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'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
If people really do return to the Moon, this time to stay, they will need habitats that will keep them safe in extremes of temperature - from 121°C (249.8°F) to −131°C (−203.8°F).
(Mooncrete prototype 3D printed from LRC)
A creative solution may lie in structures made from “mooncrete,” a concrete analogue made from Moon rocks. Lunar regolith concrete (LRC) can effectively regulate temperature when exposed to dramatic fluctuations, according to new research that will be presented on 15 December at AGU’s Annual Meeting 2025 in New Orleans.“Lunar regolith has silicon, it has oxygen elements, it has carbon. We have everything that we need to build,” said coauthor Arup Bhattacharya, a building scientist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. “We just have to come up with technologies to utilize it in different ways.”
To investigate how mooncrete might react to extreme heat and cold, the research team used data from previous experiments on lunar regolith properties to simulate a dome-shaped structure made of LRC.
The simulated structure effectively maintained an indoor temperature of 22°C (71.6°F) when subjected to the harsh lunar temperature swings. In addition, the team found that mooncrete’s insulating effects were amplified when two layers were nested on top of one another, separated by a thin layer of empty space.
Science fiction author William Gibson describes the use of lunar concrete in his 1988 novel Mona Lisa Overdrive:
Tessier-Ashpool ascended to high orbit's archipelago to find the ecliptic sparsely marked with military stations and the first automated factories of the cartels. And here they began to build... Ashpool borrowed heavily and the wall of lunar concrete that would be Freeside grew and curved, enclosing its creators.
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