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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
ICON’s next generation Vulcan construction system 3D printing a simulated Mars habitat for NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) missions.ICON One of the keys to a sustainable human presence on distant worlds is using local, or in-situ, resources which includes building materials for infrastructure such as habitats, radiation shielding, roads, and rocket launch and landing pads. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate is leveraging its portfolio of programs and industry opportunities to develop in-situ, resource capabilities to help future Moon and Mars explorers build what they need. These technologies have made exciting progress for space applications as well as some impacts right here on Earth.
The Moon to Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology (MMPACT) project, funded by NASA’s Game Changing Development program and managed at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is exploring applications of large-scale, robotic 3D printing technology for construction on other planets. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but demonstrations using simulated lunar and Martian surface material, known as regolith, show the concept could become reality.
Lunar 3D printing prototype.Contour Crafting With its partners in industry and academic institutions, MMPACT is developing processing technologies for lunar and Martian construction materials. The binders for these materials, including water, could be extracted from the local regolith to reduce launch mass. The regolith itself is used as the aggregate, or granular material, for these concretes. NASA has evaluated these materials for decades, initially working with large-scale 3D printing pioneer, Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis, a professor of civil, environmental and astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Khoshnevis developed techniques for large-scale extraterrestrial 3D printing under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. One of these processes is Contour Crafting, in which molten regolith and a binding agent are extruded from a nozzle to create infrastructure layer by layer. The process can be used to autonomously build monolithic structures like radiation shielding and rocket landing pads.
Continuing to work with the NIAC program, Khoshnevis also developed a 3D printing method called selective separation sintering, in which heat and pressure are applied to layers of powder to produce metallic, ceramic, or composite objects which could produce small-scale, more-precise hardware. This energy-efficient technique can be used on planetary surfaces as well as in microgravity environments like space stations to produce items including interlocking tiles and replacement parts.
While NASA’s efforts are ultimately aimed at developing technologies capable of building a sustainable human presence on other worlds, Khoshnevis is also setting his sights closer to home. He has created a company called Contour Crafting Corporation that will use 3D printing techniques advanced with NIAC funding to fabricate housing and other infrastructure here on Earth.
Another one of NASA’s partners in additive manufacturing, ICON of Austin, Texas, is doing the same, using 3D printing techniques for home construction on Earth, with robotics, software, and advanced material.
Construction is complete on a 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot habitat that will simulate the challenges of a mission to Mars at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The habitat will be home to four intrepid crew members for a one-year Crew Health and Performance Analog, or CHAPEA, mission. The first of three missions begins in the summer of 2023. The ICON company was among the participants in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, which aimed to advance the technology needed to build housing in extraterrestrial environments. In 2021, ICON used its large-scale 3D printing system to build a 1,700 square-foot simulated Martian habitat that includes crew quarters, workstations and common lounge and food preparation areas. This habitat prototype, called Mars Dune Alpha, is part of NASA’s ongoing Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, a series of Mars surface mission simulations scheduled through 2026 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
With support from NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program, ICON is also developing an Olympus construction system, which is designed to use local resources on the Moon and Mars as building materials.
The ICON company uses a robotic 3D printing technique called Laser Vitreous Multi-material Transformation, in which high-powered lasers melt local surface materials, or regolith, that then solidify to form strong, ceramic-like structures. Regolith can similarly be transformed to create infrastructure capable of withstanding environmental hazards like corrosive lunar dust, as well as radiation and temperature extremes.
The company is also characterizing the gravity-dependent properties of simulated lunar regolith in an experiment called Duneflow, which flew aboard a Blue Origin reusable suborbital rocket system through NASA’s Flight Opportunities program in February 2025. During that flight test, the vehicle simulated lunar gravity for approximately two minutes, enabling ICON and researchers from NASA to compare the behavior of simulant against real regolith obtained from the Moon during an Apollo mission.
Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/space-technology-mission-directorate/
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By Space Force
U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman emphasized the critical role of partnerships and the growing strategic importance of space during his remarks at the 2nd International AeroSpace Power Conference in Rome.
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By Space Force
U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman and Italian Air Force Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Luca Goretti signed a statement of understanding.
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By NASA
NASA and the Sam Houston Area Council (SHAC) of Scouting America signed a collaborative Space Act Agreement on December 17, 2024, expanding youth access to programs and opportunities with the Johnson Space Center’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) in Houston.
The agreement forges the first formal partnership between NASA OSTEM and Scouting America. It will leverage NASA’s educational outreach programs to enrich scout activities and experiences while providing the agency with new opportunities to engage youth around its mission, vision, and goals.
NASA Acting Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche (left), at the time serving as director of Johnson Space Center, and Sam Houston Area Council of Scouting America Executive Officer Marvin Smith sign a Space Act Agreement on Dec. 17, 2024. NASA/James Blair “Our ability to explore the unknown and innovate for the benefit of all humanity depends on a highly skilled and competitive STEM workforce,” said NASA Acting Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche. “Together with SHAC, we can inspire future generations of explorers, scientists, and engineers to help us take the next giant leap toward exciting discoveries.”
The agreement has already enabled NASA and SHAC to collaborate on a new space-focused summer experience at Camp Strake, the council’s premier camping facility in Southeast Texas. During the weeklong program, scouts will participate in hands-on STEM activities created in partnership with NASA, tour Johnson Space Center, attend robotics and space exploration workshops, and get an in-depth look at NASA’s current projects. SHAC serves approximately 25,000 youth in 16 counties in Southeast Texas.
Wyche and Johnson leadership presented Smith and members of local scout troops with an American flag that flew aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. NASA/James Blair “NASA and SHAC share common goals of growing youth interest in science, technology, engineering, and math careers, and providing access to programs and experiences that prepare them to enter the STEM workforce,” said Gamaliel Cherry, director of Johnson’s Office of STEM Engagement. “We are excited to connect more students to NASA’s mission, work, and people through this partnership.”
NASA OSTEM provides opportunities for the next generation of explorers to discover and hone the science, technology, engineering, and math skills needed for the agency’s bold exploration plans.
For the latest NASA STEM events, news, and activities for students at any grade level, visit:
https://stem.nasa.gov
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