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posted by CoolHand on Tuesday April 14 2015, @02:38AM   Printer-friendly
from the outta-this-world dept.

One major issue faced in the quest to colonize other heavenly bodies is how to get all the raw materials transported in a financially feasible manner.

Trove reports a possible solution using 3-D printers to build materials required using native reources as ink:

That might be all they need if a plan by Niki Werkheiser and her engineering team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center works out. They are experimenting with a 3-D printer that would make bricks suitable for airtight buildings and radiation-proof shelters using the grit that blows across Mars’s red surface. In Huntsville, Ala., Ms. Werkheiser, NASA’s 3-D print project manager, is starting to print curved walls and other structures using imitation Martian sand as an ink. Engineers at the European Space Agency are exploring ways to use lunar dust as an ink to print out an entire moon base. London-based architects Foster + Partners have designed a printable lunar colony.

It would make sense for colonization to send automated or remote-controlled fabrication units ahead to prepare a settlement for human habitation, but does that sensible step endanger the science due to the risks of contamination?

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2015, @03:50AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2015, @03:50AM (#170200)

    Lockheed Martin small fusion reactor.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Tuesday April 14 2015, @04:22AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday April 14 2015, @04:22AM (#170213) Journal
    Admitting they pull this one out, LM Skunk Works' own description [lockheedmartin.com]:

    This concept uses a high fraction of the magnetic field pressure, or all of its potential, so we can make our devices 10 times smaller than previous concepts. That means we can replace a device that must be housed in a large building with one that can fit on the back of a truck.

    Which will mean strong electromagnets (to be powered with what at boot start?) very precisely aligned and, thus, sensible to any shock - the ones involved by landing included. Moreover, will involve materials to resist the heat radiated by fusion (about 3-5 time more heat/unit than fission) + means to extract/convert this more intense heat as quickly as possible.
    Somehow, I think will be heavier than the SSTAR design [wikipedia.org] (at 15m long and 3 m diameter already fits the back of a truck) and certainly more prone to accidents during landing.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford