eventually this module will allow astronauts to complete the mission over 1,200 days. That should be enough to take astronauts from Earth to Mars, perform various scientific missions there, and then return to Earth. The task is definitely very difficult, so there are many tests, failures and improvements ahead.