Category Archives: Moon Colonization

April 28, 2017 Science fiction has long painted space settlements as inevitable, and talk of Martian brick-building and life-supporting gardens makes it feel closer than ever. But some suggest a simpler path to long-term living in space: orbital habitats near Earth.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk placed colonization underserious consideration last fall at theInternational Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico,when he announced his intention to bring 1 million people to Mars. But while the presentation was heavy on rocket technicalities, it left out details ofhow colonists will survive, much less raise children in a high-radiation, low-gravity environment millions of miles away.

NASA contractor and colonization advocate Al Globus says theres a radically easier way:large, round habitats known as ONeill cylinders that orbit nearby, spinning at just the right speed to create the sensation of normal gravity inside.

Its tough to do things 50 million kilometers away, he says.

Nestled into the protective bubble of Earths magnetic field, such a colony could sidestep some of the biological challengesposed by Martian living to focus on the immediate technical problems of space construction and resource recycling. Plus, it would be close. Whether you need a new carbon dioxide scrubber or a quick escape, help would be hours, not months, away.

Indeed, we don't really know how livable we can make Mars. Musk, NASA headquarters, the movies, all assume that [living in] one-third gravity will be essentially the same as [living in Earth] gravity, says Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. But we have zero data to support that assumption. If it turns out that one-third gravity has the same physiological effects on humans as zero gravity, then Mars is not an option for long-term colonization in the way that Musk is thinking.

Advocates expect humans to adapt as they have in the past. President of the Mars Society Robert Zubrin compares settling Mars to settling the Earth's Northern Hemisphere: We evolved in Kenya. Winters would have killed an unshielded human in a single night.

Princeton physicist Gerard ONeill first crunched the numbers decades agofor the design that now bears his name,and found no theoretical obstacles to building miles-long habitats free from the punishing forces that batter Earthly structures.

Globus has updated that work with plans for a more modest starting point, a third-of-a-mile-wide cylinder in Equatorial Low Earth Orbit (ELEO), where he envisions it supporting hundreds to thousands of people in a relatively low-radiation environment with Earthlike pseudo-gravity.

The curved interior of Kalpana One, a roughly 800 by 1000 foot cylindrical space habitat that engineers calculate could support 3,000 people.

Bryan Versteeg/spacehabs.com

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Caption

But theres no such thing as a free lunch, especially in space. If concerns about gravity and radiation hinder a Mars colony, material scarcity threatens the creation of orbital settlements. A proper ONeill cylinder would need millions of tons of rock and metal.

Earth-launched materials could support early, smaller habitats, but more robust colonies would eventually require resources from the moon and nearby asteroids.

If you want to get less dependent on Earth then you have to develop a transportation system that can get lunar materials.... This is not an impossible task. This is merely difficult, Globus says with the characteristic optimism of a space engineer.

But schemes to mine and shuttle raw materials seem impracticable to many experts. Dr. Zubrin, for one, is skeptical. Its a lot easier to settle a planet than to build one, he says.

Globus counters that Mars is a big place, and no single site will offer all the necessary materials. Developing a transportation system on Mars is difficult too.... Its probably easier on Mars, but on the other hand its also 50 million kilometers away, he explains.

He cautions against what Dr. ONeill originally called the mental hangup of assuming that worlds are inherently easier to colonize than open space: You have to build all the same stuff on Mars that you have to build in orbit. You need pressure vessels, you need radiation shielding (which we actually dont need in ELEO), you need a power system, you need life support.

Either type of settlement would be highly dependent on Earth for decades to centuries, and, for Globus, the shipping costs alone justify starting closer to home.

Neither vision would come cheap.Space agencies will help, but some economic drive is necessary for sustained colonization, and experts have settled on two candidates: entrepreneurial settlers and rich tourists.

The Mars camp favors a pioneering model, much like how Americans spread west. I think that Mars is gonna be a great place to go, said Musk at Guadalajara. It will be the planet of opportunity.

Zubrin sees Mars in a similar light, a rich but harsh environment ill-suited for vacationing. Pioneering is for people with a stoic ethic who believe that happiness is a life where you can accomplish great deeds. It will be a real long time before space, even Earth orbit, is a place of safety and comfort.

He predicts a Mars colony would become "a pressure cooker for invention.

