Large Scale Lunar Colony

Viral Structures initiative for Establishing Large Scale Colony on the Moon Figure 1

Overview

The focus of this design studio is to allow architecture students to make valuable viral* contributions to the conceptual design for Establishing a Large Scale Colony Infrastructure on the Moon. The designs will primarily focus on the master plan of a colony for 10,000 inhabitants. The aboveground colony will have an infrastructural underground area and will be protected by an all-encompassing dome. The Project has three Primary Considerations including: The actual trajectory issues (how to get materials to the moon), Chemical Processing (how to make materials on the moon) and Space Manufacturing (how to fabricate and assemble/construct things on the moon).
The central issues explored in this studio will be on Space Manufacturing which is carried out by small modular robotics at a variety of scales. Such systems will demonstrate value for three primary reasons: 1)The required quantity of structural material resources is far in excess of what can be sensibly be launched from the Earth. 2) The required civil and structural engineering tasks dictate machinery requirements far in excess of what can be sensibly launched from Earth. and 3) the requirement of fabricating the components and building and maintaining the facilities. Issues of embedded computational control structures, communication and kinetic engineering are therefore paramount. The environment on the moon will be seriously considered including: gravity, pressure, radiation, and the mass balance of resources and waste required for sustaining human life at such a scale.
We will also explore and demonstrate efficient urban planning which includes human and environmental interaction, sociology and psychology and medical care. Students will work in teams of two to produce complete colony designs including the detailed development and a construction/ fabrication concept for one of the buildings. Students will develop scaled prototypes of the system that can successfully demonstrate the robotic aspects of the project. Physical models will demonstrate actual robotics, structure and materials. We are honored to have several valuable experts assisting as contributors to this studio.
Contributors Include: David Nixon, Partner, Altus Associates architects, Founder and Chairman, Astrocourier (Ireland) Ltd
A.Scott Howe, Ph.D., Senior Systems Engineer, Jet Propulsion Lab (NASA / Caltech) Mission Systems Concepts
Phyllis Nelson, Ph.D., Professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona

*This Design Studio is based on “Viral Structures” which is an initiative proposed by Edward D. McCullough, Principal Scientist at The Boeing Company, for gathering conceptual contributors to Establishing Large Scale Colony Infrastructure On The Moon
http://www.robotecture.com/lunarcolony/readings/