New design for SpaceX Lunar Starship

During the livestream of Starship Flight test 6 SpaceX presented a new design for the Lunar Starship (Human Landing System) which NASA has selected for the Artemis missions returning humans to the surface of the Moon. According to the current schedule SpaceX is tasked to get Artemis III crew on the surface of the Moon in the end of 2026; we estimate this mission will slip for about two years – to 2028 because developing a human-rated spacecraft is a lot harder task than building "just" a cargo rocket.

An upgraded Lunar Starship for later Artemis missions:

Elevated train near a human colony on the Moon

Picture of the Day 17/08/2024 - Painting of an elevated train near a human colony on the Moon by French urban artist Colin Doublier.

Jamestown US Moon base in "For All Mankind" season 3

Unlike the first two seasons, which focused on the Moon, season 3 of For All Mankind (an alternate history sci-fi TV series) focuses on Mars. But despite the Jamestown US Moon base being featured only briefly in the season, we can see it has been expanded significantly during the alternate history decade between season 2 (depicting 1983) and season 3 (depicting 1992 to 1995), completing the 1st ring of modules and adding a 2nd ring. So, in this alternate reality of the show development on the Moon has not been neglected because of the Mars mission.

NASA's Sojourner at Jamestown preparing for the mission to Mars:

Lunar colony in Ad Astra (2019) movie

Ad Astra is 2019 science fiction thriller set in mid-21st century when humanity has started to settle the inner Solar System. One of the most memorable parts of the movie is human colony on the Moon with space pirates :) chasing military rover convoy going to the spaceport on the far side of the Moon.

In the movie a son (Brad Pitt), serving in the military, is sent on a mission to uncover the truth about his famous father's (Tommy Lee Jones) long lost mission near Neptune which now threatens the survival of Earth. In his lonesome and dangerous mission he visits several places including a dynamic but wild human colony on the Moon and a desolate relay station on Mars. Here is a collection of HD images from the Lunar part of the movie:

Lunar colony concept art for Ad Astra by Finnian MacManus

Concept art of the Lunar colony in Ad Astra (2019) movie (science fiction thriller set in mid-21st century when humanity has started to settle the inner Solar System) by film, game and TV concept artist, the founder and creative director of Terraform Studios, Finnian MacManus. More of his art here.

Lunar colony in season 5 of The Expanse

After the bombardment of Earth Lovell City on Luna (the Moon) became the de facto capital of United Nations, one of the three competing powers in universe of The Expanse TV series - a political sci-fi drama set a few centuries in the future where humans have colonized the entire Solar system. Luna functions as a way station between Earth and the rest of the Solar system, and its spaceport at Lovell City serves as a natural meeting place between residents of the inner planets and Belters. Due to its lower gravity, Luna is the only body in the inner system that Belters can easily visit. UN citizens living on Luna are generally wealthier than most of their counterparts on Earth.

As Mars was one of the major locations in season 4 of the show, Luna is in season 5, coming into spotlight after the bombardment of Earth. Here is a collection with HD images from the Lunar scenes in season 5 of The Expanse. There are a few more from the trailer of the season.

Avasarala looking at Lovell City:

Memorial at Lovell City:

Lunar scenes in season 2 of "For All Mankind" alternate history TV series

Season 2 really kicked up the space race on Lunar surface in For All Mankind alternate history sci-fi TV series exploring the idea of never ending space race if Soviets would have beaten US in the race for the Moon. In season 1, depicting the events in alternate 1969 to 1974, both Soviets and US start building their separate bases at the rim of Shackleton Crater near the lunar South pole. In season 2, depicting the alternate 1983, both bases have been expanded and the superpowers compete for resources on the Lunar surface. The Cold War is very close to becoming a hot one.

The intention of the show is to jump about a decade further into the increasingly diverging reality of the show each season. The final scene of season 2 hints Mars will be the central stage in season 3. We are eagerly waiting to see how the authors of the show will have imagined humanity's journey to Mars in their alternate reality. The filming of season 3 has already started.

Jamestown US Moon base in 1983:

US mining site at Jamestown base:

Overview of the Jamestown base:

One of Jamestown's landing pads:

Jamestown US Moon base in season 1 of "For All Mankind" TV series

For All Mankind is alternate history sci-fi TV series depicting what could have happened if the space race had never ended after the Soviet Union succeeds in the first crewed Moon landing ahead of the United States in 1969. The authors of the show speculate such an event would force US to double down on space exploration altering the Apollo program from "flags and footprints" approach to a more ambitious one with extensive infrastructure buildup on the Moon (with hints of Mars exploration in later seasons of the show). Pouring money and resources into space exploration creates an atmosphere every space nerd would have wanted to continue after the enthusiastic 1960s.

