Moon exploration habitat using in-situ sulfur concrete

Concepts for space exploration habitats have been proposed since longtime before the dawn of the space age. Twenty years after the original manned Moon landing, a group of scientists and engineers at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) started to consider the return to the Moon for living purposes. Since 1986, several types of structures have been proposed for both Moon and Mars concept settlements. The possibility of utilizing unprocessed or minimally processed in-situ materials for these structures, as well as for shielding from the cosmic radiations, may be possible by adopting and extending terrestrial techniques developed for harsh environments. Therefore, this research leads to evaluate the structural performance of a possible Moon architecture layout thanks to the recent discoveries related to the possibility of using in-situ materials, such as the Moon regolith. In this paper, an architectural layout is proposed for a human habitat on Moon; specifically, shells structures are designed, making use of mixed and self-assembled regolith, thanks also to robotic fabrication processes (such as 3D printers).