The National Space Society invites you to the next Space Forum
Thursday, August 17, 2023, 9:00 pm to 10:15 pm EST
Automated Additive Construction:
Building Habitats on the Moon and Mars
with
To establish a permanent human settlement on the Moon and eventually Mars, durable, self-maintaining, and resilient surface infrastructure must be constructed in robotic precursor missions prior to a crew’s arrival. In particular, large-scale additive manufacturing technologies will be applied to autonomously construct surface infrastructure in deep space. Robotic precursor missions will rely on in situ resource utilization (ISRU) and automated additive construction to develop surface site infrastructure including landing pads, rocket engine blast protection berms, roads, and of course human habitats and radiation shelters. Future Mars missions depend on the creation of safe, durable and protective housing and infrastructure, and multiple sheltering aspects will be needed for early settlements to reliably protect crews against radiation, micro-meteoroids, and provide exhaust plume protection during launches.
In this space forum, Melodie will discuss ICON’s work with NASA developing construction technologies to establish permanent infrastructure on the Moon and eventually Mars. In 2022 ICON was awarded a Phase III SBIR from Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to contribute to NASA Marshall’s Moon-to-Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technologies (MMPACT) initiative.
Additionally, Melodie will discuss ICON’s work designing and building the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Finally, Melodie will briefly highlight ICON’s terrestrial additive manufacturing process: the robotics, materials engineering, and logistics of construction, and discuss ICON’s work delivering affordable, disaster-relief and mainstream residential construction projects. She will discuss the regulatory landscape as well as building performance of 3D-printed structures, in anticipation of future standards and regulations necessary for off-world construction. Do not miss this informative space forum! Use the link below to register and ask your questions.
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Melodie Yashar is a space architect, technologist, and researcher. She is the VP of Building Design & Performance at ICON, a construction technologies company focused on large scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. Melodie oversees the architectural direction of ICON’s built work as well as the performance of ICON’s building systems to deliver optimally-performing structures that shift the paradigm of homebuilding on Earth and beyond. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, her department supports the design and construction of dignified and resilient terrestrial housing solutions in addition to supporting the development of ICON’s off-world construction systems. Divisions within her department include Construction Architecture, Architectural Technology, Structural Engineering, Building Science & Performance, and Regulatory Affairs.
Melodie teaches undergraduate and graduate design space architecture studios at the Art Center College of Design. In previous roles Melodie was a Senior Research Associate with the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames via San Jose State University Research Foundation (SJSURF), a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), a research group developing human-supporting designs for space exploration, as well as a Professor within the Architecture department of Pratt Institute. Melodie obtained a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a Master of Human-Computer Interaction with an emphasis in Robotics from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon. She geeks out on new material & fabrication technologies. She likes tiny robots. She would like to visit the Moon (though not yet Mars) in her lifetime.
Register today to reserve your seat and ask your questions. Use the link below.
Register no later than August 17 at 8 pm EST
