NASA aims to take astronauts back to the Moon in the Artemis Mission, but it is just the first step in a more ambitious plan. Which is it? Build houses on the natural satellite.
By the year 2040, the US aerospace agency aims to have with places for astronauts to stay on the Moon.
Niki Werkheiser, director of technological maturation at NASA, He recently told The New York Times. “We are at a crucial moment and in some ways it feels like a dream sequence. In other ways, it seems inevitable that we will get here.”
How will NASA to have houses on the Moon?
There is a plan called Olympus Project. According to this, the Texan company ICON will make available its experience building 3D printed houses.
With your printer, ICON will build structures, layer by layer of additives, based on specialized lunar concrete. The company plans to use dust, rocks and mineral fragments from the surface of the Moon to make this concrete.
ICON will test its printer in February 2024, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The purpose is to evaluate how it works in vacuum conditions and radiation levels in space.
The architecture studio Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) works hand in hand with ICON for the construction. Its founder, Bjarke Ingels, He spoke about the topic with the UBM Development portal.
“We have explored various forms of construction ideal for containing atmospheric pressure and optimized to protect against cosmic and solar radiation,” said Ingels.
For ICON co-founder Jason Ballard, “building humanity’s first home on another world will be the most ambitious project in history. “It will take science, engineering, technology and architecture to literally new heights.”