Future Moon base structures may be made, in part at least, of bricks manufactured out of the lunar soil. Credit: ESA
Chinese scientists have developed a remarkable machine that could revolutionize how humans build structures on the moon. The device works like a 3D printer powered by concentrated sunlight, turning lunar soil (known as regolith) into strong construction bricks without needing any materials from Earth.
Developed by the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory in Hefei, the system functions as a 3D printing device using a parabolic reflector to gather solar radiation, which is then funneled through fiber optic bundles. The technology is elegantly simple yet incredibly powerful. At the focus point, light intensity exceeds 3,000 times the standard level, reaching temperatures over 1,300 C to melt lunar regolith.
The bricks produced are dense and robust, suitable not only for shelter construction but also for roads and platforms on the lunar surface. Imagine entire lunar cities built from nothing more than the ground beneath astronauts' feet and the sun's energy. However, the engineers are realistic about the limitations, emphasizing that lunar soil bricks alone cannot sustain pressure in the moon's vacuum and low gravity environment.
Instead, the bricks will act as protective layers over pressure-retaining habitat modules made of rigid and inflatable structures. Think of it as creating a protective shell around pressurized living spaces, providing crucial shielding from radiation and meteorites.
Leonid meteor captured here streaking through the Earth's atmosphere. Space rocks like meteor's are a great risk to lunar structures that any material will have to offer protection against. Credit : Navicore
The two year development process wasn't without challenges. Key challenges included transporting and melting variable lunar soil compositions and achieving efficient solar energy transmission. To address this, the team created multiple types of simulated lunar soil for extensive trials. This thorough testing approach ensures the technology will work reliably in the moon's harsh environment.
What makes this breakthrough particularly impressive is its self sufficiency. According to senior engineer Yang Honglun, the machine uses no additives, relying entirely on the lunar soil. This means future lunar settlers won't need to transport heavy building materials from Earth, dramatically reducing the cost and complexity of establishing moon bases.
The vision extends far beyond just making bricks. Yang outlined a broader vision for lunar construction involving brick manufacturing, modular component integration, and structural validation under true lunar surface conditions. These efforts aim to enable full scale surface construction supported by automated robots and the brick making device.
To ensure the technology works as expected, Chinese astronauts aboard the nation's space station will expose simulated lunar bricks, delivered by the Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft in November 2024, to space conditions. This will assess thermal durability, mechanical integrity, and radiation shielding to inform future lunar base construction.
Provided by Universe Today