Can the first lunar habitat be 3D printed with lunar dust?

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Written by By Rebecca Cairns

The last time anyone set foot on the moon was in 1972. Now the moon is back on NASA’s space agenda. This time the agency is not just visiting, it plans to stay.

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

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

The initiative is called Project Olympus, after the largest known volcano in the solar system, reflecting the challenge of a mountain the size of the team. But Ballard doesn’t just shoot for the moon. By designing a lunar habitat, he hopes to make construction on Earth cleaner, faster and cheaper.

Project Olympus

ICON has been using 3D printing technology to build social housing in Mexico and Texas since 2018. Using a concrete-based mixture called lavacrete, the 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 serene, smooth silver sphere, but it is subject to high levels of radiation, violent moonquakes, extreme temperature swings and frequent attacks from micrometeorites breaking through its thin atmosphere, he says.

And converting moon dust into building material is another big challenge. The team is experimenting with small samples of lunar dust in a lab and trying to figure out how to change the condition with microwaves, lasers and infrared light while using “little to no additives,” says Ballard.

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

ICON partnered 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 Antarctica’s McMurdo Station and the International Space Station, and used their findings to create a range of lunar design concepts, Ballard says.

The architects had to think about how to create an environment that is both safe and comfortable to live in, says BIG founder Bjarke Ingels.

SEArch + ‘proposal features a long multi-storey structure with protective 3D printed petals shielding 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 visible membrane of water that lines the bedroom walls – “a good insulator against radiation,” says Ingels – that will provide extra protection for astronauts while they sleep.

The radiation means that windows should be kept to a minimum, so Ingels carefully chose the location of the only building – which is always facing the earth.

SEArch + envisioned a base “where astronauts can often come and go from the surface,” with landing pads, roads, sheds and habitats, says co-founder Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman. Credit: SEARCH + / ICON

A “double shell” construction and external latticework, which can be packed with loose moon dust, provide additional protection from radiation and meteorites, says Ingels.

In addition to living and working spaces for astronauts, the lunar base should contain landing pads, roads and storage sheds. The human presence in space has so far been “dominated by technology,” says Ingels. With multiple industries working together, he hopes the first permanent structure on the moon can be ‘ambitious’ in terms of both design and engineering marvel.

A gateway to the galaxy

NASA began exploring 3D printing as a potential space construction technology with the launch of the 3D-Printed Habitat Competition in 2015. Both SEArch + and ICON took part in the initiative, with SEArch + taking first place for the design of the Mars X House.
With the Artemis missions starting next year, NASA’s first step towards a lunar habitat is the “Gateway,” a space station in the orbit of the moon, spokesman Clare Skelly said. Astronauts will live and work on the Gateway and commute to the Moon, staying in their landers for up to a week.
ICON's 3D printer, Vulcan, draws the outline of the building layer by layer. It can print up to 500 square feet in 24 hours.

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

However, the goal 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 up to 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 could grant additional funding to ICON” and give the company the opportunity to test its technology on the lunar surface.

With moon technology on Earth

Ballard is also optimistic about the technology’s earth-bound potential. He believes Project Olympus’s findings could help solve 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 evaluation notes that it could reduce construction waste by 30% to 60%, labor costs by 50% to 80% and construction time by 50% to 70%, making construction cheaper, faster and more sustainable.
ICON's first 3D construction project was a partnership with the non-profit New Story in Mexico to build a social housing community for people who had lost their homes due to natural disasters.

ICON’s first 3D construction project was a partnership with the non-profit New Story in Mexico to build a social housing community for people who have lost their homes due to natural disasters. Credit: Joshua Perez / ICON

While much of the technology is currently used for custom projects, Ballard hopes the opportunity to use “raw, more direct, local materials” could open up more opportunities for 3D construction – some of the 1.6 billion people could still be transformative. need adequate housing on Earth.

“It’s quite a funny thought,” he says, “but it may turn out that the answers to our problems on Earth lie on the Moon or Mars.”

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