10?s
In this recurring feature,
Sky’s Up gives students
the opportunity to ask
10 Questions to leading
astronomers, space explorers,
scientists and cosmologists.
ooo
The questions for this
installment were submitted
by 8th grade students in the
Pre-AP Science program at
Ramay Junior High School in
Fayetteville, Ark.
Building
Blocks
JPL scientists are
paving the way
for space bases
18
1
Why do we need a lunar base? How can a lunar base help us
expand our space exploration options?
2
How are the bricks made now, and how will the process be
different in space? What energy source would be used?
Bricks made on Earth usually contain various components that help bind the brick material
together. One option is to send up these binding components for making bricks in space,
however, it will be very expensive to do that. There are several energy sources being evaluated
for use on the Moon or Mars. We are evaluating the use of microwaves. Other researchers are
evaluating focused solar energy.
Left, Jet
Propulsion
Laboratory
colleagues Dr.
Martin Barmatz,
right, and
David Steinfeld,
seated,
prepare to
make dielectric
and magnetic
property
measurements
on lunar
soils in the
lunar sample
building at
NASA’s Johnson
Space Center.
Opposite page,
Steinfeld holds
a measurement
tube containing
a lunar soil
sample.
On December 14, 1972, U.S. Astronaut Gene Cernan made
the last boot print on the Moon as he stepped off the lunar
soil to board the Apollo 17 Lunar Module.
Although decades have passed since humanity left the
Moon behind, interest in what our solemn companion
can teach us has not diminished. In fact, the desire in the
scientific community to revisit the Moon and venture
beyond is very much alive.
A team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has put this
“when we go” attitude into action by developing a method
to create the building materials necessary for habitation of
the Moon or Mars out of a readily available resource. Their
solution is a microwave heating system that can completely
melt lunar or Mars regolith (soil) into a substance that can
be used to make bricks and even roads on site. In an effort
to further support these future missions by addressing
essential life support needs, the team is currently evaluating
how this microwave heating process might be used to
extract consumables like water from various regolith types.
In this installment of Sky’s Up’s “10 Questions” feature, JPL
colleagues Dr. Martin Barmatz and David Steinfeld answer
questions about the project.
Sky’s
Up
There are several reasons for having a lunar base. It can be used as a stepping stone for a
future trip to Mars or asteroids. Another advantage is to have a base for more accurately
studying the evolution of the Moon and for preparing for future colonization. There is
considerable interest in finding ways of extracting water from the lunar polar regions for
supplying future colonists. At the present time there is no NASA funding allocated for a
lunar base, however other nations are actively considering this possibility.
COURTESY OF
JPL/NASA
Sky’s
Up
19