Momo: a Lunar Habitat

Modular Moon Self Assembly

Group project, MAS.S66/4.154/16.89 Space Architecture, MIT Master of Architecture

Course overview and instructors

Team members:

Mateo, xdd (Architecture) + Kevin (Media Lab) + Adam, Katie (AeroAstro)

Special thanks to:

Yiwei (Foster + Partners), Alfonso (Media Lab)

We are aiming for Momo to support Artemis III, which is slated for late 2026, early 2027 and will be the first crewed lunar landing of the Artemis missions.

Our goal is straightforward: develop a deployable habitat that will support our astronauts on the Moon. This habitat will be small, semi-permanent, and essential for our explorers as they lay the groundwork for future, long-term lunar settlement.

Focused on practicality and efficiency, the habitat will be equipped with all necessary facilities to ensure survival, including a bathroom, bed, and space for recreation—everything needed to sustain life and facilitate productivity on the lunar surface.

The Lunar South Pole has been selected as our location, which provides a strategic location for constructing proposed longer-term lunar settlements.

Our key idea for this project is to develop a structure that minimize manual construction on the moon, since at least the current version of EVA suit is not convenient for astronauts to operate tools and lift structures. Therefore, we designed a self assembly structure that can be prefabricated on earth and self expanding in situ. The dodecahedron shape brings modularity to surface components, as well as possibility to be folded and packed, the method of which will be shown later.

Personal Contributions 1: Prototype Simulation

Personal Contributions 2: Design and Fabrication of Transparent Shell

Personal Contributions 3: Photo Documentation with Artistic Expression