Photograph: ICONĮxperiments with melting regolith in vacuum chambers make up the bulk of Icon’s moon habitat construction research today. Designs commissioned by Icon and created by the Bjarke Ingels group envision a collection of torus, doughnut-shaped structures with hard outer shells that could protect a four-person crew from meteorites, moonquakes, radiation, and rapid temperature swings.Ī rendering of a moon base concept by Icon Technology and the Bjarke Ingels group, shown in an overhead view. As part of that effort, the company commissioned a study of what a moon base built in the next 10 years could look like. Icon also has a $57.2 million NASA contract to research lunar construction research and development. “Building humanity’s first home on another planet will be one of the most ambitious construction projects in human history and will push technology, engineering, science, and architecture to new heights,” Ballard told WIRED by email. The current roof design rises up to meet in the middle of the structure like two waves meeting in the ocean. Icon printed the roof panels separately, then added them to the top of the structure. The original design called for tilted semicircles, but the design had to be updated in order to meet the building code for the hangar in Houston. Mars Dune Alpha is also the first structure built by Icon with a 3D printed roof. They start by outlining the footprint of the structure, adding layers and building upward like a coiled clay pot. Their process uses a giant printer arm with a nozzle that extrudes a steady supply of lavacrete. The structure took one month to 3D print, he says. (They call their building material “lavacrete.”) The most important part to NASA officials, says CEO Jason Ballard, was getting the Martian soil’s color match right, to accurately mimic what it would be like to live on the Red Planet. During the Apollo missions, regolith damaged space suits, and inhaling dust caused astronauts to experience hay-fever-like symptoms.Ĭonstructing Mars Dune Alpha, the test habitat in Texas, had an even bigger X factor: The human race has never brought a sample of Martian soil back to Earth, so Icon had to simulate the material, based on predictions of what it is made out of-such as that it’s rich in basalt. Abrasive moon dust can clog machinery joints and bring hardware to a screeching halt. ![]() Gravity is much weaker, there’s a chance of moonquakes that can create vibrations for up to 45 minutes, and temperatures at the south pole can get as high as 130 degrees Fahrenheit in sunlight and as low as –400 degrees at night. There are other X factors to account for when building on the moon-and a lot can go wrong. To keep astronauts out of harm’s way, Edmunson says the goal is to make construction as autonomous as possible, but she adds, “I can’t rule out the use of humans to maintain and repair our full-scale equipment in the future.” How to assemble finished pieces is still being decided. The material can then be printed into desired shapes. Then it must cool to allow gasses to escape failure to do so can leave the material riddled with holes like a sponge. The first step toward 3D printing on the moon will involve using lasers or microwaves to melt regolith, says MMPACT team lead Jennifer Edmunson. ![]() Subsequent missions will focus on using semiautonomous excavators and other machines to build living quarters, roads, greenhouses, power plants, and blast shields that will surround rocket launch pads. For that mission, a robotic arm with an excavator, which will be attached to the side of a lunar lander, will sort and stack regolith, says principal investigator Corky Clinton. ![]() The team’s first off-planet project is tentatively scheduled for late 2027.
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