Project Olympus: Off-World Additive Construction for Lunar Surface Infrastructure

Abstract

In Project Olympus, ICON and SEArch+ have developed design schematics for critical surface infrastructure necessary for a permanent lunar base. In 2020 ICON was awarded an SBIR contribution from Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to contribute to NASA Marshall�s Moon-to-Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technologies (MMPACT) initiative. ICON will first demonstrate additive manufacturing capabilities for horizontal structures such as roads and landing pads, followed by demonstrations of vertical structures, including unpressurized radiation shelters as well as habitats. In 2020, ICON employed SEArch+ to develop design schematics for mission-critical surface construction elements for a lunar settlement, including concepts for surface-site deployment, construction sequencing, and structural design. The design process was informed by discussions with key ICON engineers and NASA collaborators. The exchange not only ensured the constructibility of designs according to hardware and material processing limitations, but also enabled the architectural process to influence and shape hardware requirements as they were being defined. The ensuing habitat design, titled the �Lunar Lantern� for its double-protective outer shield structure, celebrates and promotes a design approach driven by human factors principles to ensure the safety and security of future crew. As a whole, Project Olympus envisions the construction of durable, self-maintaining, and resilient surface structures enabled by advanced 3D-printing technologies.

Description

Melodie Yashar, ICON Technology, Inc
Jason Ballard, ICON Technology Inc
Evan Jensen, ICON Technology Inc
Michael Morris, SEArch+
Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, SEArch+
Waleed Elshanshoury, SEArch+
Mahsa Esfandabadi, SEArch+
Vittorio Netti, SEArch+
Albert Rajkumar, SEArch+
David Gomez, SEArch+
Alexander Guzeev, SEArch+
ICES502: Space Architecture
The 50th International Conference on Environmental Systems was held virtually on 12 July 2021 through 14 July 2021.

Keywords

habitat, 3d-printing, construction, moon, lunar, additiveconstruction

Citation