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Advanced Concepts for Isru-Based Additive Manufacturing of Planetary Habitats

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Advanced Concepts for Isru-Based Additive Manufacturing of Planetary Habitats ADVANCED CONCEPTS FOR ISRU-BASED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF PLANETARY HABITATS Belinda Rich* , Hanna Läkk* , Marlies Arnhof , Ina Cheibas Advanced Concepts Team, ESTEC, European Space Agency, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands *Corresponding authors: [email protected]; [email protected] KEYWORDS In the short term, such habitats are likely to be Class ISRU, additive manufacturing, in-space I, defined by NASA’s Habitats Development manufacturing, habitats Roadmap to be pre-integrated, hard-shell capsules delivered from Earth [3]. However, this short-term strategy is inefficient and a long-term sustained ABSTRACT extra-terrestrial presence will necessitate In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is a key enabler development of Class II (prefabricated and for the expansion of space activities beyond low assembled in-situ) and eventually Class III (fully Earth orbit. While early ISRU developments have derived in-situ) habitats. Class III habitats are focused primarily on mission consumables, the last particularly efficient in terms of reducing launch decade has seen an exponential increase in costs and exploiting the unique resources and research on ISRU for manufacturing. In particular, it manufacturing environment offered in space. has been shown that many resources available in Developing these technologies for use with in-situ space can be successfully utilised with various resources not only enables construction of habitats, Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. In the but also offers up greater potential for in-situ Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) at the European maintenance and expansion. Thus In-Situ Resource Space Agency, novel ideas are being studied in the Utilization (ISRU) is a key driver for sustained field of space architecture and infrastructure. This human presence on the Moon, Mars and beyond. paper give an overview of early concept feasibility studies conducted in the ACT, in conjunction with Current ISRU research is widespread, and focuses European research partners, related to in-situ on derivation of mission consumables, such as manufacturing of habitats using local resources and water, oxygen, energy, and propellant, as well as various automated manufacturing technologies. materials for manufacturing and infrastructure. The projects investigate growing biocomposite Research in ISRU for construction covers a number materials in space, AM of regolith-ceramic of architectural and materials engineering concepts. functionally graded materials, fabrication of fibre- From a resource standpoint, the primary material reinforced geopolymer for radiation protection available for ISRU is regolith, the loose layer of applications and basalt-fibre coreless winding unconsolidated granular material that covers the process of a shell structure. surface of a rocky planetary body such as the Moon or Mars. Lunar regolith characteristics have been determined from lunar samples retrieved by in 1. INTRODUCTION Apollo programme [4]; Martian regolith has been 1.1. The drive for in-situ resource utilisation characterized by Mars orbiter and surface missions [5] . While the mineralogical content of extra- The return of humankind to the Moon is imminent, terrestrial soils varies based on location, both lunar with multi-agency collaborations such as the Orion and Martian regoliths are globally abundant in spacecraft and the Lunar Gateway underway to silicates and metal oxides, which can be used in a increase lunar access, and NASA’s Artemis variety of manufacturing methods to produce useful program targeting the first woman and next man to in-situ products. land on the Moon by 2024 [1]. In parallel, ESA’s Moon Village proposal sets out to develop a 1.2. Current ISRU developments in additive permanent lunar settlement through international manufacturing and public-private partnership [2]. These programs can be considered as a stepping stone toward A range of techniques can be considered for space landing, for the first time, humans on Mars. In all habitat construction. However, developments in off- these cases, development and construction of Earth construction must consider the uniquely extra-terrestrial habitats is vital for mission success, hostile extra-terrestrial environments, which can be both in terms of human wellbeing and scientific characterised by: • capacity. Weak atmosphere or vacuum • Ionising radiation (including primary radiation from galactic cosmic radiation and solar particle production of fuel [27], [28]. ISRU for construction, events, and secondary radiation from energetic on the other hand, has far greater obstacles to particles interacting