Lunar Tunnel Boring Machine (LTBM) - Lunar Habitation Excavation

This paper introduces a conceptual design of a Lunar Tunnel Boring Machine (LTBM) specifically engineered for subsurface construction in the Moon’s extreme environment. LTBM is envisioned as a critical tool for creating underground habitats that shield inhabitants from harmful space radiation, extreme temperature variations, and micrometeorite impacts. These subsurface facilities will be essential for long-term habitation and operational support. Due to the limitations of Earth-based construction methods on the Moon, traditional concrete ring segments cannot be used. Instead, the LTBM is equipped with a cylindrical heating module capable of generating temperatures between 1200–1400 C to anneal and solidify the lunar regolith directly, forming stable tunnel walls. This innovative method replaces the need for prefabricated materials and on-site assembly under lunar conditions. Establishing a sustainable human foothold on the Moon is widely viewed as the critical rehearsal for eventual crewed missions to Mars. The lunar surface, however, presents a hostile environment characterized by intense galactic-cosmic and solar-particle radiation, micrometeoroid fluxes exceeding 10.6 m.² s.¹, and temperature excursions of roughly ±120 °C during the 27-day day–night cycle. Sub-surface habitat emplacement mitigates all three hazards simultaneously, yet conventional excavation concepts are mass- and power-prohibitive for mid-term landers.