Globus, however, suggests that ticket sales could drive development. No one knows the size of the space-tourism market, but private individuals have paid tens of millions of dollars to visit the ISS, and more than 600 people have put down large deposits for spots on Virgin Galactics waiting list for five minutes in space.

The key to expanding that market, in Globuss opinion, would be habitats big enough to keep even pampered tourists happy.

"Most people dont want to live in what basically boils down to some huts connected by tunnels under [30 feet] of stuff [on Mars], he explains, adding that it would be easier to build large structures in orbit than on Mars.

Globus sees small-scale tourism as the path to large-scale colonies, starting with orbiting hotels much like the onesBigelow Aerospace is developing. A hotel is not a whole lot different from a settlement. It has to be pressurized. It might want to recycle its air. It might want to rotate, he says.

NASA's Dr. McKay points to Antarctica as precedent for tourists paying thousands to visit an inhospitable place: Their demand and resources enable an infrastructure that enables me to do research there. I love that model. I see that model as applicable to the moon, to space, and maybe even to Mars.

Floating cylinders and world-based colonies have at least one thing in common: Both seem highly implausible.

But big thinking demands strong justification.Musk frames the enterprise as a response to existential threats, but McKay questions the assertion that space colonies are the obvious first line of defense, mentioning arctic seed banks and massive underground bunkers as survival strategies that might take priority.

Globus finds the existential argument convincing, but offers a second motivation: a moral responsibility to spread life beyond Earth. No other species is even remotely in a position to settle space.... Its our duty.

Space settlements may be science fiction today, but lunar landers and flying cars once were, too. Classifying a concept as such neither assures its failure nor guarantees its promise. But for now, questions and dreams abound while firm answers are few.

Long term, we need to determine if [colonization is] possible, says McKay. Were assuming that its possible ... but I want to emphasize that we dont know that its possible.

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To colonize space, start closer to Earth - Christian Science Monitor

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Audi gave a sneak peek at the upcoming summer movie Alien: Covenant, which features the Audi Lunar Quattro, a futuristic rover deployed on a colonization mission with a bunch of clueless humans.

In the short clip, the Lunar Quattro patrols the colony spaceship Covenant for unseen dangers while also providing exploration and research support for the crew.

The scene opens with the little rover exploring an unidentified lifeform in the ships cargo bay and it ends with a glimpse of a drooling xenomorph hanging from the ceiling. It certainly cant end well for anyone on board.

Audis moon rover is more than just a movie prop, however. It was developed in a partnership with Part-Time Scientists, a Berlin-based startup, and will be deployed on an actual mission to the moon later this year.

The mission will be the first private venture to the moon and details are still being finalized. It will be just the second rover to land on the moon since the 70s, following Chinas Yutu rover. The Chinese rover landed in 2013, 40 years after the previous rover, the Soviet Lunokhod 2.

Audis moon rover features Quattro drive technology and an e-tron motor that is powered a lithium-ion battery with a solar panel. The Lunar Quattro is 85 percent aluminum, weighs 66 pounds, and was produced by a 3D metal printer at Audis headquarters in Ingolstadt.

No word on whether it comes equipped with lasers or other weapons that could be used for blasting aliens.

Alien: Covenant opens on May 19 in the U.S. The movies human stars include Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Michael Fassbender.

Its a sequel to director Ridley Scotts Prometheus, the 2012 prequel to 1979s Alien, and is the eighth film in the Alien franchise. Check out the full trailer below if you havent already.

Source: Audi

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Audi Lunar Quattro to be Featured in Alien: Covenant - Motor Trend

America may have been first to reach the moon, but Europe and China are gunning to be the first to build a moon base.

Both the Chinese and European space agencies confirmed this week that talks are underway with the goal of beginning collaborative efforts to construct a base on the moon. News of the talks was initially disseminated by Tian Yulong, secretary general of Chinas space agency, via Chinese state media. It was corroborated and confirmed on Wednesday in a conversation between Bloomberg and Pal Hvistendahl, a spokesman for ESA, the European Space Agency.

Hvistendahl placed an emphasis on the importance of cooperation between these two, and other entities if extensive space travel and colonization are to be made possible.

Space has changed since the space race of the 60s. We recognize that to explore space for peaceful purposes, we do international cooperation, Hvistendahl told Bloomberg.

The groundwork for that cooperation will be laid by Chinas Change-5 expedition, the countrys first unmanned sample retrieval missions, set to return from the moon in November.

