A Hilo-based aerospace agency plans to build a prototype for a launching and landing pad this fall that could help bring the concept of sustainability into space.
The 100-square-foot pad will be made entirely of basalt, the volcanic rock that makes up the Hawaiian Islands and found commonly on the moon and Mars, according to the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems.
PISCES, which operates under the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, is teaming up with NASA on the cutting-edge project.
The idea is to help future space explorers make their own infrastructure from materials they find on celestial bodies, according to PISCES.
Christian Andersen, PISCES operations manager, said the Puna Rock Co. quarry in Keaau is being used as the test site.
A rover, much like those used for space exploration, is being used to grade the site. In late October or early November, the machine will be used to connect 100 basalt pavers that will fit together like puzzle pieces to make the pad, he said.
The rover will be remotely controlled from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with possible time delays introduced to replicate a lunar or Martian mission.
While PISCES calls it a lunar landing pad, Andersen said it also could be replicated on Mars.
“It can be used for either,” he said. “It’s more of a technical demonstration.”
There also are practical applications for the islands.
In a similar project, PISCES created a “lunar sidewalk” next to the Lincoln Park tennis courts in Hilo earlier this year by using basalt as a building material.
Andersen said in about a week he will be taking core samples from the sidewalk segments to see how well they have held up to foot traffic.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
