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ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick
LEGO-style bricks printed from lunar regolith could be just what moon colonists ordered, according to European Space Agency (ESA) researchers.
"My team and I team love creative construction and had the idea to explore whether space dust could be formed into a brick similar to a Lego brick so we could test different building techniques," said Aidan Cowley, ESA's science officer, in a statement released by Lego on Tuesday (June 18). "The result is amazing, and, whilst the bricks may look a little rougher than usual, importantly the clutch power still works, enabling us to play and test our designs."(Via Space)
Science fiction fans have early exposure to this idea. In fact, in his 1951 novel The Moon is Hell, John W. Campbell wrote about marooned members of the second lunar expedition surviving by manufacturing solar cells using lunar materials.
(John W. Campbell [1931 Wonder Stories])
See also this related article on a Lunar Contour Crafting - 'Print' A Moonbase and this article on how moon dust can be used to fabricate solar power panels.
Aliens have tried the same thing on Earth - in science fiction, of course. This development was predicted in The Onslaught from Venus by Frank Phillips, published in Science Wonder Stories way back in 1929:
(Brick-making Heat machine from 'The Onslaught From Venus' by Frank Phillips)"Here we see ... one of their heat machines is turning out molten lava made from rock and earth, and which later will be used to make building blocks for these invaders."
(Read more about the Boring Heat Machine)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/4/2024)
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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