Regishell Lunar Habitat Construction via Composite In-Situ Materials
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current inflatable environment designs for extraterrestrial habitats, such as the Moon, face challenges due to harsh conditions like severe temperature gradients, hard vacuum, micrometeorite impingement, radiation, and lunar dust, which are not adequately addressed by materials designed for Earth's meteorological variations.
Innovation Solution
The development of Regishell, a material composed of polymer foam waste and locally-sourced lunar regolith, which is used to create a rigid structure by mixing with a solvent and applying it as a 'sandwich layer' or directly to an inflated airform, providing structural support, thermal control, and radiation protection, and can be deployed in various forms like domes, lava tubes, or as bricks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional inflatable materials designed for Earth's meteorological variations are used, then the structure can be easily manufactured and deployed, but it cannot withstand harsh extraterrestrial conditions like severe temperature gradients, radiation, and micrometeorite impingement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining polymer foam with lunar regolith to create Regishell. This composite structure provides both the flexibility and ease of deployment of polymer materials and the radiation protection, thermal control, and structural strength of regolith, resolving the contradiction between reliability under harsh conditions and ease of manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical and chemical parameters of the polymer foam by incorporating regolith particles and applying radiation curing. This transformation enables the material to withstand extreme temperature gradients, radiation, and micrometeorite impacts while maintaining the inflatable deployment advantage.
2Manufacturing precision
If pre-fabricated materials are used for construction, then the structure can be manufactured with high precision on Earth, but it increases the weight and volume of materials that must be transported to extraterrestrial locations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by using lunar regolith as a construction material that is harvested and processed in-situ at the destination. This eliminates the need to transport regolith from Earth, significantly reducing transport mass while maintaining construction precision through controlled mixing and curing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary processing of regolith materials before final construction, including size reduction and sorting, to ensure they are ready for immediate use in Regishell fabrication. This preliminary action on the lunar surface reduces the need for complex Earth-based preprocessing and minimizes transport requirements.
3Temperature
If sprayable foams are used for structural support, then the material can provide thermal insulation and waterproofing, but it lacks sufficient strength and rigidity for weight-bearing applications in low gravity environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite material by embedding lunar regolith particles within the polymer foam matrix. This composite structure provides both the thermal insulation properties of the foam and the structural strength and rigidity of regolith, enabling the material to function as both insulation and weight-bearing structure in low gravity environments.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for constructing an inflatable environment on top of or beneath a surface of an extraterrestrial object includes spraying Regishell onto an airform or piping the Regishell into a sandwich membrane layer of the airform. When performing the spraying of the Regishell, the method further includes combining basalt material with the Regishell and applying the combination of the basalt material and Regishell to a reinforcement layer, the reinforcement layer being internal to the airform to strengthen the inflatable environment. When performing the piping of the Regishell into the sandwich membrane, the method further includes using the sandwich membrane layer as a permeable membrane or drilling one or more holes in the sandwich membrane layer forming vents to create the permeable membrane, and releasing the gas from the sandwich membrane layer from the vents to cure and conform the Regishell as a rigid shape and structurally sound layer.