Two Visions, One Question
Graduate thesis at the School of Architecture, Paris Conflans (UPA 4), created in the context of the end of the Cold War and the enthusiasm generated by the MIR station. The project imagines a permanent lunar base of 100 to 200 people, located at the south pole in a crater of the Leibnitz mountains, operational between 2004 and 2020 according to an optimistic schedule.
The approach is resolutely architectural: spatial organisation, quality of life, management of environmental constraints, colonisation phasing, Man/Robot complementarity. The project draws in detail plans, sections, elevations and habitat modules.
American space programme officially launched in 2017, aimed at establishing a durable human presence in cislunar space and preparing missions to Mars. Artemis I (uncrewed test flight) was successfully completed in November 2022. Artemis II — first crewed flight around the Moon — is scheduled for April 2026. The premier alunissage est désormais prévu pour Artemis IV, au plus tôt début 2028.
The programme ultimately plans to build the Artemis Base Camp at the lunar south pole: a surface habitat (Foundation Surface Habitat), a pressurised rover, and the Gateway orbital station. One lunar mission per year is envisaged after 2028.
"What this thesis drew in 1993 as a probable horizon for 2010–2020 is exactly what NASA is about to realise thirty years later, with the same fundamental choices: south pole, ground protection, modular habitat, progressive phasing."
Convergences and Divergences
| Theme | Charon Project — 1993 | Mission Artemis — 2026+ |
|---|---|---|
| Site d'implantation |
Pôle sud lunaire, grand cratère des montagnes de Leibnitz. Choix motivé par la stabilité thermique relative (Sun always on the horizon), the proximity of both sides of the Moon, and access to a polar orbit.
✓ convergence |
Lunar south pole, near permanently shadowed craters containing water ice. 13 candidate zones identified by NASA. Choice motivated by water/ice resources and near-permanent sunlight on neighbouring ridges.
✓ convergence totale |
| Radioprotection | Enterrement partiel dans le régolite (200 cm = protection suffisante), exploitation de la topographie du cratère comme bouclier naturel. Abris de protection maximale pour les éruptions solaires. | The Foundation Surface Habitat features multi-layer shielding and a partially buried structure. Regolith is still identified as the ideal protective material available in situ.
✓ convergence |
| Structure de l'habitat | Volumes pressurisés rigides, organisation en secteurs (production agricole, vie, sciences, fabrication), modules circulaires, couloirs pressurisés reliant les unités. Deux niveaux habitables + niveau technique. | Foundation Surface Habitat: 3-level structure, rigid metallic base (4m Ø) + upper inflatable volume (6.5m Ø). Airlock at lower level. Habitat for 4 astronauts for stays of one month or more.
△ divergence partielle — le gonflable en plus |
| Énergie | Centrale solaire au sol + Solar Power Satellites (SPS) orbitaux. Exploitation du silicium lunaire pour produire des cellules photovoltaïques sur place. Vision à long terme d'une production d'énergie pour la Terre. | Nuclear fission systems (Kilopower / Fission Surface Power) for base power supply, supplemented by solar panels. Compact nuclear energy partially replaces solar power for initial phases.
△ divergence — le nucléaire compact non anticipé |
| Ressources lunaires |
Exploitation du régolite (métaux, silicium, oxygène). Oxygène extrait pour l'atmosphère et le carburant. Production agricole en serres intégrées. Vision d'autonomie totale à terme. | In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is an official pillar of Artemis. Oxygen extraction from regolith (MOXIE project, tested on Mars Perseverance). South polar water ice as a major resource — not anticipated in 1993.
✓ convergence — + glace d'eau |
| Mobilité & robotique | Robots autonomes pour tâches extérieures (extraction, construction, maintenance). Galeries techniques dédiées aux robots. Complémentarité Homme/Robot comme principe organisateur du plan. | Unpressurised Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) + pressurised rover (JAXA Lunar Cruiser). Additive construction robots (Blue Origin, ICON) to print regolith structures. Onboard AI transforms robotics.
✓ convergence — robotique confirmée et dépassée |
| Coopération internationale | Pari sur une coopération internationale inédite comme condition nécessaire du projet. Vision post-Guerre Froide d'une gouvernance partagée de l'espace. | 22 partner nations of the Artemis Accords (2020). Active participation of ESA, JAXA, CSA. However, competition with China (Chang'e programme) reintroduces a geopolitical dimension. |
| Calendrier | Operational base planned for 2004–2010, advanced base for 2015–2020 in the thesis's optimistic scenario. | First Artemis IV landing: early 2028. Permanent habitat: not before 2035–2040. A delay of 20 to 30 years on the 1993 projections.
△ retard considérable |
| Qualité de vie | Dimension centrale du projet architectural : jardins intérieurs, espaces de détente, vues sur la Terre, modulation de l'éclairage, place publique, activités sportives. L'architecte comme garant du bien-être. | NASA is working on crew psychology (behavioral health), habitat ergonomics, circadian lighting. But the first Artemis missions remain short stays — the long-term habitability dimension is still in gestation. |
From 1993 to Today: the Slow March to the Moon
The Scale of the Artemis Programme
Surprises of the Last Thirty Years
La glace d'eau polaire — En 1993, la présence d'eau sur la Lune était théorique. Les missions LCROSS (2009) et LRO ont confirmé d'importants dépôts de glace dans les cratères en ombre permanente du pôle sud. Cette découverte change radicalement l'économie d'une base : l'eau peut être extraite sur place pour la boisson, l'agriculture, et surtout la production de carburant (H₂/O₂) pour les missions spatiales suivantes.
L'hélium-3 — Mentionné en 1993 comme ressource prometteuse, sa présence dans le régolite est aujourd'hui bien documentée, même si la fusion nucléaire à He-3 reste encore à démontrer à l'échelle industrielle.
Le secteur privé spatial — SpaceX, Blue Origin, RocketLab have revolutionised access to space with partially or fully reusable launchers. The cost per kilogram to orbit has fallen by a factor of 10 in thirty years. This fact profoundly changes the economics of lunar colonisation — and was not anticipated in 1993.
L'impression 3D en régolite — Des sociétés comme ICON (contrat NASA) développent des imprimantes 3D capables de construire des structures en régolite lunaire in situ. What le projet de 1993 confiait aux robots est aujourd'hui en cours de test concret.
L'IA et la robotique autonome — The Perseverance and Curiosity Martian rovers, orbital assembly robotics — all these advances confirm and amplify the Man/Robot complementarity vision of the 1993 project.
An Architectural Vision Validated by Time
What ce projet a vu juste
Thirty years after its conception, the 1993 thesis appears remarkably prescient in its major choices: the south pole as the site, regolith protection, Man/Robot complementarity, the necessity of local resource production, progressive colonisation phasing, and international cooperation as the condition for realisation.
These choices were not random or science-fictional: they resulted from a rigorous reading of the physical, environmental and economic constraints of the lunar environment. The fact that NASA reached the same conclusions thirty years later, with considerably superior analytical means, retrospectively validates the architectural approach of this thesis.
Ce qui demeure un différenciateur de ce projet de 1993 par rapport aux approches actuelles est précisément sa dimension architecturale : la qualité de vie, l'esthétique des espaces, la signification symbolique du premier établissement humain hors de la Terre. Les ingénieurs d'Artemis construisent une base opérationnelle. L'architecte de 1993 dessinait un monde habitable.
"This project asked the question that belongs properly to the architect: how to organise space so that human beings can live, work and thrive in it — in an environment radically foreign to all human experience. Artemis finally answers the technical question. The architectural question remains entirely open."