Illustration by DeToto The moon is in kind of a bad neighborhood. Daytime highs can hit 250 degrees Fahrenheit, while nighttime lows can plummet to -450 degrees. Getting there is ruinously expensive. And the air quality isn't just poor — it's practically nonexistent. So NASA contractor ILC Dover has some niggles to address before year's end, when the space agency expects its next design for a lunar habitat.

The company recently delivered a demonstration model for preliminary testing. The airlock-sealed living capsule, 13 feet in diameter and more than 19 feet tall, inflates to maximize volume by weight. That's key, because each pound of lunar cargo eats at least 35 pounds of rocket fuel in transit. Presently, the pods consist of little more than blow-up walls. Engineers are still working on interior accommodations and the architecture of the overall moon outpost — likely a hub-and-spoke system that scales easily. ILC Dover's next version will be sent to Antarctica for trials in extreme conditions.

In the meantime, ILC Dover is developing materials to toughen those inflatable walls, such as structural fabric that hardens in UV light and embeddable microcapsules that if punctured release a foam sealant to keep the rig airtight. "The basic technology is ready to fly," says Dave Cadogan, director of research and technology at ILC Dover. "When that happens is a political question." NASA is shooting for a move-in date of 2020.

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