Structures for Manned Habitation

A lunar base is an essential part of all the new space exploration programs because the Moon is the most logical first destination in space. Its hazardous environment will pose challenges for all engineering disciplines involved. A structural engineer’s approach is outlined in this paper, discussing possible materials and structural concepts for second-generation construction on the Moon. Several different concepts are evaluated and the most reasonable is chosen for a detailed design. During the design process, different solutions, for example for the connections, were found. Although lunar construction is difficult, the proposed design offers a relatively simple structural frame for erection. A habitat on the Moon can be built with a reasonable factor of safety and existing technology. Even so, we recognize the very significant difficulties that await our return to the Moon. This paper and presentation is based on the works by Ruess (2004), and Ruess, Schanzlin, and Benaroya (in press). Key structural concepts A lunar base will go through evolutionary development, starting with limited capacity and expanding over time. Lunar development will stage in three main phases. In each of these phases, a different generation of habitats will necessarily evolve (Benaroya 2002, Happel 1993, Cohen 2002). They may be categorized in general as: 1. prefabricated and pre-outfitted hard shell modules 2. assembly of components fabricated on Earth with some assembly required 3. large-scale building structures comprised substantially of indigenous materials. Since first generation concepts are already well understood and third generation facilities are still far off, highly complex, and can only be based on many assumptions and uncertainties, this work focuses on second generation mainly prefabricated lunar bases. Second generation lunar habitats can be further divided into