Scientists from the University of Manchester have developed a way to create a concrete like material made of extra terrestrial dust along with the blood, sweat and tears of astronauts.
This may help solve a crucial problem in setting up Martian colonies. Transporting a single brick to Mars can cost more than US$2 million, making the future construction of a Martian colony extremely expensive.
A protein from human blood (human serum albumin) combined with urea (a compound from urine, sweat or tears) could glue together simulated moon or Mars soil to produce a material stronger than ordinary concrete, which would be perfectly suited for construction work in extra-terrestrial environments. The resulting material has been named AstroCrete.
Scientists calculated that over 500 kg of high-strength AstroCrete could be produced over the course of a two year mission on the surface of Mars by a crew of six astronauts.
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