Could the first lunar habitat be 3D printed with moon dust?

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Written by By Rebecca Cairns

The last time a person set foot on the moon was in 1972. Now the moon is back on the NASA space agenda. This time around, the agency isn’t just visiting, it plans to stay.

With its Artemis missions starting next year, NASA aims to have astronauts on the moon by 2024 and plans a permanent moon base by the end of the decade. It would be the first habitat ever to be built on an alien surface, and the challenges are unprecedented.
Sending a large amount of building materials to the moon would be expensive and time consuming. But Texas-based startup ICON says it has a sci-fi solution: 3D printing a moon base from moon dust.
ICON is working with NASA to develop technology that can turn moon dust into a concrete-like material, says co-founder and CEO Jason Ballard. Moon dust, also known as moon regolith, is the sand-like topsoil that covers the moon’s surface, formed of minerals and tiny shards of glass created over millions of years when meteorites hit the moon. It’s sharp, abrasive, and extremely sticky – Apollo astronauts found it stuck to everything, including their spacesuits. There are a lot of them, which means there is a huge amount of raw materials if ICON is successful.
BIG's concept for Project Olympus includes donut-shaped buildings that could be constructed entirely with the ICON 3D printer.

BIG’s concept for Project Olympus includes donut-shaped buildings that could be constructed entirely with ICON’s 3D printer. Credit: Bjarke Ingels Group / ICÔNE

The initiative is named Project Olympus in honor of the largest known volcano in the solar system – aptly reflecting the mountain-sized challenge the team faces. But Ballard isn’t just aiming for the moon. By designing a lunar habitat, he hopes to make building on Earth cleaner, faster, and cheaper.

Olympus Project

ICON has been using 3D printing technology to build social housing in Mexico and Texas since 2018. Using a concrete-based mixture called lavacrete, its Vulcan printer can print approximately 500 square feet in 24 hours.

But the moon is a “radically different world,” says Ballard. From Earth, it looks like a silvery, smooth, serene orb, but it is subjected to high levels of radiation, violent moonquakes, extreme temperature swings, and frequent strikes from crashing micrometeorites. through its thin atmosphere, he said.

And turning moon dust into building material is another tall order. The team is experimenting with small samples of moon dust in a lab – working on how to change its state with microwaves, lasers and infrared light, while using “little or no additives,” explains Ballard.

The research area in the lunar structure offered by ICON is illuminated by smart lights that simulate day and night on Earth, to help astronauts maintain a normal sleep-wake cycle.

The research area in the lunar structure offered by ICON is illuminated by smart lights that simulate day and night on Earth, to help astronauts maintain a normal sleep-wake cycle. Credit: Bjarke Ingels Group / ICÔNE

ICON worked with two architectural firms, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch +), to explore the possibilities of 3D printing technology.

The team studied habitats in extreme environments, including the McMurdo Station in Antarctica and the International Space Station, and used their findings to create a range of lunar design concepts, Ballard explains.

Architects had to think about how to create an environment that was both safe and comfortable, says BIG founder Bjarke Ingels.

SEArch + ‘s proposal includes a large, multistory structure with 3D printed shield petals protecting a core that would be built on Earth, while BIG designed a circular structure that could be printed entirely on the moon.

BIG’s design includes a water-visible membrane that lines the chamber walls – “a good radiation insulator,” Ingels says – that will give astronauts extra protection while they sleep.

Radiation means windows should be kept to a minimum, so Ingels carefully chose the location of the only building – which still faces the Earth.

SEArch + has imagined a base "which will allow astronauts to come and go frequently from the surface," with airstrips, roads, hangars and habitats, says co-founder Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman.

SEArch + has devised a base “that will allow astronauts to come and go frequently from the surface”, with airstrips, roads, hangars and habitats, explains co-founder Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman. Credit: SEArch + / ICON

A “double-shell” structure and outer trellis, which can be filled with moon dust, provide additional protection against radiation and meteorites, Ingels says.

In addition to living and working spaces for astronauts, the moon base is expected to incorporate landing platforms, roads and storage hangars. Until now, the human presence in space has been “dominated by engineering,” Ingels says. With multiple industries working together, he hopes the first permanent structure on the moon can be “ambitious” in design as well as an engineering marvel.

A gateway to the galaxy

NASA began exploring 3D printing as a possible space construction technology with the launch of the 3D Printed Habitat competition in 2015. SEArch + and ICON both took part in the initiative, with SEArch + ranking first for the design of the Mars X house.
With the launch of the Artemis missions next year, NASA’s first step towards lunar habitat is the “gateway,” a space station in the orbit of the moon, spokeswoman Clare Skelly said. Astronauts will live and work on the Gateway and the Moon Shuttle, staying in their landers for up to a week.
ICON's 3D printer, Vulcan, draws the outline of the building one layer at a time. It can print up to 500 square feet in 24 hours.

ICON’s 3D printer, Vulcan, draws the outline of the building one layer at a time. It can print up to 500 square feet in 24 hours. Credit: ICON

Its purpose, however, is a permanent base, from which to explore the moon more deeply and test technology for human survival in space. NASA wants to build facilities to house four astronauts for a month, Skelly says. It’s an essential first step to Mars – and beyond.

Skelly says it has not yet been decided whether the lunar habitat will be built using 3D printing, but “NASA may provide additional funding to ICON” and may give the company the opportunity to test. its technology on the lunar surface.

Using lunar technology on Earth

Ballard is also optimistic about the earthbound potential of the technology. He believes the findings of the Olympus project could help resolve the global housing crisis.

As a relatively new technology, there is little definitive data on the benefits of 3D printing in construction. However, a 2020 review notes that it could reduce construction waste by 30% to 60%, labor costs by 50% to 80%, and construction time by 50% to 70%, which which would make construction cheaper, faster and more durable.
ICON's first 3D construction project was a collaboration with a New Story nonprofit in Mexico, to build a social housing community for people who had lost their homes in natural disasters.

ICON’s first 3D construction project was a collaboration with a New Story nonprofit in Mexico, to build a social housing community for people who had lost their homes in natural disasters. Credit: Joshua Perez / ICON

While the technology is widely used on bespoke projects at the moment, Ballard is hoping that the possibility of using “local rawer, more direct materials” could open up more opportunities for 3D construction – which may yet be. transformer for some of the 1.6 billion people. need suitable accommodation on Earth.

“It’s a bit of a funny thought,” he said, “but the answers to our problems on Earth may lie on the Moon or on Mars.”

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