The American Space Agency has commissioned the construction of houses on the Moon for 60 million dollars by 2040. The moon is a magnet that never stops attracting us. One of the keys to space exploration is that human beings are capable of living outside planet Earth, basically in different colonies that can be created in places like the Moon or Mars. Thanks to recent discoveries in space both on the red planet and on Earth’s satellite, NASA has decided to bet on new space homes. Everything seems to indicate that space travel will not only be for tourists, it will also be transportation to get to a house on the Moon, why? NASA has trusted ICON, an Austin-based company, to use its 3D printing experience on Earth to build houses on the Moon.
NASA wants to build houses on the Moon by 2040
For these colonies to be possible, technology must be transferred from Earth to the Moon or Mars, technology that is capable of building, for example, hotels or homes for scientists or even for normal citizens, that is why NASA has trusted ICON. The folks at ICON have been building 3D homes since 2018, and their printer is capable of building these properties in just 48 hours. To do this, ICON will have to create a structure that is capable of protecting guests from temperature, radiation, and micrometeorites. If this is achieved, the houses on the Moon can not only be used by astronauts but also ordinary citizens by 2040.
Intermediate goals will bring houses on the Moon
Some members of the scientific community believe that the deadlines set by NASA are too ambitious, particularly since they have not yet managed to land on the Moon again. However, seven NASA scientists interviewed for this article indicated that the goal of having lunar structures by 2040 is viable if the agency continues to meet its intermediate goals. However, they ensure that in order to produce these houses, not only the radioactive dust of the moon must be considered, but also the climatic situations and the comforts of the trip, as well as with the astronauts.
Any equipment intended to be sent to the Moon must be tested on Earth to verify that it withstands the environment, so Marshall also has more than 10 test chambers in which it subjects different objects to the same radiation and thermal vacuum conditions as They must resist outside of Earth. In February 2024, ICON’s printer will be introduced into the largest chamber for its first test for the Moon houses.
This story was written in Spanish by Perla Vallejo in Ecoosfera