with matter) overcome before manufacture of Class III habitats • UV radiation and other infrastructure becomes a reality. It thus • Extreme temperature changes becomes relevant to identify advances in terrestrial • Partial gravity technologies that have the potential to inform and • Micrometeorites impact in-space manufacturing over the next • Regolith dust several decades. Habitats should withstand these conditions in the Recent studies conducted by ESA’s Advanced long term while also mitigating their effects on Concepts Team (ACT) have identified a number of scientific equipment and human inhabitants. ISRU future technology concepts which could be development should also consider the technology successfully applied to a lunar or Martian habitat. requirements for resource extraction, relocation, The ACT is a group of multi-disciplinary researchers processing, and storage, as well as the limitations focused on monitoring advances and performing presented by large-scale manufacturing in adverse novel research in a variety of space technology conditions. domains, including space architecture and infrastructure. These activities often draw on The unique set of challenges and opportunities innovations from outside the field of space research provided by the space environment necessitate, as to inform new approaches to future challenges. well as enable, development of novel architectural Many studies undertaken by the ACT are conducted techniques beyond those used routinely on Earth. through the Ariadna mechanism [29], a framework This has led to the emergence of Additive for collaborative investigation with centres of Manufacturing (AM) as a salient ISRU method. AM expertise outside ESA. The remainder of this paper offers benefits such as capacity for handling will provide a review of Ariadna studies undertaken complex geometries including convex, concave or in the ACT on the topic of space habitats, each of hollow cavity structures, and high suitability for which has been conducted on the level of concept automation and computer-aided design, which validation and demonstration, or Technology reduces the requirement for human intervention in Readiness Level (TRL) 1-2. Many of the studies the construction process and thus prevents discussed draw on approaches to ISRU unnecessary human exposure to the extra- construction that can be considered ‘advanced’: terrestrial environment. these include strategies for manufacturing composites through fibre-reinforcement or multi- Many advances in ISRU for construction propose material AM; autonomous robotic manufacturing; the AM of regolith as a minimally-processed and use of biologically-sourced materials such as feedstock. These include powder bed fusion urea and fungi-derived mycelium. techniques such as solar sintering [6]–[8], microwave sintering [9]–[12] and laser powder bed 2. MYCELIUM-BASED BIOCOMPOSITES fusion [13]–[16], which can manufacture with Mycelium is the term given to the interconnected regolith after a simple crushing/sieving step or even network of filaments, or hyphae, which make up the in the as-received state. Other AM techniques vegetative part of a fungal colony. The mycelium is require polymer or chemical additions to assist with responsible for absorbing nutrients from its the binding of AM material: these include photo- surroundings, and in many species of fungi it does polymerisation methods such as stereolithography so by the simultaneous degradation and infiltration [17] and digital light processing [18]; and extrusion of a nutrient-rich substrate, expanding its network of methods such as D-shape processing [19], hyphae as it does so. Such substrates are often geopolymer extrusion [20], [21] and contour crafting organic plant waste, for example wood sawdust, of sulphur concrete [22], [23] . Many studies also litterfall or straw. The mycelium network functions explore the potential for extracting silicon and as a binder, forming a compact biomass in metallic elements for more tailored and advanced combination with the substrate it grows in. This applications, with oxygen often being a useful by- principle can be applied in a controlled process of product. Possible techniques to refine regolith in this biocomposite manufacturing where different way include microbial extraction [24], fluorine combinations of substrates and fungi can be used processing [25] and molten salt electrolysis [26]. in a development of fungi-based materials with different material properties that are renewable, 1.3. The drive for future concepts research biodegradable, low mass and relatively cheap. While a broad range of ISRU technologies have already been demonstrated terrestrially, the first Pure mycelium materials can be fabricated by demonstration of ISRU in a lunar environment will letting the hyphae network fully consume the growth likely be focused on volatiles extraction and the substrate to produce rubber-, paper-,
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