Half a century after humans first walked on the moon, a number of private companies and nations are planning to build permanent bases on the lunar surface. Despite the technological progress since the Apollo era, this will be extremely challenging.

So how should you get started? The conditions at the lunar surface are extreme. The moon has a 28-day rotation period, resulting in two weeks of continuous sunlight followed by two weeks of darkness at most latitudes. As the moon lacks any significant atmosphere to distribute heat from the sun, temperatures during the day can rise to 130°C. Meanwhile, the…

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