mikelepage: Helical Space Habitat (HeSH, 2014)
Design summary
- Structure. Robot-assembled interlocking bricks (3D printed, or made of regolith) laid in an anti-parallel double helix around a torus. Water pipes run through the bricks for balance and heat distribution. Sun-facing side; sealer pumped in; a Shapeways model was made mikelepage, 2015-03-12.
- Related thermal ideas. Helical coolant channels in 3D-printed module envelopes; a high-thermal-mass water biosphere for equatorial LEO eclipses; mirrors to simulate a 24 h day mikelepage, 2015-09-06.
- Broader vision. Large AG habitats need passive shielding and ISRU, built in their final orbit by radiation-hardened robots; a probe that 3D-prints toroids from NEO regolith mikelepage, 2015-02-22. A later "nautilus shell" spiral settlement of regolith cells mikelepage, 2022-09-09.
Critiques raised
- 3D printing large structures misses where the cost is Paul451, 2022-11-09.
Open questions
- Can printed or sintered bricks hold 1 atm with an acceptable leak rate?
Related pages
Sources
Forum posts
- mikelepage, 2015-02-22 (reply #363): 3D-print toroids from regolith. Post.
- mikelepage, 2015-03-12 (reply #516): HeSH concept. Post.
- mikelepage, 2015-09-06 (reply #624): Helical coolant channels. Post.
- mikelepage, 2022-09-09 (reply #1781, 1 like): Nautilus settlement. Post.
- Paul451, 2022-11-09 (reply #2336, 1 like): 3D printing critique. Post.