An international analysis of Change-5s sample will be conducted, by both China and the ESA, upon the missions return. A small step, but an important one. Europe also wants to send an astronaut to the Chinese space station (China was previously excluded from the ISS by the United Statess military concerns).

Further details about a design or timeline for the international moon base were not given, although its not hard to speculate what they might look like, given that both entities have stated their intentions for such a base in the past.

Public European plans for a moon base date back as far as 2015, when the ESA set a 2040 construction deadline for a moon base. The idea was described by Johann-Dietrich Woerner, the ESAs director general, as a moon village, although he stressed that this didnt mean village in the traditional sense. Rather, it would be a fully-functioning colony.

In 2016, Woerner put forward the idea of 3D-printing the moon base out of moon dust. It might sound like science fiction has addled Woerners brain with that suggestion, but it might just plausible and it could provide a blueprint for development if initial China-ESA collaborations prove fruitful.

China and the ESA have expressed interest in a moon base as a jumping off point for mars and as a staging area for space mining, which could prove to be a highly lucrative business in the future.

Curiously left out of the talks was the United States. While President Donald Trump has noted the potential military application of space travel efforts, he has sent mixed messages as to how supportive he will be of such efforts.

On asteroid mining, for example his NASA budget doesnt paint a friendly picture. Its possible that China and the ESA dont see the United States as fertile ground for space travel anymore, which in turn has driven them to seek collaboration elsewhere. It could be that very perception that brought them together in the first place.

And on paper, it does seem like a good fit. The ESA gets access to Chinas burgeoning space program and brings to the table its own ambition and extensive planning. Time will tell if the cooperative efforts hold and grow, and how quickly we really do make it to living on the moon.

Read more:
Europe and China Are Working on a Moon Base - Inverse

NASA scientists designed an inflatable cylinder greenhouse that could help astronautsgrow food when arriving at other planets. Astronauts have successfully grown vegetables and plants aboard the International Space Station, but with the newest project, NASA expects to develop long-term methods to help sustain astronauts working in deep space.

The project is being developed by NASA scientists at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and researchers from the University of Arizona.

The Prototype Lunar/Mars Greenhouse aims to sustain vegetarian diets for astronauts on locations such as the moon or Mars.

The Prototype Lunar/Mars Greenhouse project will support current research in space to cultivate and grow vegetables for food, as well as growing plants to sustain life support systems.

Were working with a team of scientists, engineers and small businesses at the University of Arizona to develop a closed-loop system, said Dr. Ray Wheeler, lead scientists at Kennedy Advanced Life Support Research, according to NASA. The approach uses plants to scrub carbon dioxide, while providing food and oxygen.

The prototype consists of an inflatable, deployable greenhouse designed to support plant and crop production. Such production will support astronauts nutrition and will help with the air revitalization, waste recycling, and water recycling. The process is known as a bioregenerative life support system.

Wheeler explained that astronauts exhale carbon dioxide, which is introduced into the inflatable greenhouse, thus allowing the plants to generate oxygen through photosynthesis. The water cycle will start with water that is brought along to the landing site or found at the lunar or Martian terrain. The water is then oxygenated, packed with nutrient salts, and then it will continuously flow across the roots of the plants and returned to the storage system.

Tests conducted by the University of Arizona in Tucson have been assessing which plants or seeds should be taken along to make the Prototype Lunar Greenhouse work on either the moon or Mars. These tests are crucial, as it is important to learn which resources will be needed to take along on the mission and which resources can be found on location. Such practice is called in-situ resource utilization, and NASA conducts to better prepare for long distance missions.

NASA engineers and scientists are currently developing systems to harness resources like water, which should be available in some regions of the Martian or lunar surface, to support long-lasting missions.

Were mimicking what the plants would have if they were on Earth and make use of these processes for life support, explained Dr. Gene Giacomelli, director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at the University of Arizona. The entire system of the lunar greenhouse does represent, in a small way, the biological systems that are here on Earth.

Giacomelli, whos also a professor in the University of Arizonas Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department, noted that the next step of the project is to use additional lunar greenhouse units designed for testing to make sure the system being developed will be able to support a crew of astronauts working on lunar or Martian surfaces. Giacomelli added that they will also develop computer models to simulate the work theyre doing, to automatically control the environment and provide a stable level of oxygen.

