Overview
Lunar CUlture is a Carleton Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 4th year Capstone Project. 16 students within the department are dedicating their year to the near future of life on the moon! Under the supervision of Dr. Hanspeter Frei, the Lunar CUlture Team will provide real life solutions to the difficulties that come with farming on the moon. LunarCUlture represents a step towards sustainable space exploration and habitation by designing and developing hydroponic, food waste recycling, and automated systems to support life away from earth. The plot of The Martian will soon be a reality, and Carleton students are making it happen!
The Background
The ability to grow food on the moon addresses one of the critical challenges of long-term space missions. It would reduce dependency from earth to supply resources and enhance the public opinion of advancing lunar habitat technology by becoming self sufficient. This project aligns with global efforts to establish a human presence on the moon and beyond, supporting NASA’s Artemis program and international lunar exploration initiatives.
The Rollout
In the second year of the project, funding will be used to purchase equipment to design and develop prototypes for plant growth in space. This includes items that will go towards everything from building a robotic arm that will autonomously plant and harvest crops, to experimentally testing how to best shield our farm from the harmful radiation in space.