National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveils research focusing on building self-repairing glass habitats on the Moon promising a revolutionary approach for humanity’s future in space.
The project head, Dr. Martin Bermudez of Skyeports, suggested that the Moon’s own dust will be used to create enormous, transparent spheres mimicking bubbles.
The primary element is lunar soil also known as regolith which is rich in silicates that is the key component of glass.
Lunar soil will be then melted and then blown to achieve bubble-like structures. However, unlike bubbles, they will be sturdy and can be made without the requirement of transporting massive building materials back on Earth.
The spherical form, said Dr. Bermudez, occurs spontaneously, and in the low gravitation of the Moon even a mass of molten glass forced out of a furnace by some means would have taken a round form--the shape which is so valuable in distributing the pressure, and in which weight and strength are equal.
The lunar glass which is envisioned is not an ordinary material. It is a special compound that is made of polymer but is less brittle and stronger in comparison to steel.
Notably, it is able to restructure itself to repair ruptures that are produced by micrometeorites or moonquakes which make the habitat safe in the long-term.
These advantages go farther than framework. The shell would be transparent to allow natural light to penetrate the interior, which is a critical issue for the mental health of astronauts.
This design also incorporated plans of integrated solar panels to produce power and the possibility of having multi-layered bubbles which might create condensation to grow plants and produce life supporting ecosystems.
The project was selected under NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which promotes groundbreaking aerospace ideas, and it is currently under test.
Glass-blowing will be first tested in a vacuum chamber in January. Subsequent tests are scheduled to be made in the International Space Station and possibly on the lunar surface itself within a few years.
Dr. Bermudez claims that the project is a race against time because NASA has an Artemis program with the goal of taking astronauts back to the Moon by 2026.
