BENGALURU: The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Friday said that in what could be a significant step forward in space exploration, a team of its researchers and Isro has developed a sustainable process for making brick-like strBENGALURU:uctures on Moon. TOI was the first to report about this project on January 30, 2020.
The process exploits lunar soil, and uses bacteria and guar beans to consolidate the soil into possible load-bearing structures. These “space bricks” could eventually be used to assemble structures for habitation on Moon’s surface, the researchers suggest.
“It’s really exciting because it brings two different fields – biology and mechanical engineering – together,” says Aloke Kumar, assistant professor, IISc department of mechanical engineering, and one of the authors of two studies recently published in Ceramics International and PLOSOne. “The process also has a lower carbon footprint because it uses guar gum instead of cement for support. This could also be exploited to make sustainable bricks on Earth,” the institute said in a statement.