Conducting crewed missions to the moon and establishing outposts there are points in evert space agency goals list. The Indian and Chinese space agencies, the European Space Agency (ESA), Roscosmos, and NASA, are already brainstorming ideas, and they are about to starts constructing lunas settlements and bases. This will bring humans to the moon, and it would make missions to Mars and other destinations deeper into space possible.
Their plans
ESA aims to build an international lunar village in the Moon, and it has a limit date of 2030. This village will facilitate scientific research on the Moon. At the moment, the European researchers are testing the possibility of male bricks out of lunar dust. The experiments are conducted with lunar dust simulants.
Why lunar dust?
Regolith or dust is covering the entire surface of the moon, and it is composed of fine particles of rough silicate. The silicate mantle was pounded into fine particles throughout a period of billions of years of meteorites continually impacting the moon. Because the Moon lacks water and atmosphere, the silicate remained in a fine and rough state as there is no erosion or weathering on the moon.
There is a lot of regolith on the moon, and it can reach between 4 and 15 meters depending on the region of the moon and their age. The majority of the space agencies want to use this substance as building material for lunar settlements. The ESA’s science advisor and a lunar soil expert, Aidan Cowley, said explained that it is possible to do so:
“Moon bricks will be made of dust. You can create solid blocks out of it to build roads and launch pads, or habitats that protect your astronauts from the harsh lunar environment.”
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