THE CONSTRUCTION OF LUNAR BASES BY USING GYROSCOPIC MINING MACHINES

Abstract

The project of realization of technology of processing of a lunar regolith for construction on the moon of permanent settlements by means of gyroscopic mountain mining machines is presented.The robotic complex implementing this technology includes a lunar gyroscopic mining machine (LGGM), a mechanical shovel for the collection and transportation of regolith to LGGM, as well as a device for moving the processed regolith to the loading hopper of the printhead of a construction 3D printer. It is shown that under conditions of reduced gravity and lack of electrical energy only lunar LGGM is able to efficiently process lunar rocks and extract from them various useful components, including oxygen, hydrogen, titanium, iron and rare earth materials, and also provides the necessary fractional composition of regolith for use as a building material. Such a robotic complex is able to automatically build a lunar base in the form of a hangar with a length of 6 and a width of 3 m and a height of not less than 2,5 m, with a volume of 54 cubic meters, and the total weight of the complex will not exceed 1 ton.