The NASA Artemis program, now backed by 67 nations under the Artemis Accords, aims to return humans to the Moon by 2028. A recent White House Executive Order further directs NASA to establish a permanent lunar outpost by 2030. Meanwhile, China plans to build its own lunar base by 2035. These ambitious projects push engineering to its limits, but lunar architecture is fundamentally about understanding human experience at extremes—and improving conditions for those living on Earth's edges.
The Challenge of Building a Lunar Base
Constructing on the Moon means contending with a near-perfect vacuum, unfiltered space radiation, and razor-sharp regolith that can cut through suits and destroy machinery. Extreme temperature swings from below -200°C to over +120°C across a lunar day place severe thermal stress on building materials. Transporting materials from Earth is prohibitively expensive, so current solutions focus on 3D printing monolithic shells from local regolith. However, micrometeorites rain down at up to 72 km/s, easily puncturing structures. A monolithic shell, once damaged, is difficult to repair.
Our research explores modular block-based construction that can be easily disassembled and repaired by human-robot teams. Work with colleagues at NASA-funded RETHi facilities at the University of Texas at San Antonio helps understand how local micrometeorite damage affects the whole system, enabling design for repair.
The Challenge of Living on a Lunar Base
Lunar architecture also asks what it means to live in extreme conditions. Long periods in isolation or confined spaces, with no chance to step outside, are not unique to space—many experienced this during COVID, and others live it routinely on submarines, mining outposts, and Antarctic stations. Research shows that most people in such conditions describe time as distorted, leading to higher stress and reduced social satisfaction. When days become repetitive and the future uncertain, time loses meaning.
Drawing on design psychology, we work with people who have lived in isolated conditions to understand how design can help. Small details—a private retreat, lighting adjusted to personal rhythm, a window with a view—can significantly impact emotional wellbeing.
Physical and Psychological Demands
The psychological toll is inseparable from physical demands. How do we keep the human body safe in extreme conditions, and what happens when someone is injured far from help? Biomechanics research helps understand how joints and muscles move, preventing workplace injuries and aiding rehabilitation. Strip away Earth's gravity, and everyday movements reveal new insights. Our gravity-offload experiments study how arms, shoulders, and torso work together to lift and stabilize the body as gravity changes. Findings inform the design of stairs and handrails for lunar habitats, making movement more efficient and preventing injury.
What This Means for Life on Earth
The construction industry accounts for roughly half of global material extraction and about 30% of waste and CO2 emissions—much because buildings are demolished rather than repaired. The repairability and human-robot collaboration principles developed for lunar architecture offer a model for circular construction on Earth, where maintaining buildings instead of tearing them down could transform the industry's environmental footprint.
Our psychology of isolation research can improve life for people at polar research bases, in remote communities, or in prison. Our biomechanics research, focusing on force redistribution between upper and lower body, can help older people climb stairs more safely, avoid falls, and recover from injury.
Lunar architecture research is not about a distant futuristic idea. It is about understanding human experience at extremes and using that understanding to design better for people on Earth. Humanity already lives at the edges. Learning to design for those edge conditions can teach us how to dwell more inclusively on this planet and beyond.
