In-situ additive manufacturing with lunar regolith for lunar base construction: A review

Construction of lunar bases is critical to further space exploration and decrease dependency on Earth-based resources. Abundant energy, water, and minerals on the Moon favor it as an ideal candidate for building extraterrestrial habitats. This paper discusses the feasibility of using in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) of lunar regolith (LR) for additively manufactured technologies for a lunar base. This work synthesizes current research in an overview at the intellectual level for the state-of-the-art methodologies of lunar regolith utilization in additive manufacturing (AM) processes. It makes a comparison of various techniques of AM, several kinds of materials, their maturity, and unique challenges of the lunar environment: extreme temperatures and microgravity. The review further discusses the impact of different types of post-processing treatments on the properties of LR-based materials and their applicability under real lunar conditions. These results allow the expectation of how AM technologies may work to provide a feasible and cost-effective construction process for the lunar base that will facilitate long-term space exploration missions.