Performance-Based Engineering for Lunar Settlements

Abstract

This paper addresses how reliability analyses might be placed in a lunar structures framework. Key environmental aspects are summarized, as are strategic issues that impact how an engineering design might be pursued. This is then put in the context of a performance-based engineering framework. Background Concepts for lunar base structures have been proposed since long before the dawn of the space age. We will abstract suggestions generated during the past quarter century, as these are likely to form the pool from which eventual lunar base designs will evolve. Significant studies have been made since the days of the Apollo program, when it appeared likely that the Moon would become a second home to humans. The emphasis below is on structures for human habitation, a technically challenging fraction of the total number of structures likely to comprise the lunar facility. The test for any proposed lunar base structure is how it meets certain basic as well as special requirements. On the lunar surface, numerous constraints must be satisfied by all designs. These are different from those for terrestrial or orbital structures, as will be discussed later. A number of structural types have been proposed for lunar base structures. These include concrete, metal frame, pneumatic, and hybrid structures. In addition, options exist for subsurface architectures and the use of natural features such as lava tubes. Each of these approaches can, in principle, satisfy the various and numerous constraints, but differently. A post-Apollo evaluation of the need for a lunar base with the following reasons given for such a base:  lunar science and astronomy  as a stimulus to space technology and as a test bed for the technologies required to place humans on Mars and beyond  the utilization of lunar resources