Arrakis Academy🌙 Plan your moonbase
You are base commander at the Moon's south pole, in the 2030s — a few years after the first Artemis landings. Keep a crew of 4 safe for 14 days!
Mission briefing (real Moon science)
- Gravity is about 1/6 of Earth's — Mbe the rover can carry heavy ice easily.
- There is no air. Every breath of oxygen has to come from splitting water.
- Permanently shadowed craters near the pole never see the Sun and hold water ice.
- One lunar day + night lasts about 29.5 Earth days. Away from the poles that means ~2 weeks of darkness — solar panels make nothing.
- Real timeline: Artemis III (2027) tests docking with Moon landers in Earth orbit; Artemis IV (2028) is planned as the first crewed landing near the south pole.
Step 1: Pick your landing site
Sunny crater-rim ridge
Like Harmony Base: sunlight most of the time, dark icy craters next door, and Earth in view for radio.
Inside a permanently shadowed crater
Ice right under your boots — but this crater floor never sees the Sun and can be colder than −230 °C.
Flat plain near the equator
Flat and easy to land on. But the Sun sets for about two weeks, and the nearest ice is very far away.