Here's the thing. NASA is promising 2 astronauts -- a man and a woman -- will hurl to the Moon by 2024. Part of the mission is to study colonization of the Moon, using lunar materials to build structures where astronauts could live and study the surface and atmosphere.

The cylinders in the photo would protect astronauts from radiation and below zero temps. They would be built with regolith, which is a fancy term for lunar dirt. Scientists believe the regolith could be used to create bricks, which harden under the heat of the Sun.

As for breathable air ... the crater where the colony would sit contains ice, which contains oxygen and hydrogen.

Scientists are calling the colony "Moon Village." NASA is thinking of using the Moon as home base to launch astronauts to Mars ... as early as the next decade.

None of this could be accomplished without power ... but solar panels reflecting the Sun's heat would do the trick.