Season 1 of the series (aired in 2019) depicts events from 1969 to 1974 in the alternate timeline of For All Mankind. The series are in the middle of season 2 now depicting the alternate 1983. It was said each season of the show will jump about a decade further into the increasingly diverging reality of the show. We will feature season 2 here after it will be aired completely. So here is a collection of HD images from season 1 with a focus on US Jamestown lunar base at the rim of Shackleton Crater near the lunar South pole where water ice is discovered in 1970 (several decades earlier than in reality):

Landing of the initial Jamestown lunar base module in October 1973:

Jamestown Phase 1 US lunar base in 1974:

Lunar mining colony by Jort van Welbergen

Picture of the Day 8/11/2020 - Lunar mining colony with several landing pads for SpaceX's Starships (pictured here in their 2017 design, then called Big Falcon Ship) by Dutch freelance movie and game concept designer Jort van Welbergen. More of his art here.

Closeup of one of the Starship landing pads with Earth on the horizon:

Lunar colony in season 5 trailer of The Expanse

A few days ago the season 5 trailer for The Expanse was released - a political sci-fi series set a few centuries in the future, where humans have colonized the entire Solar system. Mars, one of three competing forces in the universe of The Expanse, was in the spotlight in season 4 of the show. It now seems it is the Moon's (Luna's) turn, which is under the jurisdiction of the United Nations (based on Earth) in the universe of The Expanse. There are several scenes depicting a Lunar colony (Lovell City) in the season 5 trailer:

Cargo ship descending to the Moon:

There is only one scene set on Mars in the trailer:

SpaceX Starship at NASA Artemis Base Camp by ICON

NASA has announced it is working with Texas-based 3D printed construction startup ICON "on early research and development of a space-based construction system that could support future exploration of the Moon and Mars. The company has 3D printed communities of homes and structures on Earth and participated in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, demonstrating a construction method and technologies that may be adaptable for applications beyond our home planet." Both NASA and US Air Force have invested in company's technologies via Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract.

NASA is working, via its Artemis program, to establish a long-term human presence on and around the Moon by the end of the 2020s. Construction and expansion of Artemis Base Camp will require extensive use of lunar resources, including water ice (for life support and rocket fuel) and moon dirt (for building materials).

To accomplish goals of the SBIR contract ICON has teamed up with space design studio SEArch+ and Danish architecture firm BIG in Project Olympus to develop robotic construction concept for NASA's Artemis Base Camp. Here are several conceptual illustrations from the project.

First one depicts a spaceport featuring several 3D printed landing pads and roads, SpaceX's Starship in one of the pads and Blue Origin's Lunar lander with ICON's 3D printer landing in another:

Closeup of illustration's central part:

Here are illustrations of 3D printed habitats:

Human colony on the Moon

Picture of the Day 30/9/2019 - Supplied by regular SpaceX's Starship flights, Moon Base Alpha has grown into a large human colony with dome-shaped habitat complexes in the center, surrounded in semi-circle by industrial area and solar array - a closeup from the Lunar colony render in Elon Musk's recent Starship update presentation.

Hydroponic greenhouse in Lunar colony by Erik van Helvoirt

Continuing our Lunar week, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 Moon landing, here is an artwork of a hydroponic greenhouse in Lunar colony by Dutch concept artist Erik van Helvoirt. More of his art here.

Nazi Moon base by Darren Tan

Singaporean freelance illustrator Darren Tan visualizing the conspiracy theory of a secret Nazi base on the far side of the Moon.

This alternate history science fiction myth was somewhat started by Rocket Ship Galileo, a 1947 young adult novel by Robert Heinlein, which features three teenagers who travel to the Moon and discover a secret Nazi base. Since then the "secret Nazi Moon base" cultural myth has been used in fiction frequently, including The Man in the High Castle novel (1962) by Philip K. Dick (and its recent TV series adaptation), Iron Sky movie (2012) and Wolfenstein: The New Order video game (2014). We should remember that Von Braun's V-2 rocket was the first man made object reaching outer space in June, 1944, and it was the base for both US and Soviet space programs. So the myth had some logical grounds.

SpaceX Starship at Moon Base Alpha by Sam Taylor

Picture of the Day 3/6/2019 - Poster of a dozen starmen (with white&black suits) & starwomen (with white&pink suits) working around SpaceX's Starship at Moon Base Alpha by digital artist Sam Taylor. More of his art here.

Unloading cargo from SpaceX BFR spaceship on the Moon

Picture of the Day 22/4/2018 - Unloading cargo from SpaceX BFR spaceship (BFS) on the Moon; fan vision by Reddit user brickmack (Mack Crawford).

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Moon Base Alpha by Jon Hrubesch

Picture of the Day 8/11/2017 - Moon Base Alpha by digital painter Jon Hrubesch. More of his sci-fi art here.

SpaceX Moon Base Alpha

Picture of the Day 28/10/2017 - human base on the Moon, featuring a group of habitats covered with a layer of lunar regolith and a skybridge for easy access to landed SpaceX's BFR spaceships (BFS) - a closeup from official Moon Base Alpha concept image by SpaceX.