NASA and AI Space Factory developed LINA (Lunar Infrastructure Asset), an in-situ 3D-printed outpost to protect astronauts and critical missions on the Moon. The project is part of the Relevant Environment Additive Construction Technology (REACT), a multi-year collaboration to develop technologies for lunar surface constructions within the timeframe of the Artemis Mission: humankind’s return to the Moon. LINA is a step in the effort to expand civilization to Earth’s natural satellite and explore it in a sustainable way that minimizes human disturbance.
LINA is extensible from a single structure to a cluster of units, becoming a more significant and systemic lunar outpost. With an occupiable floor area of 75 square meters (each unit) and a central staging area of 90 square meters, is expected to host the astronauts sent to the Moon within the next decade. It is designed with a life expectancy of at least 50 years and will protect astronauts against hazards such as solar particle events, moonquakes, impacts, and cryogenic conditions experienced during the lunar night.
The structure is sited in the Lunar South Pole, described as “The Peak of Eternal Light.” There, the sun is nearly omnipresent, ideal for solar power generation, and the permanently shadowed low-lying regions believed to contain water that might support water harvesting operations. The structure incorporates three separate units that share a communal courtyard and integrates a photovoltaic tree to directly capture and harvest solar energy. The orientation of LINA provides self-shading, thereby leveraging topographical features in the lunar landscape to shield it from lethal solar and cosmic radiation.
The Lunar Infrastructure Asset is designed to be 3D printed with a high-performance mixture of native lunar regolith and Earth-sourced polymer. Unlike conventional 3D layers parallel to the ground, LINA is 3D printed at a 60-degree angle to construct the vaulted roof. The result is a lightweight, optimized ultra-thin shell designed to support a 2.7-meter thick regolith overburden to protect against radiation and the extreme lunar environment.
Thomas Lipscomb, a materials engineer at NASA, is working on a vacuum chamber for testing 3D printing inside a vacuum chamber (GMRO) that mimics environmental conditions on the Moon). The testing is part of the Relevant Environment Additive Construction Technology (REACT) project, which derives from NASA’s 2020 Announcement of a partnership with AI SpaceFactory – an architectural and construction technology company and winner of NASA’s 3D Printed Habitat Challenge –.
The Lunar Infrastructure Asset represents an unprecedented moment in the revival of space exploration. Along with LINA, NASA is working on MARSHA, an innovative 3D printed Mars habitat in collaboration with AI Space Factory. Using “Martian polymer,” the prototype was one of five finalists in an international competition to design and build a habitat for a crew of four astronauts on a mission to Mars.
Other proposals have come from BIG in partnership with ICON and SEArch+ (Space Exploration Architecture) to support future exploration of the Moon. Moreover, in 2017 The government of the United Arab Emirates announced the launch of the Mars Science City project, a $140 Million USD (AED 500 million) research city that will serve as a “viable and realistic model” for the simulation of human occupation of the Martian landscape.
