Lava Tubes as Resilient Extraterrestrial Habitats: An Option For A Permanent Human Settlement Beyond Earth

The design, construction, and maintenance of safe and comfortable habitations are some of humankind’s oldest and most important activities. Millennia of experimentation and planning have led to earthly habitats with a high degree of sophistication. But as humanity looks to explore and inhabit other worlds, it is now faced with new and unique challenges beyond Earth’s relatively benign environment.