Scientists want to melt the moon with lasers to build roads

Extreme heat may be the answer to building roads and launch sites for future lunar bases

2023-11-05 – 11:00

Illustration: Fluid systems group

Space councils agree that the next step to being able to take humans to Mars is to build a base on the Moon. It is much easier to start such a long voyage with such a large ship from a celestial body with no atmosphere.

But the moon is not an ideal environment to live in or build things on. One of the big problems is lunar dust. Because of the weak gravity, it stays suspended in the “air” for a long time and finds its way into machines. Because it is not carried by the wind, it is very sharp, which means it quickly damages machinery.

One solution is to build roads and “asphalt” surfaces where you have to move objects or launch missiles. But transporting such a large amount of material to the Moon is very expensive. Therefore, researchers are investigating whether it is possible to use existing materials.

A project at the European Space Agency is called Paver, and there they are investigating the possibility of simply melting The rich To the building blocks from which roads can be built. In the project, a 12-kilowatt energy beam was used, which melted 25 millimeters of lunar dust, which then created a solid plate.

On the Moon, it would be difficult to create enough power for such a laser, but it is thought to be able to use sunlight instead. This is done simply by using an 87cm radius lens to focus it on a very hot spot. Anyone who has set things on fire with a magnifying glass as a kid knows exactly what it’s all about.

Read more: Fluid Systems Group

In-depth reading: Nature magazine