In the search to come up with ways to produce needed resources on the moon without having to send them up from Earth, China has described plans to make bricks on the moon from the lunar regolith. Regolith is essentially the lunar equivalent of topsoil, but lacking (as far we've seen so far!) the organic materials in Earthly topsoil.
The mission is based on a satellite called Chang'e 8, currently scheduled to launch around 2028. The mission is planned as a stepping stone to China's International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) and could, potentially, mark a big breakthrough for moon exploration and habitation.
"Now we have developed the world's first device that produces bricks made of lunar soil. This system harnesses sunlight, collects solar energy, and transmits it to the moon using fiber optics," Wu Weiren, chief designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, told China Central Television (CCTV).
Their device heats the soil to temperatures between 1400 to 1500 degrees Celsius by concentrating sunlight. That's enough to melt the soil. They then use "3D printing technology" to shape the melted soil into brick-like shapes. The important aspect here is that they ship only a small amount of technology (mass) "uphill" to the moon to get to this point, and use local resources for everything else involved.
This is also not the first step that China has made in this area. China has already sent a sample of bricks made from different compositions of lunar soil simulant, meant to mimic real moon regolith, to its Tiangong space station. These will remain outside Tiangong for three years to test their durability in the harsh thermal, radiation and vacuum conditions of outer space and help assess their suitability for building lunar habitats.
Before Chang'e 8 in 2028, China will launch Chang'e 7 in 2026, featuring a lunar rover to explore the area around the south pole of the moon with a particular focus on the search for water. Water is the big game changer on the moon, whether for drinking water or to be used for any number of important things like hydrogen and oxygen for fuel and oxidizer or possibly even improving the bricks' properties.
Screenshot from an animation depicting a future Chinese robotic mission to the moon's south pole. (Image credit: CCTV) (Video here)
That seems like an awfully high temperature to 3D print material...
ReplyDeleteIF they can make it work, the results should be pretty strong.
An advantage of printing them if they can be any shape, as compared to a limited number of molds.
Jonathan
There are other approaches for 3d printing than extrusion. For instance, powder bed and stereolitho, either of which might work better with regolith.
DeleteStrong perhaps, but perhaps also brittle. And an issue with powder bed laser or e-beam printing, is the grain structure of the finished part is different from that of casting or forging. It can be strong, but it can respond to stresses differently and break in different ways than parts made via traditional approaches, and it's something we're still trying to understand.
China is never honest about what it's doing. I don't see the point of following Chinese news without an outside observer. The past few decades backs me up on that.
ReplyDeleteDo you see the point of following Western news (from any Western nation) without an outside observer?
DeleteMany decades back me up on that!
Wow, I wasn't aware that China had an operating space station. Not exactly MSN level information. Seems I learn a lot here, thanks.
ReplyDeletehumans have been casting slag for millenia. China is getting ready to do it on the moon.
ReplyDelete