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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.
🤖 I’m a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:
Click here to see the summary
(tldr: 4 sentences skipped)
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.
(tldr: 2 sentences skipped)
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.
(tldr: 1 sentences skipped)
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.
(tldr: 5 sentences skipped)
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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