Xavier De Kestelier
© photo Foster + Partners/ESA
Xavier de Kestelier is co-head of
renowned architects Foster + Partners' specialist modelling group.
Border Sessions 2013 - Thu, 14 Nov 2013
Building a lunar base with 3D printing
Take the innovative minds of the European Space Agency (ESA) and add the brilliance of a 3D printing pioneer. What you get is literally out of this world.
Setting up shop on the moon is not a piece of cake. The huge costs of material transport from the Earth to locations in outer space, as well as the need to shield astronauts from cosmic radiations and micrometeoroids, are two major hurdles when it comes to establishing a lunar base.
ESA has teamed up with a number of industrial partners including renowned architects Foster + Partners to test the feasibility of 3D-printed lunar bases made of locally available ‘moon materials’.
Take the innovative minds of the European Space Agency (ESA) and add the brilliance of a 3D printing pioneer. What you get is literally out of this world.
Setting up shop on the moon is not a piece of cake. The huge costs of material transport from the Earth to locations in outer space, as well as the need to shield astronauts from cosmic radiations and micrometeoroids, are two major hurdles when it comes to establishing a lunar base.
ESA has teamed up with a number of industrial partners including renowned architects Foster + Partners to test the feasibility of 3D-printed lunar bases made of locally available ‘moon materials’.
