Radiation Shielding Materials for Extraterrestrial Construction: Integrating Regolith Derived Geopolymers and Multilayered Envelopes for Safe Human Habitation Beyond Earth

Human missions to the Moon and Mars expose astronauts to continuous ionizing radiation from Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) and Solar Particle Events (SPE). These radiation sources produce biological doses significantly higher than terrestrial safety limits and therefore represent one of the primary challenges for long-duration space habitation. Conventional shielding materials used on Earth, such as high-density metals, perform poorly in space environments because they generate secondary radiation during particle interactions. Consequently, the selection of effective radiation shielding materials for extraterrestrial construction requires a different material strategy. This research evaluates multiple candidate materials for extraterrestrial habitat construction, including hydrogen-rich polymers, metal hydrides, and regolith-derived geopolymer systems. A comparative framework is developed using performance criteria such as radiation attenuation capability, mass efficiency, structural strength, and feasibility for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU).