Technical Issues for Lunar Base Structures |
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Authors: | Brent Sherwood Larry Toups |
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Affiliation: | 1Sr. Engr., Boeing Defense & Space Group, JW‐21, P.O. Box 240002, Huntsville, AL 35824‐6402 2Sr. Engr., Lockheed Engrg. & Sci. Co., P.O. Box 58561, CO3, Houston, TX, 77058
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Abstract: | The establishment of a permanent human presence on other planets will require establishing permanent infrastructure in new environments. Civil engineers select, define, and implement solutions to infrastructure design problems in unique environmental contexts. Wind and seismic loading are two examples of constraints long familiar to terrestrial civil engineering. Designing structures for lunar exploration, development and eventual settlement will make use of the same design processes already practiced by the civil engineering profession. However, the extensive experience base resulting from centuries of terrestrial work does not adequately prepare civil engineers for the unprecedented constraints and environmental conditions that are encountered in space. The limited knowledge we already have about the Moon (mostly from the Apollo program) is a place to start. By assimilating and working with this knowledge, those pursuing the design of lunar base structures can begin to produce realistic and valid design solutions. The paper presents technical, operations, and programmatic issues that the writers consider fundamental to understanding the facts of life in this promising new design arena. |
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Keywords: | Moon Construction Design criteria Architecture Facilities Space exploration Structural design |
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