(Image: Icon)
Washington: The US space agency NASA has provided $60 million to a construction technology company to build a house on the moon by 2040. These houses built on the moon will not only be for astronauts but also for common people.
The plan is to launch a large 3D printer on the moon and use lunar rocks, mineral fragments and concrete made from dust to build structures on the lunar surface.
In this regard, NASA is working with universities and private companies to make doors, tiles and furniture for houses built on the moon.
This agenda also includes a plan to create a habitable space on Mars for astronauts.
The plan to build a habitation on the moon is still in its early stages and its shape is likely to change by the next decade.
An Austin-based company called Icon (contracted by NASA in 2022) uses its 3D printing expertise to build layer-by-layer luxury homes on Earth with its system, The Vulcan.
This technology shapes a mixture of cement, clay and water into a thread. This thread comes out of the printer as ink. All parts of the house (such as the walls and roof) are printed separately and then joined together.
A house built with a 3D printer in the West Texas desert
The company Icon has been 3D printing homes since 2018 and has built more than 100 homes in North Austin using the technology, which is capable of building homes within 48 hours.
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