{"id":131967,"date":"2022-10-25T09:57:37","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T13:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=131967"},"modified":"2023-06-23T13:43:26","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T17:43:26","slug":"ucf-researchers-create-lunar-regolith-bricks-that-could-be-used-to-construct-artemis-base-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-researchers-create-lunar-regolith-bricks-that-could-be-used-to-construct-artemis-base-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Researchers Create Lunar Regolith Bricks That Could Be Used to Construct Artemis Base Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of NASA\u2019s Artemis program to establish a long-term presence on the moon, it aims to build an Artemis base camp that includes a modern lunar cabin, rover and mobile home. This fixed habitat could potentially be constructed with bricks made of lunar regolith and saltwater, thanks to a recent discovery from a team of UCF researchers.<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Ranajay Ghosh of UCF\u2019s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering<\/a> and his research group found that 3D-printed bricks of lunar regolith can withstand the extreme environments of space and are a good candidate for cosmic construction projects. Lunar regolith is the loose dust, rocks and materials that cover the moon\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

The results of their experiments are detailed in a recent issue of Ceramics International<\/em> and were also featured in New Scientist<\/em> magazine prior to publication.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is always an honor to be able to publish our work in a prestigious journal such as Ceramics International<\/em>, and we are quite delighted that New Scientist<\/em> picked our research to publish in their magazine,\u201d Ghosh says. \u201cConsidering UCF\u2019s special place as a space grant university, we feel privileged to contribute to the great tradition of scientific knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

To create the bricks, Ghosh\u2019s team in the Complex Structures and Mechanics of Solids<\/a> (COSMOS) Lab used a combination of 3D printing and binder jet technology (BJT), an additive manufacturing method that forces out a liquid binding agent onto a bed of powder. In Ghosh\u2019s experiments, the binding agent was saltwater, and the powder was regolith made by UCF\u2019s Exolith Lab<\/a>.<\/p>\n