China's BIG plan to conquer the Moon, to build lunar city, settlements by 2035, develops tech to transform moondust into...
China Moon Mission: China's rapid technological advancement has dazzled the world over the last decade, and now the Asian giant has reportedly developed a technology that transforms moondust (regolith) into sturdy bricks which would be used in building houses on the moon, as Beijing plans to establish lunar settlements by 2035. What is China's 'moon bricks' technology?
According to media reports, Chinese scientists have developed an advanced machine to build bricks from regolith on the surface of the moon. The machine collects moondust and superheats it a special chambers, where the high-temperatures fuse the dust particles together to form solid bricks that can be used to construct research bases and housing facilities on the moon.
The technology is a major step towards establishing settlements in space as it nullifies the cost of transport construction material from Earth, as transportation for a single kilo could run into crores. How the technology works?
As per experts, the machine makes bricks similar to how regular bricks are made back on Earth, by baking clay in a hot furnace. The machine heats moondust to a temperature of up to 1300 degrees Celsius by amplifying the available sunlight by 3000 times. The superheated furnace melts the dust and shapes it into durable space bricks.
The machine was first tested with volcanic ash on Earth, but melting regolith is a challenging task as its composition varies in different spots on the lunar surface due to radiation exposure, temperature fluctuations and micrometeorites striking the moon. Where will the bricks be tested?
China's Tianzhou-8 mission ferried a cache of regolith bricks to space where they will undergo rigorous testing for radiation and temperature effects for three years at the Tiangong Space Station. These tests are designed to determine their durability and efficacy for building installations on the moon.
In 2020, China's Chang-e-5 mission brought back soil samples from the moon, and soon Chinese engineers designed a machine to create moondust bricks after studying the composition of regolith. The Chang-e-8 mission, which aims to lay the foundation of a Chinese research base on the moon, will carry the technology with it to the lunar surface in 2028. When China plans to build a lunar city?
According to reports, China's Chang-E-7 mission will head to the moon in 2026 to search for water on the lunar south pole, while a manned mission is planned for 2030, and a permanent research base along with a lunar colony, is expected to be operational by 2035.
Notably, China and Russia have teamed up to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon, which will power the proposed International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). The revolutionary project is expected to be completed by 2036.
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