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About

Dr. Lanie McKinney is a visionary aerospace architect whose work is reshaping humanity’s future beyond Earth. Her primary research areas span planetary habitat design, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and sustainable deep-space infrastructure. Dr. McKinney’s most impactful contribution is the “Pale Red Dot” architecture (2023, 5 citations), a bold, ten-year campaign for establishing an Earth-independent settlement on Mars. This framework integrates the Artemis program with robotic precursor missions, offering a pragmatic yet ambitious roadmap for permanent human presence—a foundational blueprint for future interplanetary colonization. Her equally innovative “Moon BRICCSS” concept (2025, 2 citations) tackles lunar habitation by proposing corbelled construction using regolith-based bricks, providing robust radiation shielding for the 53-nation Artemis Accords community. By merging ancient engineering principles with modern ISRU, she offers a cost-effective, sustainable solution for protecting astronauts on the Moon. Though early in her career, Dr. McKinney’s forward-thinking designs have already influenced NASA’s long-term planning, positioning her as a leading voice in the next era of human exploration. Her work inspires a new generation of researchers to build not just for a mission, but for a permanent home among the stars.