This NASA picture shows what some people think a lunar research vehicle might look like. Since there is no air or liquid water on the Moon astronauts will have to carry their air and water with them. Also, since the Moon has no atmosphere to protect the astronauts from radiation from the Sun, the RV will have to have a special compartment to protect the astronauts.

This picture only shows the RV, but if you are going to build an observatory to watch for comets and asteroids you will also need a truck to carry around the materials to build it. Maybe the RV and Lunar Truck will look like this instead:

While you do not need a lunar base to build an observatory or radar station on the Moon, the construction of them may lead to the building of a lunar base. After a while the equipment modules used to build the observatory and radar station and then left on the Moon may be put together and then covered with dirt to protect to protect the astronauts from solar radiation. The result might look like this:

This picture by Pat Rawlings of a lunar observatory with a lunar base is used courtesy of Novagraphics Space Art. You can click here to visit Novagraphics and see more paintings by Pat Rawlings or you can click here to see more paintings by Pat Rawlings at the Challenger Center.

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