Scientists Develop Concrete For Building on Mars

• January 7, 2016
• 2 Comments

by UrbanTurf Staff

Scientists from Northwestern University believe they have come up with a concrete that can be used for building homes on Mars.

The key aspect of the concrete, developed by Lin Wan, Roman Wendner and Gianluca Cusatis, is that it can be produced without water, which is in short supply on the red planet.

“The key material in a Martian construction boom will be sulphur,” the Northwestern team told the MIT Technology Review. “The basic idea is to heat sulphur to about 240 degrees Celsius so that it becomes liquid, mix it with Martian soil, which acts as an aggregate, and then let it cool. The sulphur solidifies, binding the aggregate and creating concrete.”

In October, NASA announced the winner of its competition to design and build a 3-D printed habitat for deep space exploration, “including the agency’s journey to Mars.” The winning Ice House design is pictured above.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/scientists_develop_concrete_for_building_on_mars/10729

2 Comments

1. yogeshu said at 9:06 pm on Thursday January 7, 2016:
   Nothing is known about Martian soil and no sample is available. How can we ensure that this cement will owrk on Mars?

1. bob said at 8:52 am on Saturday January 9, 2016:
   Umm, you need to catch up on some reading, yogeshu. You appear to have no idea what the heck you're talking about.