How Lego-style moon bricks could help build space bases in the future
We're building our hopes up.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is thinking about making future lunar bases out of Lego bricks.
Well, sort of.
The agency has been exploring ways to create structures on the moon using the materials already there, rather than taking materials up ourselves.
Experts have long believed utilising its natural resources could help astronauts build and maintain buildings.
And they’ve turned to Lego for inspiration.
The good news is lunar regolith is in abundance on the moon. It’s a layer of loose rocks and dust that sits on top of bedrock.
The bad news is, it’s hard to find on Earth.
Scientists grounded up a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite discovered in northwest Africa in 2000 to experiment.
The team combined tiny metal grains and chondrules (round, molten meteor fragments) with a thermoplastic polymer called polylactide to form the basis of a mixture.
It was then used to 3D print Lego-style space bricks.
ESA Science Officer Dr Aidan Cowley said: ‘No one has ever built a structure on the Moon, so we have to work out not only how we build them but what we build them out of, as we can’t take any materials with us.’
‘My team and I love creative construction and had the idea to explore whether space dust could be formed into a brick similar to a Lego brick, so we could test different building techniques.
‘The result is amazing, and while the bricks may look a little rougher than usual, importantly the clutch power still works, enabling us to play and test our designs.’
The bricks click together just like Lego and come in one colour – space grey.
But whether or not future astronauts decide to use Lego-inspired lunar bases will remain to be seen.
Until then the ESA’s space bricks are embarking on a world tour to inspire the next generation of kids – and maybe future Moon dwellers.
The bricks will be in the Leicester Square Lego store in London from June 24 to September 20 2024 as well as stores around the US and Canada.