The cost of delivering one brick to Mars exceeds $2 million.
Scientists from the University of Manchester have developed a new concrete-like building material based on Martian dust, and the binding material is various secretions of astronauts, for example, blood, sweatBritish scientists drew inspiration from ancient building techniques.At that time, animal blood was added to mortar as a binding material.For example, pig blood regulated the growth of calcium carbonate crystals.One study described this ancient technology as "one of the most important technological inventions in the history of Chinese architecture."
AstroCrete samples made from simulated soils of the Moon and Mars.
University of Manchester
In the new work, the researchers found that a common protein from human blood plasma, serum albumin, canact as a binder for simulated lunar or Martian dust.The result is a concrete-like material called AstroCrete, which has a compressive strength of 25 MPa (megapascals), almost the same as that of conventional concrete (20–32 MPa).Urea, the biological waste that the body produces, was also included in this materialIt additionally increased the compressive strength by 300%.
It turned out that 500 kg of high-strength AstroCrete can be produced by six astronauts in a two-year mission to Mars.
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