Foster + Partners Unveil Plans for 3D-Printed Moon Base!

<a href="http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/387/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Foster + Partners</a> just announced plans to partner with the European Space Agency on an ambitious project to <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/3d-printer/">3D print</a> structures on <a href="http://inhabitat.com/japanese-corporation-plans-to-turn-the-moon-into-a-massive-solar-power-plant/" target="_blank">the moon</a>! The project will be a lunar house for four people that can withstand the threat of meteorites, gamma radiation and temperature fluctuations. Since transporting <a href="http://inhabitat.com/foster-partners-space-port-america-blasts-off/" target="_blank">building materials to space</a> is a challenge, the team is considering using on-site 3D printing as a solution.

<a href="http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/387/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Foster + Partners</a>' moon base is a landmark for the field of 3D printing that could pave the way to lunar colonization in the future.

Part of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/massive-lunar-solar-power-tower-beams-energy-to-earth/" target="_blank">lunar base</a> could be transported by rocket in a tubular module that also serves as the protected entrance to the base.

The tube entrance leads into an inflatable dome that serves as a support structure and defines the shape of the base.

Inside, a 3D printer operated by a robot would print a protective shell of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regolith">regolith</a> layer by layer over the inflatable dome.

The structure designed by Foster + Partners is being tested with <a href="http://inhabitat.com/researchers-3d-print-moon-rocks-for-use-as-lunar-building-material/" target="_blank">simulated lunar soil</a> at a smaller scale in a vacuum chamber, which is similar to the non-atmospheric lunar conditions.

If the project is given a green light, the lunar accommodations will be based at the moon’s south pole, which receives non-stop daylight.