China is exploring the possibility of building a lunar base from lunar soil, and to do so, it is testing bricks made with materials inspired by lunar soil. As part of its mission to send humans to the Moon by 2030 and establish a permanent base by 2035, the country launched a cargo rocket, Tianzhou-8, on Friday to deliver brick samples to its Tiangong space station. These bricks, made by a team of researchers led by Zhou Cheng at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, will be exposed to extreme conditions in space to test their strength.
Objective: Test materials for construction on the Moon
The bricks will be subjected to the harsh conditions of space, such as extreme temperatures (from -190°C to +180°C), exposure to cosmic radiation, as well as micrometeorite impacts and lunar earthquakes. These conditions make it possible to simulate the environment of the Moon in order to determine whether the bricks remain resistant and functional after prolonged exposure.
The bricks designed by Chinese researchers are three times stronger than standard bricks and are made from basalt, a material abundant on Earth and similar to that collected by the Chinese probe Chang’e 5, which brought back lunar soil in 2022. These bricks are also designed to fit together, eliminating the need for a binder, a particularly complex aspect to manage on the Moon.
The use of local resources: an economical solution
The long-term goal is to manufacture bricks directly on the Moon using local resources, including lunar soil, a concept that would reduce the costs of transporting materials from Earth. Jacco van Loon, an astrophysicist at Keele University, points out that this approach could pave the way for building lunar bases and has a good chance of success.
International competition
The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a Chinese project in collaboration with Russia, could host international partners, including countries such as Thailand, Pakistan, Venezuela and Senegal.
