Once we put all these elements into the bio-reactor, the brick grows in about 7-10 days," he explains. Apart from the bacteria and lunar soil simulant, the third key element is the food you supply to the bacteria. It recreates calcium carbonate crystals around itself under certain conditions," says Kumar over the phone. “The bacteria ( Sporosarcina pasteurii) turns to stone.
Aloke Kumar, assistant professor at the department of mechanical engineering, IISc, explains how these bricks are made in special bio-reactors through a process called bio-mineralization or bio-cementation. This process uses a lunar soil simulant, bacteria and guar beans to consolidate the soil into load-bearing structures. Earlier this month, a team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru published the results of a sustainable process for making brick-like structures that could be used to assemble habitats on the Moon.
LUNARK FANCY HOW TO
The next milestone is figuring out how to build Moon habitats that will not only allow astronauts to survive on the lunar surface but eventually enable human settlements on the astronomical body closest to us.Īnd scientists around the world are already working on the building blocks. But clearly, the next big step in exploring the Moon will go beyond lunar landers, rovers, orbiters and robots. Over the decades, there have been multiple moon landing missions-be it India’s Chandrayaan programme or the Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme, Chang’e. Recent news reports suggest China too is developing a plan for an international lunar research station for crewed missions in the near future. In 2024, US space agency Nasa’s Artemis programme will see astronauts return to the Moon for the first time since December 1972.
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