Images: Foster and Partners.
The aspiration to 3d print buildings has been with us for a few years now, but
Foster + Partners, working with the European Space Agency, are planning to print a moon base with the technology.
The idea is that an inflatable dome will be landed on the moon in a tubular rocket module. Once the dome is inflated it becomes the support structure over which a protective structure would be printed from
Regolith, a material readily found on the moon. The rocket module would remain as the entrance to the base.
Foster + Partners have designed the structure working with Italian space engineering firm Alta SpA, and Monolite for the 3D printer. Research support is being provided by Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna University.
Experiments are under way at a smaller scale in a vacuum chamber using simulated lunar soil. If successful, the plan is to build the base at the lunar south pole where it will enjoy continuous daylight.
Gratitude to
inhabitat.
