Dubbed “Moon World Resorts,” the idea is to recreate the Moon on a grand scale right here on our home planet, no rocket trip required. As Moon World Resorts co-founder Michael R. Henderson recently told CNN Travel, the moon is a “recognizable brand…seven and a half billion people know it, everybody loves it.” He hopes his ambitious idea will spur travelers everywhere to flock to the spacey, ultra-luxurious new hotel.

Though the project itself has been in development for nearly 20 years, artist renderings envision a futuristic space where guests can enjoy all the perks of a traditional top-notch resort while pretending they’e floating in a far-off space station. Of course, no trip to the moon would be complete without a space walk. A lunar experience inside the hotel will allow guests to simulate the feeling of actually walking on the moon. As Henderson says, “we will give you the ability in your lifetime to walk on what you believe will be the lunar surface.”

Unfortunately, as with most architecture projects of this scale and scope, Moon World Resorts has also come with its share of “tremendous technical challenges,” according to Henderson. He’s currently working with co-founder Sandra G. Matthews alongside “independent engineers and architects to make the concept a reality,” according to CNN Travel.

If all goes according to plan, the Canada-based entrepreneurs plan on eventually expanding Moon World Resorts to other continents, too. This will depend largely on securing licensees willing to invest in the project — but as we now know all too well, it’s pretty hard for rich people to say “no” to space.

For his part, Henderson remains hopeful that Moon World Resorts will eventually get past the conceptual stage and become a full-on reality. He believes that the first hotel could open as early as 2027 as “a destination in its own right,” drawing visitors from around the globe who want to experience the thrill of the final frontier from the comfort of the planet they know and love.

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Debuting a tabletop model of their design at the 17th International Venice Biennale, SOM’s “Moon Village” features a grouping of connected research stations and associated solar power grids.

“The project presents a completely new challenge for the field of architectural design,” said Design Partner Colin Koop in a statement. “The Moon Village must be able to sustain human life in an otherwise uninhabitable setting. We have to consider problems that no one would think about on Earth, like radiation protection, pressure differentials, and how to provide breathable air.”

Working in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), SOM designed this moon community to be situated near the lunar South Pole, on the rim of Shackleton Crater, a part of the Moon that receives almost continuous daylight throughout the year. All that light could be channeled for energy storage, enabling the settlement to be self-sufficient.

The site is also close to water-ice deposits in shadowed depressions that could be harvested to produce oxygen for breathing. Additionally, that water could help create rocket propellant for transportation needs, and offer support for the daily industrial functions of the base.

Each research station tower will be three to four stories tall, with room for workspaces, living quarters, life support systems, and environmental control units. In terms of the construction, each tower module will be “a hybrid rigid-soft system, made of two key elements: a rigid composite perimeter frame and an inflatable structural shell that integrates a multi-layer assembly with an environmental protection system.” Each one is crafted to inflate and expand to increase interior volume as future needs dictate. The outer shells, made of open-foam polyurethane and double-aluminized Mylar insulation, will be formulated to resist extreme temperatures, solar radiation, regolith dust, and space projectiles.

The inner support structure will be fashioned from titanium alloy for maximum strength. The rigid-soft system will allow for optimal airflow, unobstructed foot traffic, and large, transparent work spaces.

Life at the Moon Village would consist of scientific research into sustainability and food production as well as into the materials and history of the lunar surface. At some point, the colony could even accommodate space tourism for those looking for a truly exotic holiday.

The members of SOM hope and believe the Moon Village “is an opportunity to explore the Moon in its entirety, to spur research and commercial growth, and to serve as a stepping stone to achieve even greater ambitions: extending the human footprint to Mars and beyond.”

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP has been creating innovative solutions in architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning for over 80 years. They have received over 2,000 industry awards and maintain offices around the globe from New York to Hong Kong to Mumbai.

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In fact, the new directive states NASA will find a way to get American feet on the moon by 2024. Additionally, the V.P. pressed that beyond a landing, NASA should “establish a permanent base there, and develop the technologies to take American astronauts to Mars and beyond. That’s the next giant leap.”

Having received the memo, NASA has already started developing programs that fit within the timeline (and a very tight budget). Of course, it’s not exactly like they’re starting from scratch, so teams have mostly been evaluating the technology that already exists. This includes the Lunar Terrain Vehicles used on previous missions. Unfortunately, the existing models are made for humans protected in space suits and are used mainly to transport those humans from one place to another across the surface of the moon. So when the discussion began about where the astronauts would live while on the moon, plans surfaced to use a similar concept with a novel twist that would allow the vehicles to be enclosed and pressurized.

To meet the short timeline even more quickly, NASA’s also reached out to other space programs who’ve had a jump on the idea. The result is a partnership with Japan’s space agency JAXA, who has already been working on what will become a mobile-home version of the LTV in a partnership with car giant Toyota for around two years now.

