The Moony project was born as part of the Igluna programme in collaboration with the most prestigious European universities and coordinated by the ESA_LAB@Swiss Space Centre to create a lunar habitat demonstrator, complete in all its parts, to serve as a container for other teams’ projects. The demonstrator was built as a prototype to prove its effectiveness in an extreme environment, such as the Matterhorn Glacier in Zermatt, which has climatic and environmental conditions similar to those of a volcanic lunar cave.

The design of Moony addressed a number of issues, including how to safely construct and position a habitation module in an extreme environment, while meeting requirements that would facilitate human adaptation and comfort. Designed to connect with other similar modules to form a lunar village, the habitat consists of a hemispherical inflatable chamber covered by a lightweight structure to protect it from collapse, as the base is in an underground tunnel.

The structure of the habitat will be built in situ, thanks to 3D printing, using indigenous material, namely lunar dust, based on a technology developed by the Italian company D-Shape to minimise the amount of material launched from Earth.

Inside the habitat, the astronauts’ work, personal and social activities are integrated thanks to a flexible configuration capable of adapting to different needs. The walls, which are also inflatable, can be opened and closed to transform the environments according to the functions they have to accommodate, and to reduce the perception of confinement in the absence of natural stimuli. At the centre of the habitat is a greenhouse which, in addition to feeding the astronauts, promotes a relationship of well-being with nature.