Printing Moon bricks with sunlight - Engineering at its best

[finneyb]

Bricks have been 3D printed out of simulated moondust using concentrated sunlight – proving in principle that future lunar colonists could one day use the same approach to build settlements on the Moon.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space ... Sun_s_heat

Brian

 

[NazNomad]

''We can complete a 20 x 10 x 3 cm brick for building in around five hours.''

I've seen a few brickies that couldn't cope with that output. :-D

 

[Mike Jordan]

So
Just the sand and cement to sort out now then!

 

[AES]

AND the water for the mix!

AES

 

[finneyb]

So
Just the sand and cement to sort out now then!

AND the water for the mix!

AES

You dinosaurs you would focus the sun's rays and fuse the outside edge of the brickwork together, as in welding.
Moon has no atmosphere so there is greater solar power available ie sun is not filtered thro the atmosphere

Can't quite work out why I need a brick structure on the moon - the living space would need to be airtight to maintain a breathable atmosphere, which points to some kind of inflatable membrane dome.

There must be greater minds on the job that mine - hopefully !!

Brian

 

[Steve Maskery]

But why would anyone in their right mind want to live on the moon?
Why?

 

[nev]

But why would anyone in their right mind want to live on the moon?
Why?

I Know! Absolutely no atmosphere

 

[rafezetter]

But why would anyone in their right mind want to live on the moon?
Why?

miners - there's a wealth of minerals on the moon and floating around nearby; asteroid mining will be a real thing, has to be as future demand outstrips supply and the means to get at it without destroying what's left of the worlds ecosystems.

The moon will be a base of operations, and refuelling (hydrogen / oxygen made from water ice found at the caps), tectonically stable, plus no agressive atmosphere & surface temperatures unlike pretty much everywhere else and closer than Mars (for now).

We SHOULD be there now if humanity weren't such a bunch of territorial / religeously fanatical idiots.

(Oh and lowgrav environments would help older people and ones with certain diseases live longer)

Man, if only.....

 

[finneyb]

(Oh and lowgrav environments would help older people and ones with certain diseases live longer)

Man, if only.....

NHS could save a fortune on hip & knee replacements - with low gravity.
Sorry we don't hip & knee replacements in the NHS any more here is your one- way ticket to the Moon it will reduce the loading on the joint

Brian

 

[MarkDennehy]

Can't quite work out why I need a brick structure on the moon - the living space would need to be airtight to maintain a breathable atmosphere, which points to some kind of inflatable membrane dome.

Shielding from both radiation and micrometeorites, which are a problem when you haven't got fifty-odd miles of atmosphere and a large magnetic field to shield you.

 

[finneyb]

Can't quite work out why I need a brick structure on the moon - the living space would need to be airtight to maintain a breathable atmosphere, which points to some kind of inflatable membrane dome.

Shielding from both radiation and micrometeorites, which are a problem when you haven't got fifty-odd miles of atmosphere and a large magnetic field to shield you.

I see your point. Build a safe house in side the inflated dome? To be used when solar flares that would hit the moon are detected - much the same as on ISS.

But I don't see how bricks can be used to protect against mm which are unpredictable - the brick structure would have to be large and structural to span across the inflated dome. But I agree they may be a problem - depends upon the frequency of mm I suppose.

Brian

 

[MarkDennehy]

Basically, you dig a trench, inflate the dome in it, then build an arch over it with the bricks. They've had designs on the books since the 1970s for this.