NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has only been operational for just over a year, but this isn't stopping the world's biggest space agency from discussing the next big space telescope that could serve as JWST's successor sometime in the future.

China, India and the U.S. have all achieved landing on the moon in the 2020s.

Once there, their eventual goal is to set up a base. But a successful base—along with the spacecraft that will carry people to it—must be habitable for humans. And a big part of creating a habitable base is making sure the heating and cooling systems work.

That's especially true because the ambient temperature of potential places for a base can vary widely. Lunar equatorial temperatures can range from -208°F to 250°F (-130°C to 120°C)—and similarly, from -225°F to 70°F (-153°C to 20°C) on Mars.

In 2011, the National Academies of Science published a report outlining research in the physical and life sciences that scientists would need to do for the U.S. space program to succeed. The report emphasized the need for research about building heating and cooling systems for structures in space.

I'm an engineering professor, and when that report came out, I submitted a research proposal to NASA. I wanted to study something called the liquid-vapor phenomenon. Figuring out the science behind this phenomenon would help with these big questions around keeping structures in space a comfortable and habitable temperature.