Until now, it is believed that there will be enormous benefits from developing the moon, but a lunar base is essential for humanity to advance to the moon in earnest. However, the cost of launching construction materials from Earth to create a lunar base is too impractical. For this reason, interest in the concrete made of sand on the moon is drawing.
A joint research team from Pennsylvania State University and NASA conducted an experiment in compacting concrete with a small amount of material at the International Space Station ISS. The purpose is to gain knowledge to build a lunar base with concrete made of lunar sand.
Concrete is a familiar material, but it is said that the process of increasing the strength due to the hardening of concrete has not been fully elucidated. In order to make such concrete on the moon, it is necessary to first understand the structure in which it hardens and how it behaves under microgravity. When making concrete on Earth, cement, which is a concrete material, reacts with water and calcium silicate hydrate and calcium hydroxide begin to form crystals. The microstructures of the grown crystals are interlocked with each other to combine particles or gravel, making it a thick material and a solid material.
Then what will happen under the gravity of the smile? The research team moved calcium silicate, slaked lime, and distilled water, the main components of cement, to the International Space Station. The ingredients were then mixed in a sealed bag and allowed to solidify over 42 days. As a result, it is said that the concrete hardened in space has a structure different from that of concrete made on the ground. Of the two micrographs, the top is concrete made in space and the bottom is made on the ground.
The research team said that concrete made in space contains more evenly mixed materials than those made on the ground. This is a property that increases the strength of concrete. In addition, it has a porous structure, which makes the concrete weak. It is pointed out that both elements that increase strength and elements that weaken it can be seen. In fact, it is being tested which of the two concretes has the highest strength.
The research team also showed the view that the moon’s sand can be made stronger than the ground by saying that the moon’s sand is a fairly fine particle and can suppress the occurrence of air bubbles and make the concrete firm. Related information can be found here .