1 Foster + Partners The Design of a Lunar Outpost Research & Development Specialist Modelling Group 2015 ‘The Design of a Lunar Outpost’ Xavier De Kestelier (Foster + Partners, UK), Enrico Dini (Monolite Ltd., UK), Giovanni Cesaretti (Alta, SpA, Italy), Valentina Colla (SSSC_PERCO, Italy), Laurent Pambaguian (ESA, ESTEC, The Netherlands) The research can broadly be divided into two main aspects. The first is mainly related to the technical feasibility of 3D printing with moon dust (or its scientific name: regolith) in a lunar environment. The chemical and physical characteristics of lunar regolith and terrestrial regolith simulant will be examined and assessed to see if it is a viable construction material for large-scale 3D printing. The second aspect of the research, and also the focus of this paper, looks at how printed structures could be used as shielding and how this could be integrated within the overall design of a lunar outpost. A permanent base on the moon would require constructions to house and shelter astronauts and all their equipment, as well as provisions from the harsh lunar conditions. The moon is by far one of the most extreme environmental conditions one could imagine. Astronauts would have to be protected from extreme temperature differences, meteorite impacts, radiation and space vacuum. In 2009 the European Space Agency awarded a General Study Programme contract entitled ‘3D printing building blocks for lunar habitation’ to an industrial consortium comprised of Foster + Partners, Alta SpA, Monolite Ltd, and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. The main objective of the study was to investigate whether 3D printing of moon dust is a viable construction technology for possible future lunar colonisation. Each of the companies within the consortium brought their unique expertise and specialism. The research was led by Alta Spa, a space engineering company. Foster + Partners provided the overall design concepts, computational modelling and visualisations. The Perceptual Robotics laboratory (PERCRO) of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna provided the know-how for control systems and robotics and Monolite UK delivered the printing technology. Ever since the Apollo missions in the late sixties, the idea of colonising the moon, or at least having a permanent base on the moon, has been the focus of many research projects. Most of these focus on very particular technical aspects of lunar colonisation and habitation. 1 This project does this to a certain extent, although it also tries to bring a more holistic approach to the design of a lunar base. Lunar Outpost Design 3D printing regolith as a construction technique for environmental shielding on the moon