Advancing Radiation Shielding in Long-Term Space Missions and Deep Space Habitats Through In-Situ Resources for Additive Manufacturing and AI-Optimized Structural Design
- Paper ID
103502
- author
- company
Toronto Metropolitan University
- country
Canada
- year
2025
- abstract
Long-duration space missions expose astronauts to harmful radiation from galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar particle events (SPEs), requiring shielding strategies beyond traditional materials. While previous studies focus on passive shielding using polyethylene, layered aluminum, and window materials like aluminum 2219 alloy, acrylic, or ALON [1], this research explores in-situ additive manufacturing using lunar or Martian regolith. By developing and simulating composite materials that combine regolith with hydrogen-rich polymers, the project evaluates radiation attenuation using NASA’s OLTARIS tool. In parallel, AI-driven optimization is applied to habitat geometries and material distribution to improve shielding effectiveness while minimizing mass. The aim is to create a scalable, modular system for radiation protection tailored to off-world environments. This work extends current system-level frameworks by integrating advanced manufacturing and computational design approaches, addressing key gaps in adaptability and material utilization for future deep space missions.