Feasibility Assessment of Technical Limitations and Challenges to Deployment of a Nuclear-Powered Extrusion System on the Martian Surface

This white paper is an assessment of the feasibility of developing, deploying and operating a nuclear-powered extruder on the Martian surface for the primary purpose of manufacturing ‘bricks' - repeated interlocking components that serve as a structural and functional basis for rapid manufacturing of habitats, facilities and other buildings necessary for colonization. While the primary technology components appear to exist independently, and can be integrated together, there are three distinct technical limitations and/or challenges that need further study in order to build a deployable system. Those challenges are: limitations to extruder component life-cycles in autonomous remote environments, EDL challenges for a combined 50–60 Metric Ton ‘turnkey’ system, and limitations to operating a quasi SSD multi-modal nuclear reactor.1