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The Moon's surface creates a challenging environment.

First off, there is no breathable air, and the atmospheric pressure is uninhabitable.
Second and even more challenging is the temperature swings on the Moon.
Temperatures on the Moon can range between a daytime average of 123 C to minus 233 C at night.
The lunar south pole, however, has an average temperature of around -13 C, making it the ideal location for a lunar base.
But there's another major challenge, and that is radiation.
The Moon does not have magnetic and atmospheric shielding to protect it from cosmic rays and solar particle events.
The dangers of the various kind of radiation vary from long term effects if you're lucky to death shortly after exposure.
There was a study done on the cause of the death of astronauts.
It found that 43% of Apollo astronauts' cause of death was due to cardiovascular disease, which is around four times higher than other astronauts.
In the coming years, scientists from around the world will be working on overcoming these challenges.
This is because the Moon has become a popular target destination since water ice was discovered in the southern polar region.
There are a handful of countries around the world working to send astronauts to the Moon with the USA looking to return in 2024.
And back in April, President Trump signed an executive order that supports the mining of the Moon's resources.
Indeed, the long-term human presence on the Moon appears to be inevitable.
But moon bases might totally different from what your imagined them to be.
When you imagine a moon base, it probably looked something like this.
Space agencies have been developing concepts for moon bases for decades.
These images are from the moon village concept developed by ESA in 2015.
The concept involves deploying inflatable habitats and then using 3D printing robots to construct a protective layer around them.
The inflatable habitats would house breathable and habitable pressure, and the outer layer would protect the habitat from temperature swings if necessary, along with radiation.
The robotic 3D printers would use materials already on the Moon, namely the regolith on the surface.
While I imagine moon base concepts such as this will be implemented where necessary, I believe the majority of habitable space on the Moon will eventually be established below the surface.
Researchers have been learning about lava tubes that have been discovered on Moon that are insanely larger than lava tubes found on Earth.
The largest lava tubes on Earth are around 40 meters in diameter.
The Moon, on the other hand, contains lava tubes that have diameters that are likely between 500 to 900 m!
They're large enough to fit entire skyscrapers inside of them.
So these lava tubes can serve as a protective layer of a moon base or even a small city.
Inhabitants will be protected from various radiation along with small meteors.
The scientist also believes the tubes likely contain water ice and other useful chemicals.
Unfortunately, it's unlikely that the tubes would be pressurized with air.
You see, the openings of lunar lava tubes can be as wide as a football field.
And even if engineers manage to seal the opening, there would be the possibility of air leaks elsewhere throughout the tube.
That being said, the tubes provide large spaces protected from extreme temperature shifts, radiation, and micrometeor impacts.
What's more, they have stable temperatures inside at -20 C.
Indeed the tubes solve most of the challenges for providing a habitable environment on the moon.
All that would be left to do is simply constructing pressurized structures with breathable air.
But there is still a lot of research that needs to be done before we have an idea about feasibility.
This is why lava tubes are what I am most looking forward to when astronauts start exploring the Moon again.
The concept of subterranean habitats in space has been gaining more attention lately, especially after SpaceX president Glenn Shotwell commented about it.
Shotwell mentioned that SpaceX might leverage the technology being developed by The Boring Company to help construct subterranean habitats on Mars.
And if boring machines are used on Mars, you can reasonably assume that they will be used on the Moon.
Again, there's so much to learn about the tubes to determine if they can be feasibly used.
But the potential would be great; it would be cool to have an entire subterranean lunar city inside them one day.