Recently, among the ninth batch of space science experiment samples returned to the Chinese Space Station with the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft,The first "lunar soil brick" developed by Huazhong University of Science and Technology was successfully handed over.This special brick, which has undergone a year of extravehicular exposure testing, has a compressive strength that is more than three times that of ordinary bricks, marking a key step in the construction of the lunar base.
The "lunar soil brick" was developed by the team of Academician Ding Lieyun. It is made of simulated real lunar soil components as raw materials and is made through a hot pressing molding process.
Its innovative mortise-and-tenon structure design enables stable splicing without the need for adhesives, adapting to the needs of convenient assembly in space. It can withstand more than 1 ton of weight per square centimeter and has a maximum compressive strength of over 500 MPa, far exceeding the 15 to 20 MPa strength level of ordinary red bricks.
November 2024,74 small "lunar soil bricks" entered the space station with Tianzhou-8 and were placed in the extravehicular exposure device to undergo extravehicular exposure experiments lasting one, two and three years.
The sample successfully maintained stable performance in a temperature difference of -190°C to 180°C, a radiation intensity 200 times that of the Earth, and a low gravity environment.
At present, the R5 sample unit has successfully completed one year of extravehicular exposure experiments and returned to the ground, and the remaining samples will continue to carry out extravehicular exposure experiments on the space station.
Moon soil brick sample