Like the homesteaders, who settled the Great American Plains, settlers on the Moon and Mars may have to dig into the soil to build homes. But these homes will be as far from sod huts as the Space Shuttle is from the Conestoga wagon and scientists have an idea on how to build a better wagon, too.
Today, scientists from or affiliated with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center will discuss their approaches to building on the Moon or Mars, or just going out for a drive. They will present six papers at the Space '98 conference being held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers, NASA, and other organizations.
Building lunar and Martian bases from local or in situ (on-site) materials is a concept almost as old as space exploration. Over the years, though, scientists and engineers have refined their ideas of how to use materials and to work around the challenges of building a factory with a long supply line.
While the probably discovery of water on the lunar surface has stirred great excitement, lunar soil offers a broad range of materials for building - and for breathing.
Processing materials on the Moon and Mars will be a challenge because they have only 1/6 and 1/3 the gravity of Earth. This could change how metals fill molds and form the microstructures that determine how the finished product will behave.
Once you figure that out, though, one of the products you might want to make is glass fiber from which to weave a shelter or other structures. Some of the materials could be built into solar cells that power a moon base and could also be used on Mars or asteroids - if they have the right materials. Finally, some of the materials might be useful as radiation shielding, although it turns out that lighter is better.
Driving around on the surface of another world might deserve a different set of wheels by using a variation on an old English invention.