Event

Extraterrestrial Construction Materials and Design Concepts for Space Habitats

Ort : Bremen Human Space Exploration Seminar - online
Beginn : 13. Juli 2022, 13:30 Uhr
Ende : 13. Juli 2022, 15:00 Uhr
Kategorie : MAPEX
Bremen Human Space Exploration Seminar
Guest: Dr. M.Z. Naser

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences
Clemson University, Clemson, USA

Humans are explorers by nature. Exploring outer space is as old as our civilization. Serious attention was first directed towards exploring the Moon and Mars. Over the last eight decades, we launched rockets, satellites, orbiters, and astronauts to orbit the Earth and other solar system bodies. Several feasibility studies were also conducted to develop prototypes and design concepts of lunar and Martian infrastructure in parallel to these milestones. This seminar presents a state-of-the-art survey on past and recent advances on the frontiers of extraterrestrial construction materials. We start by highlighting the effects of the extreme space environment on construction materials. Then, we outline our understanding of lunar and Martian indigenous resources from materials science, construction, and structural engineering points of view. We continue to assess the physical features and property characteristics of materials native to the Moon and Mars, or mined from near-earth objects (NEOs), or cultured through modern technologies. Then, we dive into how such materials can help us realize design concepts for large (i.e., intended for permanent presence) and small (e.g., short presence) scale lunar and Martian habitats. Finally, we identify key limitations and challenges with respect to materials science and developing space infrastructure that merits serious research.

Dr. Naser is a tenure-track assistant professor at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences & a member of the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute for Science and Engineering (AIRISE) at Clemson University. Dr. Naser’s research group is creating Causal & eXplainable machine learning methodologies to discover new knowledge hidden within systems belonging to the domains of Structural engineering and Materials science to help us realize functional, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure (with special emphasis on space and fire engineering).

 

Bremen Human Space Exploration Seminar

The seminar takes place every third Wednesday of the month at 13:30 CET/CEST online via zoom and consists of a 40-minute talk followed by a 40-minute discussion.

The zoom link for the meeting will be send via email to all registered members of the space-exploration mailing list. You can register here.

portrait M.Z. Naser
top: image of the moon (whole planet) with selected landing sites bottom: topographic map of mars with selected landing sites