NASA has signed a $57.2 million contract with Texan 3D printing startup ICON to build space-based structure systems on the Moon’s surface.Project Olympus
Future astronauts will one day live and work on the Moon. NASA spent $57.2 million on Texas-based company ICON for Project Olympus, which is working to develop technology that will allow humanity to build bases on the Moon and Mars using local resources.
Structures will be printed in 3D
NASA plans to build the infrastructure that will allow the crew to survive and sustain themselves in a sustainable way. In order for astronauts to grow their own food, communicate with Earth and explore the depths of the Solar system, they will need to build their own vehicles using the Moon’s resources. ICON will make a device that can 3D print large-scale structures such as landing platforms, protective shields, roads on the Moon.
It will be the first build in another World
Jason Ballard, co-founder and CEO of ICON, said: “To change the paradigm of space exploration from round trip to stay there, we will need robust, flexible and broadly capable systems that can tap into the local resources of the Moon and other planetary bodies. As a result of this contract, it will be humanity’s first construction on another Earth, and it will be a very special achievement.” made the statement.
How will the tests take place?
For products printed by Olympus to be durable, they must be unaffected by extreme temperatures and protected against radiation and collisions with micrometeroids. ICON plans to test its hardware and software with a lunar gravity simulation flight. It will also experiment with lunar regolith samples brought back from previous Apollo missions.
3D-printed Martian habitat being tested
3D printed Martian habitat will be tested before Olympus. ICON 3D-printed Mars Dune Alpha, a 700-square-foot simulated Martian habitat, will be used during NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Analog mission next year. While astronauts stay on Earth at the Space Center, they will live inside Mars Dune Alpha and perform mock spacewalks that mimic working conditions on Mars.
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