The project aims to support future lunar infrastructure, including plans for astronaut landings by 2030 and the construction of an International Lunar Research Station by 2035. Beginning in November 2024, seventy-four simulated lunar soil bricks were brought to the space station on the Tianzhou 8 cargo ship and mounted externally for exposure studies. The experiment is designed to run for three years, with bricks returned annually for analysis.
Researchers engineered a lunar soil simulant using volcanic ash from Changbai Mountain in Jilin province to mimic lunar regolith based on chemical profiles from Chang'e 5 mission samples. The bricks are manufactured through hot-press sintering, giving them the density of conventional bricks but with compressive strength more than triple the norm. Their stability endures temperatures from minus 190 to 180 degrees Celsius and constant cosmic radiation.
"For constructing lunar scientific facilities, utilizing locally-sourced materials from the moon is the preferred approach," Ding said.
Drawing on Chinese masonry traditions, the team developed mortise-tenon joint structures using sintered moon dust. The sintering process could be powered by concentrated solar energy on the lunar surface. A robotic assembly system stacks the bricks, followed by structural reinforcement with 3D printing.
Researchers will study the bricks' changes due to space exposure, using the results to improve predictive models for their performance on the moon. The findings will support the design and durability assessment of extraterrestrial building materials for future missions.
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