Space station astronaut begins mixing cement for future moon base

Could we use lunar concrete to build a settlement on the moon?

Handcraft

While countries continue to flesh out plans for their moon bases, an astronaut on the International Space Station is busy stirring the stuff – literally.

In a press release, NASA said its astronaut and flight engineer Matthew Dominick has begun studying the effects of microgravity on cement mixed in space by mixing his own small batch of cement aboard the space station.

The goal is to establish a lunar base on lunar soil – an important foundation for our future efforts to establish a more permanent presence on the Moon.

Space refrigerator

As part of the agency’s materials science study into concrete hardening, Dominick mixed a simulated version of lunar soil with some unspecified “other materials” and a liquid cement solution in two bags with another bag of hot water between them.

The flight engineer then placed the mixed concoctions in the Freezer/Refrigerator/Incubator Device for Galley and Experimentation (FRIGE), the space station’s futuristic experimental refrigerator, to let the solutions incubate overnight. They will now rest at “ambient temperature” for a few more weeks and then return to Earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule for analysis.

Mixing concrete, which requires cement, is an energy-intensive process that can release a lot of carbon dioxide. The gas can make the material brittle and create air bubbles if it’s mixed incorrectly. Scientists hope to get a better idea of ​​how microgravity might affect the situation.

Instead of spending extra money to transport already built homes into space, NASA is preparing to have astronauts assemble the buildings in space.

While this is not the first time cement has been mixed in space or on the ISS, the inclusion of lunar soil in this experiment could bring humanity one step closer to the goal of building a second home hundreds of thousands of miles away.

More about the construction of the moon: DARPA funding plan to build a giant streetlight on the moon