South Korean researchers turn simulated lunar soil into building blocks
Using simulated lunar soil, South Korean researchers have developed the engineering that turns that soil into building blocks shaped as needed.
The researchers first produce simulated moon soil by grinding black volcanic rock from Cheorwon County bordering the North. They then use a microwave to turn the sand-like simulant into solidified blocks. Lee said the team has developed a technique to make blocks by heating the soil in a mold to more than 1,000 degrees Celsius in two to three hours and cooling them. In space, the process could be powered by nuclear energy.
The article at the link also provides a nice summary of the status of South Korea’s entire space effort.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Using simulated lunar soil, South Korean researchers have developed the engineering that turns that soil into building blocks shaped as needed.
The researchers first produce simulated moon soil by grinding black volcanic rock from Cheorwon County bordering the North. They then use a microwave to turn the sand-like simulant into solidified blocks. Lee said the team has developed a technique to make blocks by heating the soil in a mold to more than 1,000 degrees Celsius in two to three hours and cooling them. In space, the process could be powered by nuclear energy.
The article at the link also provides a nice summary of the status of South Korea’s entire space effort.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
These blocks are for compression; I expect them to, er, explode if filled with 1 bar from the inside.
I assume the same technique will work for asteroid regolith, after we spin those rubblepiles around.
One block at a time is OK. But not for any large construction project.
If you scale it up and make larger blocks will they get even heat or will the corners be colder and not as hard.
I would like a sprayable cement make from rigolith.
Make a cement foundation then inflate a dome on top of it. Spray the cement onto the outside then deflate the done and pull it out of the door. Use it over and over again to create a whole village of domes.
Ir send up a dome and spray the cement on the inside to make it rigid. Any water used in making the cement could be recovered by dehumidifying from the inside until the cement is dry.