Construction Technology Firm Icon to Design 3D Printed Edifices for the Moon
In this article, readers will discover breathtaking details regarding the development of the lunar infrastructure via 3D technology by an extremely talented tandem of reputable manufacturers. We will share with you the following:
· Who and why have decided upon such a solution;
· Phases and several exciting features of the future lunar infrastructure.
In case you are intrigued by the topic and desire to get more, go on reading!
Yearly, mankind moves step-by-step to the Moon colonization . Much has already been achieved in this direction (one lunar tunnel is worth considering!). This time, the firm Icon has taken the responsibility to cope with the challenge of designing 3D printed moon infrastructure. How are they doing that? Have they involved reputable partners or outsource 3D modeling services for support? Let’s discover it further!
Designing Lunar Infrastructure
Recently, construction enterprise Icon (located in Texas) has signed up an agreement with NASA regarding financial support to conduct research and create the infrastructure system via 3D printing that could assist in the future moon exploration process. The contract was signed up in the framework of the Project Olympus initiative. The last will consider Icon to develop reliable lunar edifices that can be constructed with nanomaterials that are appropriate for use on the Moon’s surface.
Additionally, Icon has involved two construction companies in providing engineering services for the solution: SEArch+ from New York City and BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, located in Denmark. Icon has developed a new department to deal with designing and testing prototype components for a space-based platform via 3D printing technology.
Regarding the target of the solution, Icon and NASA want to deliver a more significant presence on the Moon. Implementing the project will enable mankind to become an integral part of lunar civilization.
According to Jason Ballard, CEO of Icon, the project to build lunar homes for humanity is considered the most grandiose construction solution in history. It will encourage architecture, engineering, and science to manifest them in conquering greater heights. Icon is honored to start the research on the project with NASA’s support because they believe that NASA’s contribution like this in the industry will not only encourage people’s future in space but also cope with challenges they meet on Earth.
It should be mentioned that the lunar environment is more dangerous and stressful than even the most radical construction facility on our planet. The problems they will face while constructing edifices on the Moon involve the following:
· Super high-temperature options (500 degrees);
· electrically loaded super abrasive fug;
· massive craters (three hundred four meters in depth);
· extreme radiation.
The most important challenge refers to the fact that the Moon is four hundred two thousand kilometers away from our planet.
About 3D Printing Technology by Icon
In their construction activity, Icon implements their patented 3D printing-based software, advanced building materials, and robotics that allow creating the most impressive edifices worldwide. Icon has already won a nice reputation (and up to thirty-seven million US dollars) with the help of their extra businesses, such as PERI and Mighty Buildings.
Establishing close partner relations with the non-profit firm New Story, the manufacturer strived to apply their solutions for charity, i.e. to construct homes via 3D printing for those in need. So, this year, Icon built printed homes for families that live below the poverty line in Mexico.
Currently, having signed up the contract called “Small Business Innovation Research” with NASA, the manufacturer will receive extra financial support to optimize their technologies for implementation on the Moon as well.
Icon’s 3D Printer for Project Olympus
Within the Artemis project (all the details are found here ), by 2024, the NASA team is planning to launch astronauts to the Moon. To hasten this event, the engineering team has already implemented 3D printing technology to create components for the rocket propulsion system and the lunar lander for the future lunar launch.
For the latest initiative called project Olympus, NASA, together with Icon, wants to develop a printing methodology for creating lunar structures and a site for exploration on the Moon. The reason why NASA asked Icon, SEArch+, and BIG for support is that these manufacturers have already proved their expertise in providing excellent radiation, micrometeorite, and thermal protection solutions. The last is required to organize a permanent presence on the Moon.
Via uniting their best practices in aerospace and construction, the manufacturers are trying to create an innovative construction method with a 3D printer for exclusively lunar use.
Regarding Icon’s contribution to Project Olympus, their engineering team, in collaboration with Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville (Alabama), will design and test lunar soil analogue implementing a range of 3D modeling approaches.
To design a space 3D printing device, Icon intends to use the technique represented in 2018 during the engineering event organized by NASA and called 3D Printed Habitat Challenge. The manufacturer has already given the name to their printer as “ Olympus Construction System .”
According to Martin Voelkle, CEO of BIG, with the help of the Icon’s engineering support, they will design the first fixed lunar installation impervious to the unfriendly lunar environment where the delivery of transportation and other vehicles demand careful elaboration.
The manufacturers have already tested a range of construction methods perfect for restraining atmospheric pressure and protecting from solar and cosmic emissions.
They will develop the surroundings with partial redundancy. They require the last to construct extraterrestrial edifices. Additionally, they will implement a revolutionary robotic system that performs construction work based on a non-waste production approach. What is even more exciting regarding the 3D building process specifics, the technology allows reducing the carbon emission of the construction environment (hello, sustainability tendency!) that is ideal not only for building on the planet Earth but in outer space.
