Structural Engineer's Concept of Lunar Structures

Abstract

The time has come for the creative professional structural engineers to prepare themselves for the challenges of designing permanent structures on the moon. This paper briefly discusses creativity in structural engineering, and its applicability on lunar structures. It then describes development of the concept of a lunar structure, that is optimized under the present state of technology to meet every requirement of function, economy and safety. The concept envisions the lunar structure to be constructed of double‐skin composite fabric membrane which is filled with structural foam for pressurized or unpressurized applications. Such a structure will be extremely light and easy to transport, readily deployable, economical, and can be made in almost any size, shape and height to suit the purpose for which it is designed.