Someday humans will live on Earth's Moon. However, before permanent settlements are established, people will probably occupy a series of lunar outposts. Each outpost will be visited one or more times for a few days to as long as a few months so that specific tasks can be performed; when the jobs are finished, the occupants will leave. Visitors to a lunar outpost will have to take with them almost everything they will need there, including the food they will eat and the air they will breathe.

Lunar outposts have potential scientific, commercial, and military uses.

The Apollo Outposts

The Apollo program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) placed six lunar outposts on the Moon between July 1969 and December 1972. Each one was part of a lunar landing mission during which two American astronauts landed a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. The astronauts...