Fashion bureau will help NASA build habitats on the moon
NASA continues to embrace ancient Greek mythology for lunar return projects. Recently it became known that the project of creating human habitats on the moon was named Olympus (“Olympus”). Today, NASA and three private companies are involved in the Olympus project, one of which is the fashionable architectural bureau Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). The community expects to master robotic 3D printing of buildings on the Moon from local materials.
Choosing robotic 3D printing for home construction on Earth’s natural satellite seems like a smart decision. Moreover, it is planned to use local materials for the structures, because it would be beyond the bounds to carry bricks to the moon. At the current level of development of science and technology, it seems quite likely that it is, in principle, possible to create a 3D printer to work in the conditions of the moon. But everything will start with trials on Earth.
According to a press release from the Bjarke Ingels Group, together with researchers from the NASA Space Center. Marshall, 3D-printing specialist Icon and Search + on Earth will create and test technologies for the automatic construction of habitats from materials that simulate the lunar . If we remember correctly, similar projects using clay have already been carried out, but have not yet gone beyond the Earth.
According to BIG, “the implementation of the Olympus project will be the first human invasion of the field of creating alien structures with durable structures that provide better thermal, radiation and micrometeorite protection than metal or inflatable dwellings can offer . “
Judging by the conceptual images, future human habitats on the Moon will be erected in the form of tori (bagels), which will simplify the design of 3D printers without losing the strength of structures.
