Termite mounds inspire lunar shelter designs

A team of engineers from the University of Arizona has taken inspiration from giant termite mounds to create a new idea for a lunar habitat. A press release revealed that the new idea could eventually be used on the Moon, as NASA aims to establish a lunar base by the end of this decade.

A team of engineers from the University of Arizona took inspiration from giant termite mounds to create a concept for a new habitat on the Moon. (Photo: Tarangire National Park)

The design would allow astronauts to quickly deploy a temporary shelter structure, keeping them safe from the harsh lunar conditions while planning for a more permanent settlement structure. Furthermore, this termite mound structure would be deployed automatically by a network of specialized robots inspired by the design of the termite insect system.

Associate Professor Jekan Thanga and his students at the University of Arizona's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering have simulated a prototype termite mound habitat, using special sandbags that can be filled with regolith, soil, and mineral fragments from the lunar surface, without the need for traditional building materials.

Jekan Thanga looked to the natural world and took inspiration for his design from termite mounds found in churches in Africa and Australia. “In the case of the termite mound, it’s very relevant to the challenges beyond our own world,” Thanga explains. “The harsh desert environment that termites face is similar to the conditions on the Moon. Crucially, the entire method doesn’t rely on water. Much of the Moon is a dry desert.”

Thanga’s team is collaborating with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech and MDA, a space robotics company, to create a specialized swarm of termite-inspired robots called LUNAR-BRIC. This network of robots would autonomously build termite mounds on the Moon, without human intervention, meaning astronauts would be able to focus on other tasks.

NASA has now awarded Thanga's team $500,000 for projects on the lunar surface, through the Artemis Space Technology Research Program, or M-STAR.

HUYNH DUNG (Source: Interestingengineering)

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