According to a statement from the University of Arizona, the Prototype Lunar Greenhouse (LGH) is hoped to help fulfill the late Ralph Stecklers dream of space colonization. They note that the LGH aims to deliver more than sustained human presence in space, as the LGH also aspires to bring efficient commercial-ready technology to Earth.

Dr. Roberto Furfaro is the lead investigator from the University of Arizona for the current phase of the project. Furfaro is a professor in the Systems and Industrial Engineering Department within the College of Engineering. The prototypes of the lunar greenhouse currently being developed are cylindrical, measuring 18 feet long and more than 8 feet in diameter. The prototypes were built by Sadler Machine Company, one of the project partners.

To guard the greenhouse against space radiation, the units would likely be buried under surface soil or regolith, which is why theyd require specialized lighting.

Weve been successful in using electric LED (light emitting diode) lighting to grow plants, noted Wheeler. We also have tested hybrids using both natural and artificial lighting.

Scientists believe solar light could be captured with light concentrators that are designed to track the sun and then convey the light to the chamber employing fiber optic bundles. Although studies in working on the surface of other planets are being carried on Earth, astronauts aboard the space station have been gaining experience growing crops in space. The first project of this kind was NASAs Veggie Plant Growth System.

Wheeler notes that its interesting to consider that astronauts would be taking our terrestrial companions with them into space, using the greenhouse. He explains that although there are already ways to engineer around the problem in terms of stowage and resupply, it wouldnt be as sustainable and the greenhouse provides an autonomous approach to long-term exploration in the moon or Mars.

Source: NASA

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NASA develops inflatable greenhouse to grow crops on the moon and Mars - Pulse Headlines

Interplanetary travel. Celestial colonies. Life on Mars. Dont worry, this isnt the opening to a science-fiction novel all of this is possible. All of this is happening. Ellen Nugent finds out more.

ON July 21st, 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the moon. NASAs Mars Exploration Rovers landed on the Red Planet in January, 2004. These are merely two examples of such expeditions, feats of scientific and intrepid brilliance, but they are simply not enough for humankind. Dissatisfied with our brief visits and voyages, the distant idea of colonizing new planets is swiftly becoming a reality.

Currently, there are no known planets within our solar system capable of supporting human life, but that hasnt stopped scientists from planning ahead for when we do find such planets. Mars, Venus and our moon have been investigated as potential hosts for human civilization, but low atmospheric oxygen and lack of facilities to support growth have not endeared these planets to potential homeowners.

Asteroids often contain valuable minerals which would allow the growth of food, and artificial gravity could be established in the colonies

Techniques to extract oxygen from carbon-dioxide-rich environments, such as the atmosphere on Mars, could be used to aid in the development of extraterrestrial colonies, but this carbon dioxide is limited. Scientists have also considered terraforming planets giant mirrors would be used to initiate global warming on the desired planet, eventually creating another planet capable of supporting human life. The cost of these procedures is, however, astronomical. There are also issues with the long-term effects of gravity on human development, and exposure to extraterrestrial radiation en route to these proposed settlements.

Scientists are also investigating planets outside our solar system for future colonization. The dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 is located 39 light years away from Earth. (369,000 trillion miles!). Seven Earth-like planets were recently discovered orbiting the star, three of which are hypothetically habitable by humans. The planets also have their disadvantages, however the nearby proximity of the planets to the dwarf star heavily influences day and year length a year on each of the Trappist System planets lasts several days. The distance from the Trappist System to our solar system also hinders colonization of these planets we would require 39 years to reach the system with our current light-speed technologies.

It has also been suggested that asteroids are inhabitable colonies would be drilled into the surface of the asteroid, and a population of asteroids and interlinking space transports would be capable of supporting large human populations. Asteroids often contain valuable minerals which would allow the growth of food, and artificial gravity could be established in the colonies, due to the constant rotation of the Earth.

How would humans live on these planets? Would we build biospheres, creating micro-atmospheres? Would we spend our lives as nomads, passing from spaceship to spaceship?

There are, of course, questions that remain unanswered. Methods of reaching these planets are still debated with our current space travel technology, humans will only reach these planets in a generation ship (a ship in which descendants of the original crew will reach the planet), or in an induced hibernation state. How would humans live on these planets? Would we build biospheres, creating micro-atmospheres? Would we spend our lives as nomads, passing from spaceship to spaceship? What are the ethical concerns of sending a population that exploited and stripped their own planet in search of new worlds?

