When setting up a lunar station, technologies for the use of locally available materials are crucial. Such technologies drastically reduce the need for transportation from Earth. This project idea aims to provide proof of a key technology, namely Mobile – Selective Laser Melting (M-SLM) for building large structures on the Moon.

The objective of the project was to design, develop and test the compaction device breadboard in a regolith simulant testbed. An experimental test campaign aimed to verify that the compaction device can be successfully used to improve the surface geotechnical properties of two different regolith simulants: GreenSpar-250 analogous to lunar Highlands, and AGK-2010 analogous to lunar Mare regions.

In order to enable lunar exploration in a sustainable manner, it is necessary to develop technologies that allow the use of lunar resources in-situ. Additive manufacturing techniques are being studied for in-situ resources utilization on the Moon (e.g.: solar or laser sintering). The results of these studies, presented samples with low mechanical properties due to the formation of defects and cracks within the final product.

During the project activities, the authors proposed a conceptual framework, which utilizes resources available in situ through the chemical and physical processes associated with agriculture; the soil and CO2 (if present) are transformed into fibrous plant matter, harvested and finally converted into mechanical and structural components.