Civil Engineers in Space

Abstract

Since the earliest times, civil engineers have been building the infrastructure which has supported the advances known as called civilization. The exploration and development of space offers the broadly and well‐trained civil engineer of today and tomorrow career opportunities unparalleled since the exploration and settlement of the West. This paper attempts to point out, by citing a few examples, how the science, technology, and practice of civil engineering will be needed by mankind as the space frontier is pioneered. Civil engineering is a broad and diverse field of practice. It ranges from the surveying of new territory to the design and construction of buildings, deeply rooted in the soils of this Earth, that reach toward the stars. Within this sweep of activities lies the many subdisciplines of civil engineering that will be useful and needed in building bases on other planets and stations in space.