At this time, we have no answers for these questions space colonisation is still heavily debated, and we are unlikely to see progress until all issues have been addressed. It is clear, however, that space colonization is becoming steadily more attractive. Earths resources are steadily running dry humans will enter a time of crisis in the near future. Research into extraterrestrial settlements is a priority. The colonisation of other planets would reduce the stresses of overpopulation and human action on Earth, and would also protect the human race in the case of a worldwide disaster.

No matter if an asteroid strike occurred, or if Yellowstone got bored and erupted for a change of pace humankind would be safe, with populations sequestered on their planetary settlements, or making their way to distant stars.

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McCormick Prof. Ramille Shah.

Source: Ramille Shah

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McCormick Prof. Ramille Shah.

Catherine Kim, Assistant Campus Editor April 23, 2017

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McCormick Prof. Ramille Shah has developed a 3D-printing method using simulants of lunar and martian dust, which could be used for planet colonization.

Shah said she has been working with her Tissue Engineering and Additive Manufacturing Laboratory to develop a 3D-painting process using materials that can easily be found on planets and moons in preparation for planet colonization. For more than five years, the lab has been developing 3D-printing technology that allows it to print a variety of different types of materials with one 3D printer, Shah said. In the past, lab members have printed using biomaterials, graphene and metals, she said. They decided to test using lunar and martian dust simulants based on the senior thesis project of alumna Katie Koube (McCormick 14), Shah said.

In order to colonize or inhabit extraterrestrial places like the moon or Mars, people will need to be able to use the very limited resources that are available, she said. This 3D-printing ink technology and process allows the creation of functional objects from the dust found on the surface of these extraterrestrial bodies.

Products of 3D inks made out of lunar or martian dust simulants are flexible, almost reminiscent of tires, Shah said. She said it is fascinating to see how bouncy the products are, despite their high particle loading.

The flexibility can be adjusted through methods such as heating, which will center the particles together and create more ceramic-like materials, Shah said. McCormick Prof. David Dunand said he is collaborating with Shah to fire the products to give them hard, ceramic-like properties, which can be used for building materials.

The technology developed for heating the products is based on the expected habitat, which is Mars or the moon, where most people would be working indoors. Dunand said he and Shah are currently looking into ways to use minimal energy to heat the products while dust can be easily collected, energy comes at a much higher price in space, he said. They are currently researching ways of heating the products in air and in hydrogen, Dunand said.

You dont want to be wasteful, like we are here on Earth , he said. (In space) every bit matters because ultimately theres a lot of dust, but youre limited in energy. When you fire bricks, it takes a lot of energy do that.

Fourth-year graduate student Shannon Taylor, who works in Shahs lab, said research for planet colonization is necessary because having a plan will be crucial in assuring its success when the time comes.

Were not there yet, but at the point we get there we cant send people without all of this in place, Taylor said. We have to know exactly what were doing because its super expensive and ultimately human lives are at risk.

Shah said the potential of the 3D-printing methods developed by her lab goes beyond creating products for just planet colonization. Her lab has managed to mix different types of inks together to create multi-functional objects that can be used on Earth as well, such as material that can be both electrically conducting and bone-regenerating, she said.

It starts to really expand what we can do as far as materials development and discovering materials that have very new properties, she said.

Allyson Chiu contributed reporting.

Email: [emailprotected] Twitter: @ck_525

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McCormick professor creates 3D-printing materials using martian, lunar dust simulants - Daily Northwestern

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation better known as SpaceX was founded just 15 years ago by Elon Musk, the world famous entrepreneur and genius behind other notable ventures such as Tesla Motors, Solar City and others. The aerospace manufacturer and space transport company was started with modest goals such as reducing space transportation cost and enabling the colonization of Mars.

SpaceX has developed the Falcon launch vehicle family and the Dragon spacecraft family. Using these vehicles SpaceX has achieved things which just twenty years ago most people would not have thought possible for a private company. The Falcon launch vehicles are propelled by Merlin rocket engines which is a family of engines developed by SpaceX. The Merlin engine uses RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator cycle.

RP-1 which is also known either as Rocket Propellant-1, or Refined Petroleum-1, is a form of highly refined kerosene which bears a strong similarity to jet fuel. RP-1 has a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen but is cheaper to produce, far more stable at room temperature, and far denser which makes it significantly more powerful by volume than liquid hydrogen. RP-1 is most commonly burned using liquid oxygen as an oxidizer.

