2024-11-24T04:13:33-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150079250/european-space-scientists-experiment-turning-lunar-dust-into-building-blocks Hope Daley 2018-08-24T16:25:00-04:00 >2018-08-24T16:26:00-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/3f/3ff54b085baf052f114bdf4fab346ac1.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Scientists with the European Space Agency (ESA) have created a terrestrial simulation of moon dust to practice making bricks with. And it appears lunar &ldquo;soil&rdquo; is significantly different from its terrestrial equivalent, as it can be crushed, burned and compressed to form building materials, or used as the raw material for 3D printing.</p></em><br /><br /><p>The European Space Agency (ESA) is <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/603447/design-experiments" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">experimenting</a> with lunar dust as a <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/191627/building-materials" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">building material</a> with goals to avoid lifting hefty materials from Earth into <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/472322/outer-space" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">space</a>. Lunar dust is electrically charged and primarily composed of basalt (like volcanic rock) with 40% of its mass made of oxygen. ESA is testing this unique material to create solid blocks, which could potentially construct launch pads or lunar habitats.&nbsp;</p>