Designing a habitat for the lunar surface? You will need to know more than structural engineering. There are the effects of meteoroids, radiation, and low gravity. Then there are the psychological and psychosocial aspects of living in close quarters, in a dangerous environment, far away from home. All these must be considered when the habitat is sized, materials specified, and structure designed.This book provides an overview of various concepts for lunar habitats and structural designs and characterizes the lunar environment - the technical and the nontechnical. The designs take into consideration psychological comfort, structural strength against seismic and thermal activity, as well as internal pressurization and 1/6 g. Also discussed are micrometeoroid modeling, risk and redundancy as well as probability and reliability, with an introduction to analytical tools that can be useful in modeling uncertainties.

Dr. Haym Benaroya is a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers University. His research interests are focused on the conceptualization and analysis of structures placed in challenging environments. Primary examples include offshore drilling structures, structures subjected to explosions, and lunar surface structures for manned habitation.Dr. Benaroya earned his B.E. degree from The Cooper Union in New York, and his MS and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Rutgers University in 1989, he was a senior research engineer at Weidlinger Associates in New York for eight years with responsibilities for a number of defense-related studies. He is the author of over 70 refereed journal publications, two text books - one in Vibration and the other in Probabilistic Modeling - and two research monographs with two former PhD students on structural dynamics in the ocean. His book From Dust to Gold: Building a Future on the Moon and Mars(Springer Praxis) was designated the 2012 Best Engineering Sciences Book by the International Academy of Astronautics.Dr. Benaroya is an elected member of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Acknowledgements.- Dedication.- About the Author- Preface.- Chapter 1: Thoughts on the Moon.- Chapter 2: Overview and context.- Chapter 3: The lunar environment.- Chapter 4: Structures.- Chapter 5: Habitat studies.- Chapter 6: Lunar-based astronomy.- Chapter 7: Materials and ISRU.- Chapter 8: Structural design of a lunar habitat.- Chapter 9: Thermal design.- Chapter 10: Preliminary probability theory.- Chapter 11: Reliability and damage.- Chapter 12: Airplanes, redundancy and lunar habitats.- Chapter 13: Advanced methodologies.- Chapter 14: Concluding thoughts.- Index.