The finished rovers, according to a NASA spokesperson, would basically be the moon equivalents of RVs. “This thing is the coolest element I’ve ever seen for people,” says Mark Kirasich, the acting director of NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems during a Ars Technica interview. “It’s like an RV for the moon.” As far as RVs go, however, the lunar version will be pretty tight on space, with each one likely meant to be shared by just two astronauts.

While the increased pressure from the administration and budgetary limitations ultimately decided the fate of this project, it is a little surprising that NASA went this direction instead of reinvesting in a previous five-year project they themselves started. In the early 2000s, the Lunar Electric Rover was part of the Constellation Program. Meant to house astronauts for a whopping 180 days, the project was eventually scrubbed after falling behind schedule and struggling with cost overruns.

“Our job depends on federal funding, so we have to listen to our constituents who fund us,” Kirasich adds. “It’s very important to our leadership at the moment to involve JAXA in a major surface element. Number two, the Japanese, and their auto industry, have a very strong interest in rover-type things. So there was an idea to, even though we have done a lot of work, to let the Japanese lead development of a pressurized rover. So right now that’s the direction we’re heading in.”

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It may be the 21st century, but we humans are still endlessly enthralled with the moon. Our abiding fascination with this rock tethered to our home planet by gravity manifests in all sorts of ways, particularly through art and design. Moon-themed creations might include giant glowing lunar floor cushions, topographic lunar tables, and all manner of globe-shaped lamps, but rarely does anything attempt to take on a more elusive facet of this astronomical object: the very rock it’s made of.

A new series of furniture from Studio Furthermore imagines what it might be like to sculpt furniture out of “lunar-cut mineral ore,” rendered here in more terrestrial materials like aluminum and minerals. Designed to look like it’s made of actual moon rock, the collection includes stools, lighting fixtures, and tables in a variety of sizes. Pocked and pitted just like the real thing, these sculptural objects are rugged and raw, made with a “lost foam” technique used in a number of other projects completed by the designers.

The Moon Rock furniture collection debuted at this year’s Collectible design fair in Brussels, Belgium. Not only is it beautiful to look at and fully safe to use, but it also attempts to illustrate a turn toward optimism about the future, no matter how dire conditions may seem to become here on Earth.

The description of the project is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but hopes to stimulate our imaginations so it’s easier to envision new means of survival and exploration. It reads: “Much still remains obscured about the silver-gray body which rises and falls over the night sky, keeping watch as it has done for millennia. However, it is now thought that the moon was born out of the Earth during a mass impact event. Characterized by its surface of pristine impact craters, the Moon has something of a shielding effect protecting Earth from solar winds, meteorites, and space debris. Within the top soil, a wealth of exotic materials can be found which traveled from further out in space and have deposited themselves over the lunar surface. Many scarce materials here on Earth are abundant on the Moon just beyond our reach, for the time being anyway.”

“Studio Furthermore offers us a glimpse into a not-too-distant future [that] sees lunar mining providing much of the scarce feed material on which industry depends, taking the strain off of Earth’s diminished resources. The designers imagine working with moon rock as marble or granite would be worked today. Taking cues from lunar geology, the studio has created a monolithic material language fusing recognizable geometric shapes with chiseled rock formations.”

Founded in 2015, Studio Furthermore consists of creative duo Marina Dragomirova and Iain Howlett. After meeting during their masters studies at the Royal College of Art, the duo set off on a joint mission to explore new materials and cultural realities formulated through ongoing research into science and naturally occurring processes.

The designers enjoy experimenting with mediums like aluminum, glass, and ceramics. Their work has been exhibited internationally at museums and fairs including the Gent Design Museum, the Venice Architecture Biennale, and a solo show at the Aram gallery in London.

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A new table by French design studio Harow brings a little bit of that mystery into the home in the form of a striking resin and fiberglass table. Named after the famous 1969 NASA mission, the APOLLO 11 Table is a piece of functional sculpture that invites us to look closely at the moon’s surface and marvel at its complexities. You might even examine it long enough to find a tiny footprint on it, left behind as evidence of our presence there.

The designers used digital files from NASA’s archives to create the most accurate possible representation of the surface, which they describe as “an artistic and poetic landscape.” They sculpted the craters on a slab of fiberglass and poured transparent resin on top, allowing light and shadow to highlight the topography of the piece. Even the brass feet reference the original landing pads on the Lunar Excursion Module.

The company website reads: “The physico-chemical, dynamic, and thermal properties of this resin require a regular delay between each layer for perfect polymerization, and the creation of the slab demands a confined and sterile environment. The feet, a contemporary representation of those of the LEM module, require precision manufacturing. Each piece is sculpted to the micro-millimeter, delicately and directly from the block, which is composed of a brass and aluminium alloy.”

