Building roads on the moon presents unique challenges compared to building roads on Earth. Due to the lack of atmosphere and lower gravity, dust becomes a major issue. According to the Guardian, dust on the moon “erodes space suits, clogs machinery, interferes with scientific instruments, and makes moving around difficult.” NASA and other space agencies have been grappling with this problem as they envision establishing a lunar base and using lunar rovers. However, Jens Günster of Berlin’s Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing believes he has a solution: melting moon dust to create a solid surface similar to paving.
Transporting materials to the moon is costly, so Günster suggests using the lunar dust already present on the moon’s surface. In a study published in Scientific Reports, Günster and his colleagues propose melting moon dust into interlocking “tiles” that form hard and smooth surfaces. They conducted experiments using a carbon dioxide laser beam to simulate focused solar radiation, melting a fine-grain material called EAC-1A, developed by the European Space Agency as a lunar soil substitute. The dust compacted and transformed into a black, glassy structure capable of supporting structures at temperatures of 1,200 degrees Celsius, according to E+T Magazine. The researchers settled on designing triangular “tiles” measuring approximately 10 inches across.
According to the Guardian, it took about an hour to create a single shape, meaning that it would take approximately 100 days to create a landing area of 32 square feet. Günster acknowledges that this might sound like a long time, but it is not inconceivable. He suggests that a similar approach can be employed on the moon using a 25-square-feet rollable lens made of polymer foil to concentrate the sun’s rays. Günster also emphasizes the importance of a vibrating feature to prevent dust accumulation on the lens, which could hinder its functionality. The study’s co-author, Juan-Carlos Ginés-Palomares, an engineer at Berlin’s Technical University, points out that further testing is needed to evaluate the tiles’ performance under low gravity and rocket thrust, as per Nature.
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