The last time someone set foot on the moon was in 1972. Now, the moon is back on NASA’s space agenda. This time the agency visit isn’t just a visit – he thinks of stopping.
BIG’s vision for Project Olympus includes donut-shaped buildings that can be built entirely with a 3D printer from IC. Deposit: Burke Ingles Group / ICON
The initiative is named Project Olympus after the largest known volcano in the solar system – aptly represented by the team’s challenge of mountain size. But Ballard isn’t just shooting for the moon. By creating a lunar habitat, they hope to make the earth cleaner, faster and even cheaper to build.
Project Olympus
ICON has been using 3D printing technology since 2018 to create social housing in Mexico and Texas. Using a concrete-based mix called Lovecrete, its Vulcan printer can print around 500-square feet in 24 hours.
But the moon is “a radically different world,” says Ballard. From Earth it looks like a quiet, smooth, silver orbit but it is subject to frequent strikes by high radiation, violent moonshine, extreme temperature changes and micrometrics that break down in its thin atmosphere.
And turning the moon dust into building materials is another huge challenge. The team is experimenting with small samples of lunar dust in the lab – working on how to change its position with microwaves, lasers and infrared light, says Ballard.
The research area of ICO’s proposed lunar structure is illuminated by smart lights that simulate day and night on Earth to help astronauts maintain a normal sleep-cycle. Deposit: Burke Ingles Group / ICON
ICON worked with two architectural companies, Burke Engels Group (BIG) and Space Exploration Architecture (SEAR +), to explore the possibilities of 3D printing technology.
The team studied habitats in extreme environments, including the McMurdo Station and the International Space Station in Antarctica, and used their findings to create a range of lunar design concepts, Ballard says.
BIG founder Bazark Ingles says that architects need to know how to create an environment that is safe, as well as comfortable.
The SEArch + proposal gives the Earth’s core a tall, multi-story structure with protective 3D printed petals, while BIG has designed a circular structure that can be printed entirely on the moon.
Engels says – BIG’s design includes a visible membrane that cushions the bedroom walls – “a good insulator against radiation”, which will give astronauts extra protection when they fall asleep.
Radiation means that the windows must be kept to a minimum, so Engels carefully chose the sole location of the building – which always faces the earth.
SEArch + envisioned a base that would allow astronauts to come and go frequently from the surface, ”says Rebecca Piles-Friedman, co-founder with Landing Pads, Roads, Sheds and Accommodation. Deposit: SEArch + / ICON
The “double shell” structure and outer mesh work, which is filled with loose lunar dust, provide extra protection from radiation and meteors, Ingles says.
In addition to living and working spaces for astronauts, the lunar base will need to include landing pads, roads and storage sheds. Ingles says human presence in space has so far been “dominated by engineering”. Working with multiple industries, he hopes the first permanent creation on the moon could be “ambitious” in design as well as in engineering marvel.
The entrance to the galaxy
Icon ON’s 3D-printer, Vulcan, draws one outline of the building at a time. It can print up to 500 square feet in 24 hours. Deposit: Icon
However, its goal is a permanent basis, one of which is the technique of finding and testing the moon in greater depth for human survival in space. NASA wants to build facilities to house four astronauts for a month, Scaley says. That is Mars – and therefore an essential first step forward.
Scaley says it has not yet been determined whether the lunar habitation will be built using 3D printing, but “NASA could provide additional funding to the ICO” and give the company a chance to test its technology on the lunar surface.
Using lunar tech on Earth
Ballard is also optimistic about the technological earthbound potential. He believes that the findings of Project Olympus could help solve the global housing crisis.
ICN’s first 3D construction project in Mexico, in collaboration with the for-profit New Story, created a social housing community for people who lost their homes in natural disasters. Deposit: Joshua Perez / ICON
“It’s a funny idea,” he says, “but it turns out that the answers to our problems on Earth are on the moon or Mars.”
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