Moon base. Illustration of astronauts at a base on the Moon. Humans will require protective suits and sealed buildings when on the Moon. This is because the Moon has no atmosphere and a wide range of surface temperatures from minus 170 (night) to 127 (day) degrees Celsius. The lunar day-and-night cycle is nearly 30 Earth-days long. The Moon has a gravity that is about a sixth of that of the Earth. Storage tanks will include the water, oxygen and fuel needed by the astronauts. Also shown here is power generation from solar cells, food production in greenhouses and construction using mobile 3D printer-rovers. The Moon is about 384,000 kilometres from the Earth (top left).