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This is how we could possibly build paved roads on the Moon

arstechnica.com This is how we could possibly build paved roads on the Moon

Lasers melt a regolith-like material into pavers that could be used for lunar roads.

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21 comments

  • But why?

    I can't really think of any scenario where this would be needed or practical.

    Edit: other than for fortifying landing pads as mentioned in the article.

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    • Eh? The whole article refers to lunar dust being the bane of existence there. The slabs would no longer be kicking up dust into sensitive delicate stuff.

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      • What sensitive delicate stuff needs to be lugged around on roads on the moon a lot?

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    • The first paragraph list another motivation:

      mitigate damage from sharp particles of lunar regolith

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    • Can only guess.

      But if colonisation. Or even long term occupation for research. Is to happen. Then there will be need to house and maintain landers and launch veicles of some form.

      Such will mean a need to move from launch pad to an enviroment where technician's can repair test and maintain in shelter.

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      • But why would we want to colonize the Moon?

        Setting up a colony would be fantastically expensive, living there would be tough, the low gravity might cause health issues similar to what microgravity or weightlessness cause, and the colony would be completely reliant for resupplies from Earth which would also be very expensive.

        Colonizing it "just 'cause" doesn't seem like it'd make sense. Habitats for research might, but it'd be on a much smaller scale so it's unclear whether roads would be needed.

        Edit: I'm not saying research like this is useless though. Might be useful one day, might not be, that's the nature of things and increasing the sum total of human knowledge is never useless

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      • Yes launchpads I can see, and short stretches of fortified paths to and from those, but I find it highly unlikely that there will ever be the need to construct roads for overland travel on the moon.

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  • Transport on Mars is much easier than on moon.

    On Mars, there is Water and CO2, all the ingredients needed to make life. And sunlight and building material, needed to make industry. You can make roads on Mars similar to railway on Earth.

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  • 🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:

    Click here to see the summary

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    The researchers fired laser beams at lunar soil to create interlocking pavers that could be used to construct paved roads and landing pads.

    The hardened molten regolith is tough enough to withstand the weight of rovers and other spacecraft with minimal dust kickup, and it could all be made right there on the Moon.

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    On Earth, rock, glass, and other materials in soil are constantly exposed to weathering forces such as wind, rain, and flowing water, which is why grains of sand are often smooth around the edges.

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    Any spacecraft that lands on or traverses the Moon is at risk from the dust it kicks up because unweathered shards of rock and glass can easily scratch sensitive instruments and wear away at surfaces.

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    During this process, the research team found that any crisscrossing or overlap of laser beams could lead to internal cracking, especially since lunar regolith is full of glass and other silicates.

    The laser that proved most effective ended up having a 45 mm (about 1.8 inches) beam that could move over dust in a specific pattern that produced triangular shapes.

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    Saved 72% of original text.

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  • If they can work this out it would be neat if they could do this either from a satellite or with a Rover so the surfaces could be prepared before missions

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