Mankind has been imagining life on the Moon since time immemorial. As Nasa reveals plans for a lunar base, BBC News here looks at some artists' impressions of lunar colonisation.

A 1934 illustration for The Moon Pirates, a sci-fi novel by Neil R Jones, depicts a New York-like city on the Moon but enclosed by a giant protective dome.

This sketch from 1895 shows a gold mine in operation on the Moon, tapping into fabulous resources.

More contemporary visions also feature skyscrapers but with their own protective seals against the lack of atmosphere.

This artist's impression shows a manned base with a driver tube for firing cargo back to Earth.

Common to all visions of life on the Moon are protective suits and darkness because of the extreme conditions.

More modern depictions show people living in capsule-like habitation units.

The Soviet space programme envisaged a habitation sphere buried in the Moon's surface (photo: Anatoly Zak/RussianSpaceWeb.com).

Nasa's own computer-generated visions for its first settlement show simple structures and sturdy machines.