Human settlement on the Moon’s surface is closer than we think. It is believed that by the year 2060, the first Moon colonies will be a reality. This new colonisation will bring new challenges such as living in a hazardous environment, (extreme) adverse weather conditions and different long duration activities such as EVAs, these summons will result in new living standards that will set the foundation for habitability in outer space in the long-term. Therefore, it is imperative and crucial to think about human safety in extreme environments, especially interplanetary ones.
From this concept stems EMMA (Emergency Mobile Medical Aid), a mobile unit that has the goal of providing emergency care to astronauts that require surgical and medical support during long-duration extravehicular activities.
EMMA is a system solution made by an hexapod that is able to carry loads and drive, and a medical facility to assist and recover the injured astronaut.
The vehicle is designed to deliver assistance while minimising possible contaminations – such as from lunar dust – to maintain Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), and the equipment and medical area sterile and efficient.
In a possible scenario, the unit will be dispatched from the base through an emergency signal and will intelligently self drive to the site with the aid of six legs that are able to adapt to rough terrain, overcome obstacles for a fast deployment. The facility can accommodate three astronauts: two people crew and the incapacitated member, and it is composed of a medical clinic equipped for any procedure that is reached after entering a dustibule chamber and an airlock.
After the patient is placed on a stretcher, the crew enters the dustibule chamber – a low pressure atmosphere unit that countermeasures the extreme adhesion of lunar regolith in vacuum. An electron beam dust shower, acting directly on the astronaut suit, dislodges the major amount of dust; this process will be refined by an UV light that removes the remaining dust. Once a major amount of dust has been removed and ejected, they enter the airlock, that will get pressurised. From here, the crew goes through two different processes: while the two crew members enter the clinical room from the respective suitports, the wounded is stripped with the aid of a mechanical robot that cuts the spacesuit and removes it. Once the procedure is finished, the injured is moved inside the clinic to start the required medical procedures. EMMA will keep the position during all the medical procedures, and after saving the astronaut’s life, the hexapod unit will return to the base, where it can be connected to the through a dockport positioned on the back of the medical facility, to facilitate the stock refurbishing, remove/renew the wastes, gather the injured to be monitored.
EMMA is perfectly designed to fit in the Starship interplanetary rocket, it has an energy production through solar panels that provide enough energy even for the 4 months dark period.
Thanks to the 6 legs with 6 degrees of freedom each, it is able to easily load every medical facility in every position.
