The Moon ("Moon: Great Mare") is rated "Intermediate" in the game. It has no atmosphere, but plenty of sun and rich ore deposits on the surface. Survive here and you learn to make every mole of gas yourself. The values come from the planet data sheet.
At a glance
| Value | Moon |
|---|---|
| Gravity | 1.62 m/s² (16.5 % of Earth) |
| Day length | about 1,297 s, tidally locked, day and night half each |
| Year | 12.38 solar days |
| Air | vacuum |
| Temperature | no outside temperature (no air) |
| Sun | 1,315 to 1,407 W/m², almost vertical at noon (88.5°) at the start location |
| Weather | solar storm |
| Start locations | Crater Vesper, Montes Umbrarum, Crater Nox, Mons Arcanus |
Vacuum: everything comes from the tank
Outside there is nothing – no gas you could draw in, no air that carries heat, no wind. Every room has to be filled entirely from your own supplies. The gas is stored in inline tanks such as the Small Tank with 6,000 L, see Tanks and gas storage: sizes, insulation, safe filling.
A worked example: a room of four cells (32,000 L) at 20 °C needs n = 21 · 32,000 ÷ (8.3144 · 293) ≈ 276 mol for 21 kPa of oxygen. One piece of oxite yields 22.5 mol of oxygen, so you need a good twelve pieces. You make up the rest of the pressure with nitrogen, for example from nitrice (22.5 mol of nitrogen per piece).
Because every mole is hard-won, a good airlock pays off. An airlock that blows its air into the vacuum wastes gas on every pass.
Pressure and walls
Inside 101 kPa, outside 0 kPa: the difference is the full inside pressure. The Iron Wall (Type 1) holds 200 kPa and is enough for that. Plan higher pressures, for example in a storage room, with a margin to that limit.
A leaking room loses everything here. Check new rooms with a gas sensor before you take your helmet off.
In a vacuum you cannot get rid of waste heat through air either. For cooling loops the Medium Radiator, designed for vacuum, is the part to use here; the convection radiators need an atmosphere.
Sun and power
The Moon is a solar paradise: 1,315 to 1,407 W/m², almost twice as much as on Mars, and at noon the sun stands almost vertically above the start location. Day and night last about 11 minutes each. According to the data sheet the Earth can cover the sun for up to about 36 s on some days (calculated). A Solar Panel works very well here, but you still need a battery for half the night. The exact yield is shown by the Solar calculator.
There is no wind in a vacuum. Wind turbines are useless on the Moon.
Weather: solar storms
Instead of dust storms there are solar storms: they bring 400 % sun and last 10 to 15 minutes. According to the data sheet they also act at high altitude. The first event comes after at least 7 game days, then in pauses of 3 to 11 days. For solar power that is a gift: a tracked 2 × 2 m panel delivers about 2,700 W instead of 770 W in a solar storm, and per the weather data solar storms do no damage to panels. Watch the cables – see Solar arrays: alignment, tracking, day and night.
Resources
The Moon has the same veins as Mars, including all four ice types and uranium at depth. On top of that there are three extra ore profiles for rich deposits on the surface: their ore density is 2.5 and 1.5 respectively, the normal surface profile 0.6. Going by that value, there is considerably more ore in the ground there.
Low gravity
At 1.62 m/s² everything weighs only a sixth. For rockets that is an advantage: a pressure fed gas engine lifts more than twice the mass here that it lifts on Mars, see Rockets: structure, fuel, launch.
First steps
- An airtight shelter, gas only from ice.
- Solar panels and a battery – power is plentiful here.
- An airlock that pumps gas back instead of venting it.
- Mine ore preferably where the deposits are rich.
Next steps
- All values: Planet data sheet
- Comparison: Mars: starting world with thin CO2 air, Mimas: vacuum, low gravity
- Building airlocks: Building an airlock: layout, control, common mistakes
- Pressure and gas amounts: Atmosphere and pressure