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+--- Thread: Article Building homes on Mars with human blood (innovative concrete for non-Earth landscape) (/thread-17033.html)
Building homes on Mars with human blood (innovative concrete for non-Earth landscape) - C C - Dec 18, 2024
https://www.popsci.com/science/mars-blood-concrete/
EXCERPTS: . . . Ancient Roman concrete is known for its excellent resiliency, strength, and even self-healing properties. But masons often used other key ingredients in the brickmaking: blood and urine. Knowing this, a research team from Iran’s Kharazmi University recently mixed and tested multiple potential building materials using various combinations of sediment found on Mars, as well as other easily obtainable components.
[...] “The production process is simple. Aggregates (Martian regolith) bind together through contact with human serum albumin (HAS), a protein found in blood plasma,” they write.
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The team theorizes that a single astronaut could produce enough HAS to make the amount of AstroCrete necessary to construct a single-occupancy dwelling in about 72 weeks. To increase the AstroCrete’s compressive strength and plasticity while also lowering its brittleness, the study authors offer another possible additive—urea extracted from sweat, tears, and urine. An additional major benefit of AstroCrete is that it requires no water to mix, which is especially useful given the planet’s almost entirely arid conditions.
Researchers stressed that mission engineers and astronauts will need to consider much more than just sulfur-based concrete or AstroCrete when planning a base on Mars. Numerous other challenges, such as the planet’s exposure to ultraviolet radiation, deadly climate, low gravity, and lack of water may all prevent humans from permanently living there.
Success, the authors explain, therefore “hinges upon the development of low-cost and practical solutions,” including “onsite construction utilizing in-situ resources emerges as the most promising approach.” Resources that may include the blood, sweat, and tears of the first Martian visitors... (MORE - missing details)