Description: Early Apollo-era landings indicated a variety of hazards including obstruction of visibility, high-velocity ejecta, and plume cratering. These problems resulted in damaging the lander itself and nearby equipment. In order to safely complete landing and launch sequences, lunar landing pad designs are required to mitigate plume effects, redirect and/or capture exhaust flow, and dissipate the kinetic energy of debris and ejecta. The Lunar Plume Alleviation Device (LunarPAD) concept developed by the Lunar PAD team delivered several high-level 3D printed ISRU pad designs that were able to fulfill the required criteria through high level evaluations, design iterations and CFD simulations. However, the pad designs themselves had a heavy reliance on overhang features which current printing technology is unable to complete. The research proposed in this project is to develop viable construction geometries and techniques relevant to the overhang areas of the lunar landing pads. Designs will be judged based on performance in appropriate software analysis. Completing this work addresses the technology needs identified in the Artemis mission plan and objectives.

Benefits: As NASA looks to explore and settle on the moon and Mars, the utilization of in-situ resources will be necessary to reduce risk and cost while increasing versatility and potential for growth. A robust in-situ construction technology is capable of producing a variety of critical infrastructure. Among the most important pieces of lunar or Martian infrastructure to prioritize first is a landing and launch pad. The goal of landing and launch pads is to enable repeated land and launch cycles without damages due to high-speed ejecta.

With advanced construction techniques capable of utilizing in-situ resources, government and commercial organizations are able create affordable housing for low-income families, build shelters to mitigate homelessness, and repair remote structures. The ability to additively construct landing pads on-site also enables the creation of emergency landing zones for humanitarian or military supplies.