Hedratecture in Severe Climates
There are still vast areas of the world that are almost untouched by human activity. There is need to make access to these regions with special new structures and there is also a need...
Inflation Concept Development for Inflatable Lunar Structures
Inflatable structures require mechanical equipment to initiate and maintain inflation. Several inflatable structural shapes and forms have been proposed by a number of different authors....
Lunar Habitats?Places for People
As part of President George Bush's Space Exploration Initiative, lunar bases or habitats are envisioned for long-term habitation by humans. This paper presents factors that should be considered...
Experimental, Physical and Numerical Modeling of Lunar Regolith and Lunar Regolith Structures
An extensive series of laboratory strength and deformation experiments have been performed on a lunar regloith simulant. Results of these experiments are compared to results from experiments...
The Design of a Permanent Lunar Research Station
The advancement of the United States efforts in space exploration and research requires the establishment of a permanent manned lunar research station. This paper explores the possible...
Evaluating Lunar Base Conceptual Designs
A large number of competing lunar base conceptual designs have been proposed in recent years. The range of assumptions and technologies used in these designs makes comparison difficult....
Lunar Base Requirements for Human Habitability
This paper presents some of the requirements for lunar surface habitation. Emphasis is placed on human factor and environment-behavior requirements that impact on habitability for medium-duration...
Applying Lessons from Extreme Environments to Solve Problems on Earth and in Space
Extreme environments on Earth and in space test human abilities to adapt, survive and undertake difficult and often dangerous tasks. Hardships and challenges posed by such environments...
Design and Technology Assessment of Three Lunar Habitat Concepts
Three manned lunar habitat concepts, designed to support a crew of four for 28-30 days, are presented. Two concepts are based on Space Station Freedom structural elements and the third...
The Feasbility of Using Solar Optics for Lunar Base Lighting
This paper is a summary of research conducted to establish the feasibility of using solar optics in reduced gravity environments, particularly a lunar base. The research was funded by...
Tensile-Integrity Structural Concepts for the Lunar Surface
This paper suggests the use of tension cable structures of a particular type, Tensegrity structures, for a lunar base. Tensegric shells can be a system of bars and cable net. The shell...
Tripod Crane Concept for Lunar Surface Construction
A construction scheme using three integrated cranes is proposed. Mikulas proposed a lunar crane concept which introduces a set of three cables in order to stabilize the payload. This paper...
Structural Characterization of an Articulated-Truss Joint
A first generation space crane articulated-truss joint was statically and dynamically characterized in a configuration which approximated an operational environment. The articulated-truss...
Cables and Cranes for a Flexible Lunar Transportation System
This paper will discuss the results of preliminary research on a cable-based transportation system for the moon. The paper will address the principles of cableway design and will present...
Analysis of Space Crane Articulated-Truss Joints
Three articulated-truss joint concepts for the space crane are studied to evaluate their static structural performance over a range of geometric design parameters. Emphasis is placed on...
Performance-Based Evaluation of Lunar Base Construction Equipment and Methods
Existing literature regarding the selection of lunar base construction equipment and methods is heavily dependent upon qualitative measures for evaluation of equipment concepts. Selection...
Enhancing Decision Analysis Techniques for Lunar Base Construction Research
The usefulness of decision analysis concepts applied to lunar base construction research has been demonstrated [Boles 1990]. During the referenced work the authors realized that further...
The Challenge of Constraining Mass for Planetary Construction
This paper discusses the issue of minimizing the mass required to be delivered from earth for planetary construction. New machinery, methods and concepts are discussed....
Directions for Lunar Construction: A Derivation of Requirements from a Construction Scenario Analysis
This paper provides an initial trade-off study among several lunar construction options available to the Space Exploration Initiative. The relative time effectiveness of Extra-Vehicular...
Constructing Radiation Shields with Textiles for Lunar Applications
The problem of radiation shielding on the lunar surface is significant. The mass required for adequate shielding is enormous and economics would dictate the use of lunar soil for this...
Return to search