Looking Ahead: Science fiction movies, television shows, and literature have often portrayed scenarios of human habitation on the moon.

While this may seem like a distant dream for most, NASA is actively working on plans to establish 3D-printed lunar residences that will be inhabited by both astronauts and civilians by the year 2040.

According to a New York Times report featuring insights from seven NASA scientists, all of them expressed confidence that the space agency’s ambitious goal of having lunar structures in place by 2040 is attainable, provided that they continue to meet their development milestones.

“We’re at a pivotal moment, and in some ways it feels like a dream sequence. In other ways, it feels like it was inevitable that we would get here,” said Niki Werkheiser, NASA’s director of technology maturation.

The strategy encompasses dispatching a 3D printer to construct the lunar structures using lunar concrete derived from rock chips, mineral fragments, and surface dust found on the moon’s upper layer.

In collaboration with ICON, a construction company based in Austin, Texas, NASA is working on this endeavor.

ICON employs a 3D printer to construct homes and has already successfully built hundreds of structures using this approach for homeless individuals in Austin and hurricane-resistant houses in Mexico.

Remarkably, the printer can complete the construction of homes in as little as 48 hours.

Written by staff