Shelter structures on the moon, even in early phases of exploration, should incorporate lunar materials as much as possible. This Technical Memorandum details the design and construction of a prototype for a one-piece regolith bag unpressurized garage concept and a materials testing program to investigate six candidate fabrics to learn how they might perform in the lunar environment. The conceptualization was that a lightweight fabric form be launched from Earth and landed on the lunar surface to be robotically filled with raw lunar regolith. Regolith bag fabric candidates included: Vectran(TM), Nextel(TM), Gore PTFE Fabric(TM), Zylon(TM), Twaron(TM), and Nomex(TM). Tensile (including post radiation exposure), fold, abrasion, and hypervelocity impact testing were performed under ambient conditions, and also performed under cold and elevated temperatures. In some cases, Johnson Space Center lunar simulant (JSC-1) was used in conjunction with testing. A series of preliminary structures was constructed during final prototype design based on the principles of the classic masonry arch. The prototype was constructed of Kevlar(TM) and filled with vermiculite. The structure is free-standing, but has not yet been load tested. Future plans would be to construct higher fidelity prototypes and to conduct appropriate tests of the structure

Beale, D.

Broughton, R. M., Jr.

Evans, S. W.

Hovater, M. A.

Kilinc-Balci, F.

Miller, J. S.

Nehls, M. K.

Smithers, G. A.

Shelter structures on the moon, even in early phases of exploration, should incorporate lunar materials as much as possible. We designed and constructed a prototype for a one-piece regolith-bag unpressurized garage concept, and, in parallel, we conducted a materials testing program to investigate six candidate fabrics to learn how they might perform in the lunar environment. In our concept, a lightweight fabric form is launched from Earth to be landed on the lunar surface and robotically filled with raw lunar regolith. In the materials testing program, regolith-bag fabric candidates included: VectranTM, NextelTM, Gore PTFE FabricTM, ZylonTM TwaronTM and NomexTM. Tensile (including post radiation exposure), fold, abrasion, and hypervelocity impact testing were performed under ambient conditions, and, within our current means, we also performed these tests under cold and elevated temperatures. In some cases, lunar simulant (JSC-1) was used in conjunction with testing. Our ambition is to continuously refine our testing to reach lunar environmental conditions to the extent possible. A series of preliminary structures were constructed during design of the final prototype. Design is based on the principles of the classic masonry arch. The prototype was constructed of KevlarTM and filled with vermiculite (fairly close to the weight of lunar regolith on the moon). The structure is free-standing, but has not yet been load tested. Our plan for the future would be to construct higher fidelty mockups with each iteration, and to conduct appropriate tests of the structure

Beale, David

Hovater, Mary A.

Killinc-Balci, Fatma

Nehls, Mary K.

Evans, Steven W.

Smithers, Gweneth A.

Broughton, Roy M., Jr.

Miller, J. Scott

NASA Technical Reports Server

Source of Acquisition 
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center 
A One-Piece Lunar Regolith-Bag Garage Prototype 
Shelter structures on the moon, even in early phases of exploration, should incorporate lunar 
materials as much as possible. We designed and constructed a prototype for a one-piece 
regolith-bag unpressurized garage concept, and, in parallel, we conducted a materials testing 
program to investigate six candidate fabrics to learn how they might perform in the lunar 
environment. In our concept, a lightweight fabric form is launched from Earth to be tanded on the 
lunar surface and robotically filled with raw lunar regolith. 
In the materials testing program, regolith-bag fabric candidates included: VectranTM, NextelTM, 
Gore PTFE FabricTM, ZylonTM, TwaronTM, and NomexTM. Tensile (including post radiation 
exposure), fold, abrasion, and hypervelocity impact testing were performed under ambient 
conditions, and, within our current means, we also performed these tests under cold and elevated 
temperatures. In some cases, lunar simulant (JSC-1) was used in conjunction with testing. Our 
ambition is to continuously refine our testing to reach lunar environmental conditions to the extent 
possible. 
A series of preliminary structures were constructed during design of the final prototype. Design is 
based on the principles of the classic masonry arch. The prototype was constructed of KevlarTM 
and filled with vermiculite (fairly close to the weight of lunar regolith on the moon). The structure 
is free-standing, but has not yet been load tested. Our plan for the future would be to construct 
higher fidelty mockups with each iteration, and to conduct appropriate tests of the structure. 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20070002901 2019-08-30T00:23:45+00:00Z

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A One-Piece Lunar Regolith-Bag Garage Prototype

A One-Piece Lunar Regolith Bag Garage Prototype

Shelter structures on the moon, even in early phases of exploration, should incorporate lunar materials as much as possible. We designed and constructed a prototype for a one-piece regolith-bag unpressurized garage concept, and, in parallel, we conducted a materials testing program to investigate six candidate fabrics to learn how they might perform in the lunar environment. In our concept, a lightweight fabric form is launched from Earth to be landed on the lunar surface and robotically filled with raw lunar regolith. In the materials testing program, regolith-bag fabric candidates included: Vectran(TM), Nextel(TM), Gore PTFE Fabric(TM), Zylon(TM), Twaron(TM), and Nomex(TM). Tensile (including post radiation exposure), fold, abrasion, and hypervelocity impact testing were performed under ambient conditions, and, within our current means, we also performed these tests under cold and elevated temperatures. In some cases, lunar simulant (JSC-1) was used in conjunction with testing. Our ambition is to continuously refine our testing to reach lunar environmental conditions to the extent possible. A series of preliminary structures were constructed during design of the final prototype. Design is based on the principles of the classic masonry arch. The prototype was constructed of Kevlar(TM) and filled with vermiculite (fairly close to the weight of lunar regolith on the moon). The structure is free-standing, but has not yet been load tested. Our plan for the future would be to construct higher fidelity mockups with each iteration, and to conduct appropriate tests of the structure

Killing-Balci, Fatma

Broughton, Roy M.

A One-Piece Lunar Regolith Bag Garage Prototype

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