Lunar Construction

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is a response to the recent renewal of global interest in lunar missions, which aim at not only scientific opportunities and prospects of deep space exploration, but also at demonstrating technologies that will extend our reach throughout the Solar System. A steppingstone for such goals is to establish a lunar base for human’s sustained presence on the Moon, through the development of viable and scalable lunar construction technologies as well as rules and regulations. The Special Issue attempts to present the state-of-the-art in the research and development of lunar construction methods, materials, systems, and codes and policies. Researchers and experts from multidisciplinary backgrounds are encouraged to submit their original research, review articles, and conceptual studies on topics that may include but are not limited to:

• unique challenges posed by the lunar environment, such as extreme temperature variations, high radiation exposure, micrometeorite impacts, abrasive and electrostatically charged lunar regolith, etc.;
• critical infrastructure required for a sustainable lunar base, including habitats, power stations, communication stations, landing pads, blast berms, etc.;
• methods and materials that can be utilized for building the lunar base and its infrastructure, including additive manufacturing, regolith bonding, and raw materials, with an emphasis on in situ resource utilization;
• machines, mechanisms and systems for lunar construction, such as excavators, cranes and conveyors, robot manipulators, etc.;
• autonomous robotic operations for handling unplanned and unpredictable situations and enhancing performance through learning capabilities, using artificial intelligence technologies;
• planning, systems engineering and execution of lunar construction missions, including costs, resources, logistics, programmatics, etc.; and
• engineering codes, guidelines, regulations and international policies for lunar construction.

By bringing together cutting-edge research and diverse perspectives, this Special Issue aims to foster collaboration and drive innovation in the field of lunar construction.

Prof. Dr. M. Reza Emami
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• lunar missions
• deep space exploration
• lunar construction
• lunar environment