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Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Campus Access Master's Report

Degree Name

Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Advisor 1

Paulus J. Van Susante

Committee Member 1

Stephen Morse

Committee Member 2

Mohammad Sadeghi

Abstract

To support the future of lunar missions such as those planned for NASA’s Artemis Program, the emplacement of semi-permanent lunar infrastructure is required. Structures such as roads, landing pads, foundations, shielding, and protective embankments will need to be properly designed and constructed while only utilizing in-situ resources (i.e. Lunar regolith). To inform the geotechnical design of these infrastructure elements as well as their required construction operations, this research develops a spreadsheet-based analysis tool in which the user inputs their proposed structure and construction rover fleet information, then the tool conducts the necessary analysis to provide useful project insights such as estimated duration, regolith demand, distribution of tasks, performance graphics, and construction optimizations. With these insights, users can be better informed on the development of ISRU technologies, allocation of resources, and design of mission architectures. An overview and demonstration of the tool is presented in this report.

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