Today it is the most realistic plan for the construction of the first Lunar base. It will be more effective and cheaper to implement than any of the existing alternatives, because it uses a three-dimensional printing for quick conversion of the lunar soil in the inhabited dwellings.





The structure of the lunar soil offers both radiation and thermal protection. And inside containment light inflatable dome will provide living environment for the first human settlers on the moon.

The European space Agency and architectural firm Foster+Partners currently working on technology that will allow to put this plan into reality. According to the head of the Department of human flight ESA Scott Hovland: "three-Dimensional printing potentially will organize a lunar settlement with very small logistical support from the Ground."

The logic of the project is that 90 percent of the materials required for the construction of the base, are already on the moon, we need only to bring back a print robots (you can see one of them on the below picture) and lightweight parts like inflatable domes, secure gateway, and segments of the entrance. All this makes the project much cheaper than any existing alternatives.

Xavier De Castella of the company "Foster+Partners" reports that their structural pechatalsya the robot has managed to build such a structure in extreme conditions on Earth, so he is willing to do the same work on the moon's surface.

The project team has developed a method of application of this technology in conditions of the moon, including "supporting United in the chain dome cellular walls to protect against micrometeroids and cosmic radiation, and inflatable sealed vault for astronauts. Used hollow cellular structure is reminiscent of a bird bones is a good combination of reliability and small weight." The company has created this Poltoratsky sample to show how to work this cellular wall:

This block is entirely built of simulation of the lunar soil and magnesia. In the process of making the soil turns into mush, which can be sprayed for the formation of blocks. Then the part is added cementing salt, which makes the material is as strong as stone."

According to the project team, printing machines now made two meters patterns per hour. And the next generation units will print with speed 3.5 meters per hour, which allows to finish the building in one week.

And if nothing can disturb such progress, manned base on the moon will appear already in the course of our lives.