At the ongoing 2025 World Manufacturing Convention in Hefei, Anhui Province, on the Chinese mainland, the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) has rolled out a one-of-a-kind lunar brick maker. 🚀
Imagine building roads and habitats on the moon using actual moon dust – that's exactly what this proof-of-concept device aims to do. By focusing sunlight through a parabolic reflector and a fiber optic bundle, it heats lunar soil above 1,300°C, melting it into shaped bricks ready for construction.
With a solar concentration ratio 3,000 times stronger than normal sunlight, the machine transforms simulated lunar regolith samples (tested extensively by DSEL researchers in Hefei) into sturdy building blocks. This innovation could pave the way for developing future lunar research stations, giving space missions a solid foundation – literally.
All this feeds into China's ambitious International Lunar Research Station plan, which envisions a multiphase development on the lunar south pole by 2035, followed by an extended outpost in the 2040s. 🌕🔭
The convention also spotlighted other cutting-edge tech: an ultra-lightweight reusable heat shield for rockets, a computational-lithography platform for faster chipmaking, a non-invasive brain-computer interface for seamless mind-machine connection, and a universal tech foundation for intelligent robots. 🤖💡
This moon brick maker isn't just sci-fi – it's a real step toward turning lunar exploration dreams into reality. Stay tuned as humanity takes its first brick-by-brick steps on our celestial neighbor! 🌌
Reference(s):
Chinese lab unveils moon brick maker for lunar facility construction
cgtn.com
