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" A Virginia Tech team might have the answer to the lunar base construction challenge: build a dome of moon rock bricks using the material that&amp;#039;s already there. Going under the name &amp;quot;Masons of Regolith,&amp;quot; the seven Virginia Tech students used a kind of volcanic ash similar to regolith from moon rocks to build bricks that could lay the foundation of a moon dome. Doctoral student Eric Faierson says the simulated regolith (which came from NASA) is volcanic ash mixed with other materials to mimic moon rock. The team combined the faux moon ash with powdered aluminum and mixed the two together in a silica crucible. Then the group put a nickel chromium wire into the mixture and heated it to 2700 degrees F, starting a thermite reaction that spread through the mix and turned it to solid brick. All it takes is heating the mixture to aluminum&amp;#039;s melting point, about 1221 degrees F, says the team&amp;#039;s adviser, professor Kathryn Logan. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s very much like a sparkler,&amp;quot; she says. Moon-brick masonry is a mishmash of old-fashioned handiwork and modern materials science. The team uses a silica mold, which Faierson says is the best material to withstand the extreme temperatures that propel the chemical reaction. The team used the material to build cylindrical shapes, then subjected them to pressure tests until they cracked.  The moon-brick material turned out to be nearly as strong as concrete, able to bear nearly 2500 pounds per square inch. Trying to use mortar to stick bricks together could prove problematic on the moon, however. So the team turned to another centuries-old building strategy--creating a dome that supports its own weight, eliminating the need for mortar or glue. Each layer up would simply require a specific mold for that shape, Faierson says. And the dome design could be an ideal one for the lunar surface, not only because it requires no mortar, he says, but also because the moon&amp;#039;s weak gravity means that the building will have to cope with less downward force. &amp;quot;The gravity of the moon actually works to our advantage,&amp;quot; Faierson says. However, a moon-brick dome would not be airtight, Logan says, so its ideal use would be to cover the polymer domes that NASA has proposed as possible lunar settlement structures. Moon-rock bricks could protect the building from meteorites bombarding the lunar surface, she says. And they might even be able to block cosmic radiation--the Earth&amp;#039;s magnetosphere blocks this harmful radiation, but moon settlers would be vulnerable. So far, she says, the team has only tested the bricks with neutron radiation, but they performed well. The team&amp;#039;s work is promising, but its experimental building is limited to Earth&amp;#039;s conditions. Actual construction on the moon brings a whole new series of challenges, Logan says. Faierson says the team experimented with the chemical reaction in a regular Earth atmosphere--the next step will be to test it in a vacuum to simulate the moon environment. He says that the reaction might rely on nitrogen intake, for example, meaning the brick-making process would need to change to be useful for lunar building. &amp;quot;On the moon, nitrogen will not be available,&amp;quot; he says. And, Logan says, temperatures far below zero on the surface of the moon could extinguish the reaction. Her solution is to submerge the brick-making process, setting it down into the lunar surface, which she says is a good insulator. NASA&amp;#039;s planned return to the moon is only a decade away, and the Virginia Tech team has still created only small example bricks--Logan says she wants her next batch of grad students to build a model dome with their material, but it would only be a couple of feet high in order to be mobile. Still, she&amp;#039;s hopeful that this project shows how it could be possible to build lunar buildings with lunar materials. Moon building gives engineers the chance to be creative--not only are these bricks made from local lunar materials, Logan says, they&amp;#039;re an opportunity to recycle--aluminum could come from spare parts on lunar landers, which she says NASA had planned to just throw in a dump on the moon.  However, for now, Logan says, it&amp;#039;s good to keep the process simple: &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re just taking moon dirt and burning it.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a3937/4298478/>