“We talk about having a sustained human presence and a robust lunar economy,” said Corky Clinton, senior adviser at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center Science and Technology Office. Those are the words that encapsulate a dream once the sole domain of science fiction but now rapidly becoming a concrete reality. While the world looks to establish a presence beyond the planet, the question of how to build infrastructure on other planets has been the biggest query. The answer is found in a surprising but revolutionary technology: 3D printing.
This additive process, where layers of material are employed to build objects from computer models, has already demonstrated its capability on our planet. From airplane components to entire houses, 3D printing is transforming the way sectors manufacture. Private industry and space agencies are now seizing this technology and applying it to address the specific challenges of space construction. NASA’s Moon-to-Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technologies (MMPACT) program is taking the lead, considering employing regolith the powder and rock that covers the moon and Mars to fabricate materials to construct landing pads, habitats, and roads.
Logistics for transporting building material from Earth to space are daunting. NASA estimates it costs around $500,000 to send one pound of material to the moon. This economic limitation necessitates the application of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) of resources available on site to enable space travel to be sustainable. Regolith, which is abundant on the moon and on Mars, is under study as a major source of fuel for 3D printing. But transforming this extraterrestrial soil into a viable building material is easier said than done. Scientists are experimenting with ways like sintering, heating to join particles with each other with no use of binders, and melting regolith into rivers of melted lava to flow structures that are durable.
NASA collaborated with companies like ICON, a Texas-based construction tech company, to engineer these methods. ICON’s Vulcan 3D-printing technology employs a unique, concrete-like material that it developed as Lavacrete, and its terrestrial experience has shaped its strategy for extraterrestrial construction. “From the very founding of ICON, we’ve been thinking about off-world construction. It’s a surprisingly natural progression if you are asking about the ways additive construction and 3D printing can create a better future for humanity. I am confident that learning to build on other worlds will also provide the necessary breakthroughs to solve housing challenges we face on this world. These are mutually reinforcing endeavors. Sometimes, for the biggest problems, it becomes necessary to look up at the sky and not only down at our feet. It would be hard to overstate how difficult this will be, but the ICON team is up for the journey and delighted to undertake this monumental task with NASA, BIG and SEArch+,” said Jason Ballard, ICON’s CEO. The company has already developed Mars Dune Alpha, a 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed habitat designed to simulate yearlong missions to the Martian surface. This model is a prototype to technology that would be sent subsequently to Mars.
Aside from the technical issues, the environment on the moon and Mars provides an additional level of complexity. Lunar regolith is finer and more angular, while Martian regolith contains iron oxide, which gives it a reddish hue. All these require specialized processing and printing techniques. Apart from that, material response to cooling and solidification is affected by the lower gravity of such a body. Engineers are working on developing 3D printers for use in such an environment so that buildings will be capable of resisting temperatures, radiation, and micrometeorite strikes.
Applications for the application of 3D printing in space reach far beyond habitat. NASA also views using this technology to construct landing pads, blast shields, and roads. The space agency’s Artemis mission to send humans back to the moon in 2027 could witness the first demonstrations of such capabilities. “This demonstration would encompass fabricating a few test pieces and a representative element of a future landing pad,” MMPACT project manager Jennifer Edmunson said. Landmarks like those would pave the way for future more massive missions, like laboratories, mines, and resort hotels on the Moon’s surface.
In a remarkable paradox, space technology is also returning full circle to offer useful applications back on Earth. 3D printed homes using local material and construction building wastes are assisting in covering housing deficits in various areas. The ability of the technology to reduce waste and energy consumption also enhances global sustainability goals.
A timeline for constructing permanent human settlements on the moon and on Mars is unknown, but the foundation is being established. NASA’s research pursuits, in conjunction with studies and research collaboration among academia, industry, and government, are driving the wave. The Centennial Challenges program at the agency, like the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, have innovated beyond what has been seen before by going outside the mainstream of conventional resources such as academicians, researchers, and industries. In addition to promoting technology, they are also causing public excitement towards space exploration.
While human eyes look up into the night sky, 3D printing is a keystone of our space future. Its ability to adapt to extraterrestrial environments, be locally resource based, and create sustainable structures makes it an essential technology for long-term colonization of space. On Mars or on the moon, the initial dwellings built in the cosmos will likely be the result of this new technology. The vision of dwelling among the stars is closer to reality now than ever before, and 3D printing is helping to bring it about.
