Indian Scientists Make Sustainable 'Space Bricks' With Urea For Buildings On Moon

A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has come up with a sustainable process to make brick-like structures on the surface of the moon.

Bengaluru-based IISc, in a statement, said that the lunar soil can be explored along with bacteria and guar beans to consolidate the matter into possible load-bearing structures.

The process developed uses urea which can be sourced from human urine and lunar soil as raw materials for the construction on the lunar surface, it said.

"These space bricks could eventually be used to assemble structures for habitation on the moon's surface, the researchers suggest," it said, reported The Times of India.

"It is really exciting because it brings two different fields biology and mechanical engineering together," says Aloke Kumar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IISc, one of the authors of two studies recently published in ''Ceramics International" and ''PLOS One''.

The statement mentioned that the cost of sending one pound of material to outer space is about ₹7.5 lakh which would not be feasible and with the Earth's dwindling natural resources, scientists have intensified efforts to make the moon habitable.

This decreases the overall expenditure considerably, according to the researchers. The process also has a lower carbon footprint because it uses guar gum instead of cement for support. The bacteria is added to further crystalise the brick in any shape needed.

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