Can the Moon be given an earthlike atmosphere?

> I like the idea of an aquifer, but -- why do we need it? I feel I've
> missed your point here.

Plants may get by with just water in the soil and air, but humans and
animals need liquid water. Liquid water requires storage. An aquifer
is the simplest water storage method, and also provides filtration.
Also, many tree species have a long tap root, and a aquifer would give
them a little more room before hitting bedrock (concrete). Besides,
the question is not why we need an aquifer, but how we would avoid
one. It would form naturally at the bottom of the soil anyway.

> > I now envision a double-hulled colony consisting of a cylinder
> > containing several spheres. ...

> So this is basically a multi-deck baton design.
> I'm not sure I see the point of the spheres, though -- why not just
put
> in flat decks? Those would be simpler and provide slightly more
living
> area.

I also thought about flat decks. I got a mental picture of the
skyscraper in "Volcano" that Tommy Lee Jones dropped in front of the
lava. Spin something like that end-over-end.

But I wanted this to be a double-hull design with each deck able to
handle depressurization of the outer hull. A sphere is the strongest
shape with the minimum of materials and encloses the most volume. The
upper half provides an open "sky" and the lower half has enough room
for infrastructure below the soil and aquifer.

I was inspired by Harlan Ellison's "The Starlost" and "Silent Running"
(w/Bruce Dern). I would consider lenticular or semi-lenticular domes
instead of spheres.

I also wanted the decks to be independent so that a rupture of a
sidewall and deck would compromise only one deck, not two.

;-)X