We could make roads on the moon by melting lunar dust

Lunar dust could be melted into paving slabs to create roads on the moon, enabling simpler transport throughout its floor.

Miranda Fateri at Aalen University in Germany and her colleagues used a 12-kilowatt laser to warmth a powder product of plagioclase, olivine and pyroxene, developed as an alternative to lunar dust.

At a temperature of 1200°C, the dust compacted and become a black, glassy construction with a compression energy corresponding to that of concrete, which could be usable as a street floor. “It makes transport on the moon easier,” says Fateri.

While deploying a laser on the moon to create such a street may be tough, the researchers calculate {that a} 1.5-metre-wide lens could as an alternative be used to focus daylight and produce the similar impact.

Previous experiments have used lasers to compact reproduction lunar soil, however Fateri says her workforce’s 10-centimetre-wide beam is the widest but used.

The researchers then used the laser to create interlocking triangle shapes from the lunar soil, measuring 25 centimetres on either side. They envisage that these shapes could be laid down on the floor of the moon like tiles to create a street that automobiles could drive over. This wouldn’t solely make driving simpler, however forestall lunar dust from being kicked up and damaging gear.

In future, Fateri and her colleagues plan to research whether or not their materials could additionally be used for touchdown or launch pads on the moon. “If you land on loose lunar soil, it creates a lot of dust,” says Fateri. “We need landing pads.”