Harow also produced a series of limited edition APOLLO landscapes for mounting on vertical surfaces and a few futuristic-looking creations like a resin and fiberglass Iceberg stool & side table, a gold “ICONIC” stool immortalizing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s face, and a highly unusual chair that complements the APOLLO’s theme: the award-winning SPUTNIK.

Of the latter, Harow says: “A steel and aluminium structure, the SPUTNIK chair theoretically insists on the simplicity of its conception, materials, and inspiration. Over the course of its development, the Soviet archives on the OKB-1 were an object of study, along with technical points such as how to honor the exact dimensions of the satellite so that its reincarnation as a seat and functional chair could meticulously respect the dimensions of the source.”

“However, the Sputnik chair is no less complex as a triumph of smelting and an assembly of steel and aluminium. The different melting points of the composite materials require highly technical brazing, chemically-set sandblasting, and a polyurethane process, guaranteeing a faithful reproduction of the shapes and an immaculate appearance of the pieces.”

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You can set up the Moon to check on your dog while you’re at work (sorry, Skippy, better keep off the couch), or use it as a handy monitor at night when you want to keep an eye on a sleeping baby. The Moon also has 360-degree day and night vision, and the company’s sound direction detection technology means you’ll get an alert if it detects a dog barking or your baby crying — or if it hears the sound of glass shattering.

How does it do that? Well, the Moon’s been equipped with three high-precision microphones, so it can pinpoint the source and direction of sounds and then turn the camera toward them. It’s floating design makes for easy tracking. The unit also aims to head off would-be burglars with its “Presence Simulation” tool, which tells the Moon to turn on lights and other devices in a realistic manner, so anyone staking out the house thinks someone is actually home.

Of course, the Moon helps run your home in less scary ways as well. It monitors indoor temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels. And since it integrates with other devices, it can even take action for you when it processes the external feedback it receives. For instance, it might turn on the air conditioner or adjust the thermostat.

The Moon works with ZigBee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth Smart, Philips Hue, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Homekit, and more, as well as TV and stereo systems.

It was a desire for this ultimate connectivity that led inventor Sergo Oganov to develop the product. “I was looking for a comprehensive solution to automate and secure my newly renovated house,” he explains. “Though the market offers a wide range of gadgets, they were offering just a partial solution to my problem.”

You can access all of the Moon’s smart hub features through “Moon Commander,” 1-Ring’s easy-to-use app for Android, IOS, and WatchOS devices.

If you want to use the device on its own as a regular video camera, it’s no problem. The company thoughtfully placed magnets on the bottom of the camera unit, allowing you to attach it to any magnetic surface. The camera has a 4x digital zoom, and you can either save your footage in Dropbox or another cloud storage service or save it locally on a microSD card.

The Moon also makes for some great eye candy, of course. The unusual floating sphere will attract the attention of guests, and the sleek wireless unit underneath it will help you declutter your life by automating a variety of household and family tasks. It’s available in three colors (Galactic Gray, Moonlight Silver, or Star White), so you can match it to almost any decor.

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The moon’s craters give it a mysterious, rather romantic look to those who love gazing at its surface. Designer Constantin Bolimond has recreated this unique landscape with his Armstrong Light Trap lamp.

The Armstrong lamp is an orb with a series of holes all around its surface. The holes are plugged with corks that make the whole assembly look a little like a satellite.

To activate the white LEDs inside, you just pull out a cork. The more corks you remove, the brighter the light shines through the holes. Replace the corks and the light turns off.

The energy-efficient Armstrong can operate on battery power or it can be plugged into your house’s main power. No matter how you power it, the Armstrong Light Trap is a beautiful indoor homage to the powerfully beautiful Luna.

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Like episodes of a television show, the mark of a good series of furniture is how well each piece works both individually and as part of the bigger picture.

These chairs by Keisuke Fujiwara  were, in fact, featured on a TV series in Japan called Tsuuki no Koibito and the crescent moon etched into the back of one of them references the show’s title.

Put together and they resemble a natural phenomena – specifically a mountain range – but they also simply form an interesting visual. Even more neatly, they play well together when put in other configurations or even when separated from each other altogether.

Unfortunately, they were made specifically and exclusively for the show, but perhaps if there is as much interest in the furniture as in the actors the producers might be convinced to sell them in real life, too.

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Colonizing our orbiting neighbor has long been a fantasy for humankind, but what kind of form would a likely dwelling take? This proposal is partly whimsical, but also factors site conditions not every would-be lunar architect considers.

Perhaps neatest of all is the split-level, stair-less configuration of the space – a nod to the lower-than-Earth gravity conditions that would allow residents to leap and bound from one floor to the next.

The shape of this sphere by Royal Haskoning Architecten is a nod to our home world, but also a practical way of providing maximum exterior views from a house without a readily-available front porch or back yard.

A series of rotating shades help regulate light and heat, reducing temperature extremes while gathering the sun’s energy. For more serious solar storms, an underground bunker provides safer emergency shelter.

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