RP-1 was first formulated by rocket designers in the mid-1950s as a replacement for the alcohol based fuels which were previously the most commonly used liquid rocket fuels. Since its advent by fuel chemists it has been the primary fuel used for rocket propulsion by the United States. The lack of light hydrocarbons in RP-1 give it a very high flash point and make it less of a fire hazard than common gasoline, many forms of diesel fuel, or even some jet fuels. Rocket-grade kerosene gases made by Russia and previously by the Soviet Union are very similar in structure and are commonly designated T-1 and RG-1.

Liquid oxygen was first produced in 1883 and must be kept extremely cold and has a freezing point of -361.82 F and a boiling point of -297.33 F. The extreme temperatures which it must be kept at causes materials it comes in contact with to become extremely brittle. It acts as an extremely powerful oxidizing agent when brought in contact with organic matter and is commonly used as rocket fuel because it creates a very high specific impulse.

The Merlin engine was originally designed by SpaceX for sea recovery and reuse. The injector at the center the Merlin is a pintle type which was first used during the Apollo program. The original version of the Merlin was the Merlin 1A which was used twice in 2006 and 2007 on a Falcon 1 first stage. The Merlin 1B was an upgraded version of the Merlin 1A, but was discarded by SpaceX due to its experience from the Falcon 1.

The Merlin 1C was used from 2008-2012 on the Falcon 1 and the Falcon 9 before being dropped in favor of the Merlin 1D. The Merlin 1D was used on its first flight in 2013 and is the current model in production for SpaceX. It is able to produce more than twice the thrust of the Merlin 1A at sea level. SpaceX indicates that it needs to produce hundreds of engines per year in order to support its current rocket production plans.

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Powering the Future: A Look at the Engines and Fuel that Drives SpaceX Vehicles - Breaking Energy

A new technique could allow the first humans on Mars to 3D print everything from tools to temporary housing out of a tough rubber-like material using only Martian dust.

The method could enable the first humans who set foot on the Red Planet to print the tools and housing they need to survive without having to lug all the supplies aboard their spaceship.

"For places like other planets and moons, where resources are limited, people would need to use what is available on that planet in order to live," Ramille Shah, a materials scientist at Northwestern University in Illinois, said in a statement . "Our 3D paints really open up the ability to print different functional or structural objects to make habitats beyond Earth." [Sending Humans to Mars: 8 Steps to Red Planet Colonization]

Any trip to Mars would require spaceships big enough to carry much more fuel and supplies than past spacecraft could, but care packages from Mother Earth won't be enough for humans to make it on an alien planet. Almost all schemes for colonizing the Red Planet (or for colonizing the moon) require that at least some of the supplies for the expeditions come from the local environment.

One step toward that goal would be to develop a supertool that could be used to quickly manufacture any other desired tool or object, using local resources. To that end, Shah and her colleagues wanted to see what could be made with some of the most abundant material on Mars and the moon: dust. The researchers used simulated dusts based on real lunar and Martian samples. The synthetic dust contains mixtures of aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide, iron oxide and other compounds. The hard particles simulating the lunar surface often have jagged, sharp edges, while Martian simulated dust is made up of rounder, less irregular particles, according to the researchers.

The team developed a process that combines simulated lunar and Martian dust with solvents and a biopolymer to create these extraterrestrial inks. The inks were then 3D printed into different shapes using an extruder. In the end, the objects which were composed of about 90 percent dust were tough and flexible, and could withstand the rolling, cutting and folding needed to print almost any 3D shape, Shah and her colleagues reported online March 20 in the journal Scientific Reports .

"We even 3D-printed interlocking bricks, similar to Legos , that can be used as building blocks," Shah said.

While rubbery materials could have their uses, as a next step, Shah and her colleague David Dunand, a materials scientist at Northwestern University, are now trying to figure out ways to heat these rubbery polymers so they harden like ceramics.

Originally published on Live Science.

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The first Mars colony could be 3D printed from Red Planet dust - Fox News

Its been bad news for the funding of many federal agencies since Donald Trump took office, but one of the bright spots in the gray new Washington cloud settled overhead is that NASAs budget escaped comparably intact, suffering only cuts to climate change research. As David Axe reported for Motherboard, Where Trump wants to reduce the EPAs funding by a third, effectively gutting the agency, he's proposing a mere $200 million reduction to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's current $19.3 billion budget.

