Experimental Study of Waterless Concrete for Lunar Construction

Abstract

For long term space exploration it will be necessary to build a safe infrastructure and experimental research facilities for human scientists providing efficient working conditions and protecting against the environment. To construct structures on the moon one has to select proper materials considering strength and cost of production and supply. Concrete is a widely used material for building any kind of structure on the earth. Concrete is also a good candidate as construction material on the moon, but has to fit the lunar environment and the economic realities. This paper presents a pilot effort to investigate the efficacy of waterless concrete using mostly ISRU material for the robotic fabrication and installation of prefabricated elements. The first concrete bricks have been "cast" by the small research group. The results of testing the first lunar concrete specimens using polymers as binder will be presented at the conference.