#SolarEnergy and lunar #regolith are directly available on the #Moon 🌙, meaning that the direct sintering or melting 🌡️ of the regolith is a feasible approach for the manufacturing of objects on the lunar surface. Mobile solutions such as solar ☀️ or laser energy sources can be used to manufacture roads 🛣️ or #LandingPads in-situ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-42008-1
Picture : #Mining robots like the Pilot Excavator will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ISRU_Pilot_Excavator_(KSC-20220728-PH-FMX01_0126).jpeg
#StarCrete #ISRU
Laser melting manufacturing of large elements of lunar regolith simulant for paving on the Moon - Scientific Reports
The next steps for the expansion of the human presence in the solar system will be taken on the Moon. However, due to the low lunar gravity, the suspended dust generated when lunar rovers move across the lunar soil is a significant risk for lunar missions as it can affect the systems of the exploration vehicles. One solution to mitigate this problem is the construction of roads and landing pads on the Moon. In addition, to increase the sustainability of future lunar missions, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) techniques must be developed. In this paper, the use of concentrated light for paving on the Moon by melting the lunar regolith is investigated. As a substitute of the concentrated sunlight, a high-power CO2 laser is used in the experiments. With this set-up, a maximum laser spot diameter of 100 mm can be achieved, which translates in high thicknesses of the consolidated layers. Furthermore, the lunar regolith simulant EAC-1A is used as a substitute of the actual lunar soil. At the end of the study, large samples (approximately 250 × 250 mm) with interlocking capabilities were fabricated by melting the lunar simulant with the laser directly on the powder bed. Large areas of lunar soil can be covered with these samples and serve as roads and landing pads, decreasing the propagation of lunar dust. These manufactured samples were analysed regarding their mineralogical composition, internal structure and mechanical properties.
#NYT 📆 Oct. 1, 2023 #3Dprinting houses 🏘️ in #DeepSpace 🌌
“Chemistry is the same up there, but physics are different”. #NASA scientists are currently working to perfect a simulated lunar 🌙 #concrete that can stand in for the #moon-made material while they run tests on earth. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/realestate/nasa-homes-moon-3-d-printing.html
#Lunar3dPrinting #StarCrete
Maybe in Your Lifetime, People Will Live on the Moon and Then Mars
Through partnerships and 3-D printing, NASA is plotting how to build houses on the moon by 2040.
In its most common #terrestrial 🌍 formulation, #concrete is held together with a binder made from #cement powder and water. But cement is made mostly from limestone—a mineral not present on #Mars 🔴 —and Martian water 💧 is rare and precious. An alternative is concrete bound together by #sulfur, of which #Mars has plenty. Two samples' fracture toughnesses 💪 were even higher than that of cement-based terrestrial concrete https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/Online/41866/Martian-concrete-could-be-tough-stuff
Influence of martian soil simulant on microstructural heterogeneity and mechanical response of martian concretes https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093641322001458?via%3Dihub
Picture : 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brick_production_in_Songea,_Tanzania.jpg
#ISRU #MarsHabitat #StarCrete
🏗️ #Lunar and #Martian #StarCrete achieved compressive strengths of 91.7 and 72.0 MPa, respectively, which is well within the domain of high-strength concrete (>42 MPa). Made from 🥔 starch + regolith. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/eng-2022-0390/html
#MoonHabitat #MarsHabitat
StarCrete: A starch-based biocomposite for off-world construction
Robust and affordable technology capabilities are needed before a sustained human presence on the lunar and Martian surfaces can be established. A key challenge is the production of high-strength structural materials from in situ resources to provide spacious habitats with adequate radiation shielding. Ideally, the production of such materials will be achieved through relatively simple, low-energy processes that support other critical systems. Here, we demonstrate the use of ordinary starch as a binder for simulated extraterrestrial regolith to produce a high-strength biocomposite material, termed StarCrete. With this technique, surplus starch produced as food for inhabitants could be used for construction, integrating two critical systems and significantly simplifying the architecture needed to sustain early extraterrestrial colonies. After optimisation, lunar and Martian StarCrete achieved compressive strengths of 91.7 and 72.0 MPa, respectively, which is well within the domain of high-strength concrete (>42 MPa) and surpasses most other proposed technology solutions despite being a relatively low-energy process. The flexural strength of the lunar and Martian StarCrete, at 2.1 and 8.4 MPa, respectively, was also comparable to ordinary concrete (2.5–4.5 MPa). Graphical abstract
#NASA / #University of #Nebraska 📆 Jan 9, 2023 #Mars #habitat outfitting can be realized by insitu construction using #cyanobacteria 🦠 and #fungi 🍄 as building agents. Synthetic biology toolkits will be employed to create a synthetic #lichen🌱 system, composed of diazotrophic cyanobacteria and filamentous fungi, to produce abundant #biominerals (calcium carbonate) and #biopolymers, which will glue #Martian #regolith into consolidated building #blocks. These #selfgrowing building blocks can later be assembled into various #structures https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2023/Biomineralization_Enabled_Self_Growing_Building_Blocks/
Picture : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:071209_082-Stacy-7-12-09.jpg
#StarCrete
Biomineralization-Enabled Self-Growing Building Blocks for Habitat Outfitting on Mars - NASA
The proposed technology fits within the “commuter” surface mission scenario described in Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0. To build the centrally
Spaceflight 🚀
