Building out of this world
What they came up with: clamping components made from meteorite dust. A 4.5 trillion-year-old meteorite that crashed to earth in North Africa 20 years ago served as the basis for the prototypes. The fragments of the cosmic solid are pulverised and mixed with polylactic acids as well as regolith simulant, a terrestrial material that resembles the rock of the Earth's moon. Using 3D printing, a robust element is produced from this mixture that resembles a classic clamping brick in shape - the "ESA Space Bricks". These are now to provide inspiration for the design of launch platforms and shelters that astronauts could use in future for their research missions on the moon. "Our teams are working on the future of space travel and are inspired not only by what is above us, but also by what we can find on Earth. No one has ever built a structure on the moon, so we have to figure out how to build it and what to build it out of, as we can't take any materials with us. My team and I love creative building and we had the idea to explore whether space dust could be moulded into a brick similar to Lego bricks so we could test different building techniques. The result is amazing and although the bricks look a little rougher than usual, the clamping force still works, allowing us to playfully test our designs," says ESA Science Officer Aidan Cowley. The "ESA Space Bricks" will be on display in selected Lego stores and the Lego House in Billund, Denmark, until 20 September 2024.
The dream of bringing human life to the moon and Mars is a long-term ESA programme: Already more than ten years ago, Foster+Partners designed a lunar habitat in cooperation with the European Space Agency, which would be compactly transportable by rocket and would provide a closed ecosystem. The inflatable dome would be protected by layers of regolith, which would be applied on the moon using 3D printing. On the other hand, the architecture studio SOM, in cooperation with the ESA and lecturers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, focussed for their vision on inflatable living modules that would be assembled into a village on the moon. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is also researching the placement of a 3D printer on the moon and additionally exploring the characteristics of mycelia, which could grow along a scaffold even under the extreme conditions in space. In addition, an interdisciplinary team is currently testing living and working under Mars-like conditions in the 3D-printed training room "Mars Dune Alpha" at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston. The structure made of cement-based Lavacrete was developed in cooperation with the architecture firm BIG and the construction technology company ICON. (am)
