Humanity’s first church on another world could be a dome perched on the rim of a huge crater near the moon’s south pole.

European Space Agency (ESA) artist-in-residence Jorge Mañes Rubio has drawn up plans for a “moon temple” that would help meet the spiritual, social and psychological needs of lunar settlers.

Those needs will likely be considerable, given that the pioneers will be isolated from the rest of humanity on a world hostile to life as we know it, Rubio said. [Visit the Moon Temple: Jorge Mañes Rubio’s Lunar Art in Pictures].

In space, no one can hear you ask for more Sudafed.

If you really want to explore the unknown, it’s necessary to put every effort possible into this venture. According to NASA, that’s exactly what they had in mind when their plans to fund some supporting institutes were announced.

The ultimate goal, of course, is not only to boldly go out there, but to extent humanity’s reach in our solar system.

The so-called Space Technology Research Institutes, or STRIs, will each receive the handsome amount of $15 million in order to develop groundbreaking technology in biomaterials and biomanufacturing.

A giant planet 1,300 light years away is scorchingly close to its star and isn’t likely to survive much longer.