International Desk: People dream of settling on the moon and other suitable satellites in the future. But taking construction and fuel production materials from Earth would be impractical. Therefore, the exercise of using lunar materials is going on.
Moon
Researchers in Berlin are trying to figure out how to use moon dust to make glass or bricks. Because the cost of transporting such materials from Earth to the Moon is extremely high.
As an aerospace engineering expert, Prof. Enrico Stoll said many companies really want to deliver cargo to the moon. They are asking for one million Euros to send one kilo of cargo to the moon. Materials such as basalt and feldspar, which are necessary to create materials such as moon dust on Earth's surface, are found near volcanoes. But they should be as dry as possible. When heated to 1,400 degrees Celsius in a vacuum chamber, the material takes on a lava-like form. The molten material has enormous potential.
"What's special about this is that no one has done it before," said Simon Stapperfand of the Berlin University of Technology. We were the first to do that in a vacuum. It is really a big success At the primary level we want to build residences, ie houses, solar cell structures etc. But there is no limit. Moondust is more granular That dust is not as fine as the earth.
"We have two basic elements at hand, namely, the basaltic element and the anorthosite element," says Julian Basch of the Berlin University of Technology. But a mixture of the two can create a specific base suitable for the moon. Moondust contains absolutely no water. Nevertheless, it is possible to make bricks with it at a temperature of 1500 degrees Celsius.
Stefan Linke of the Berlin University of Technology said that the kilns that will produce the bricks will have to be taken from our Earth. Such an oven would probably weigh around 100 kg. But think how many tons of material it can process and produce. Fuel production on the moon is also possible, at least on paper. The sun shines brightly there, there is no cloud in the sky As a result, electricity can be generated using solar cells.
Berlin students succeeded in creating glass as well as brick. It is important to let as much light as possible through that glass. It can then be converted into a solar cell. That work is underway at the University of Potsdam The glass should be as thin and transparent as possible.
Physicist Felix Lang said, "We want to make perovskite solar cells on moonglass." That is, the material will be melted down to produce glass, and only a micro-micrometer layer of perovskite will be placed on it. Perovskite is an artificial crystalline material that can be dissolved in a solvent. It is also possible to spray it evenly on the glass in a vacuum chamber. Then copper will also be applied at a lower temperature. Perovskites have many advantages over conventional silicon.
Cosmic rays in space knock an atom out of its position every so often, Felix Lang said. That is actually an error. As a result, the solar cell is damaged. Perovskite is so soft that even if an atom is knocked out, it snaps back into its original position. As a result, its performance remains intact for decades in space.
The final solar cell is made of two glass plates, with a layer of perovskite in between. Now it's time to test its effectiveness. The solar cell in the vacuum is pointed at the artificial sun. After a few moments it started generating electricity.
Physicist Felix Lang of the University of Potsdam said, "If we could take one kilogram of perovskite to the moon, it would create a surface of 400 square meters, which is the size of three volleyball courts." 500 kilowatts of electricity can be produced there. Nearly half a century after humans first stepped on the moon, humans are dreaming bigger. They want to live on the moon.