A new report points that the Trump administration is leaving NASA intact because it believes it has significant potential to make money.

Thanks to internal communications between NASA and Trumps space transition team... we have some clues as to why Trump seems determined to keep the space agency mostly intact, writes Axe. The administration seems to be very interested in NASA's moneymaking potential.

As far as the Trump Administration is concerned, the money-making value of NASA seems to be tied up in two prominent segments of research and activity: tech development and the moon.

It appears NASA saved their funding by effectively convincing the Trump administration that it was on their side by suggesting that the efforts eventually make it to market, for other sectors to benefit from their work. In a transition memo(scroll down), NASA explains that their funding is split between in-house research efforts and contracting, which private innovation proponents are likely to be happy to hear. NASA further says that once technology reaches maturity, it is often shared with the public. From the memo:

NASA pursues technology development to support both the national innovation system (industry, academia, other government agencies, and the general public) and specific NASA mission requirements As STMD research and technology (R&T) efforts mature, appropriate technologies are transferred to industry and commercialized through multiple programs and approaches to benefit a wide range of users ensuring the nation realizes the full economic value and societal benefit of these innovations.

NASA further clarified that they spread this research "to the broader aerospace community, while protecting our industry partners proprietary interests." In other words, they seek to release everything they can to the public that wont harm a private sector partners proprietary interests.

And while NASA cautions the administration that their primary purpose is academic, they do hint that in the pursuit of the academics, theres something financial to be gained.

Significant portions of the document were dedicated to outlining how and where research was progressing on finding resources on the that would be collectable and, potentially, sustain human life either for the purpose of a mining outpost or maybe colonization one day.

But whether any of that collection could one day make money is an international law question. To extract valuable resources from the Moon for commercial purposes would seem to at least bump up against the 1967 Outer Space Treaty signed by the United States, Russia (then USSR), and 90 other countries, Motherboard explains. The document states: "The exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind."

So perhaps those moon mining dreams are dead in the water, as the president would never want to violate international law for profit.

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Apparently the Trump Administration Is Interested in Monetizing the Moon - Men's Journal

A new method has used simulated Martian and lunar dust to 3D print flexible, tough rubber tools like these.

Amanda Morris

A new technique could allow the first humans on Mars to 3D print everything from tools to temporary housing out of a tough rubber-like material using only Martian dust.

The method could enable the first humans who set foot on the Red Planet to print the tools and housing they need to survive without having to lug all the supplies aboard their spaceship.

For places like other planets and moons, where resources are limited, people would need to use what is available on that planet in order to live, Ramille Shah, a materials scientist at Northwestern University in Illinois,said in a statement. Our 3D paints really open up the ability to print different functional or structural objects to make habitats beyond Earth. [Sending Humans to Mars: 8 Steps to Red Planet Colonization]

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Any trip to Mars would requirespaceshipsbig enough to carry much more fuel and supplies than past spacecraft could, but care packages from Mother Earth wont be enough for humans to make it on an alien planet. Almost all schemes for colonizing the Red Planet (or for colonizing the moon) require that at least some of the supplies for the expeditions come from the local environment.

One step toward that goal would be to develop a super tool that could be used to quickly manufacture any other desired tool or object, using local resources. To that end, Shah and her colleagues wanted to see what could be made with some of the most abundant material on Mars and the moon: dust. The researchers used simulated dusts based on real lunar and Martian samples. The synthetic dust contains mixtures of aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide, iron oxide and other compounds. The hard particles simulating the lunar surface often have jagged, sharp edges, while Martian simulated dust is made up of rounder, less irregular particles, according to the researchers.

The team developed a process that combines simulated lunar andMartian dustwith solvents and a biopolymer to create these extraterrestrial inks. The inks were then 3D printed into different shapes using an extruder. In the end, the objects which were composed of about 90 percent dust were tough and flexible, and could withstand the rolling, cutting and folding needed to print almost any 3D shape, Shah and her colleagues reported online March 20 in the journalScientific Reports.

We even 3D-printed interlocking bricks,similar to Legos, that can be used as building blocks, Shah said.

While rubbery materials could have their uses, as a next step, Shah and her colleague David Dunand, a materials scientist at Northwestern University, are now trying to figure out ways to heat these rubbery polymers so they harden like ceramics.

Originally published onLive Science.

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