The case for having a permanent base on the moon as a staging point for space exploration has been made many times over the years. Actually constructing a real lunar facility presents numerous significant logistical challenges, not least of which is the genuinely astronomical cost of sending things into space.

Researchers used a synthetic version of moon dust to build working solar panels, which could eventually be created within – and used to power – a moon base of the future

Lunar travel could be revolutionised by solar panels made from dust which covers the moon’s surface, scientists say. German researchers melted a synthetic version of the moon’s loose surface debris into ‘moonglass’.