China to launch 'Chinese Super Masons' robot to build lunar bases with moon soil by 2028
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With Artemis II set to launch on November 24, it is no surprise that science journals are buzzing with research on lunar regolith, building bases on the moon, and working with moon soil to grow plants... you get the drift.
A recent study in the journal Communications Biology described an experiment in which the moon soil samples collected during the Apollo missions were used to grow plants. And for the first time, an Earth plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, commonly called thale cress, grew and thrived in the lunar soil samples during the experiment.
Another recent research, funded by NASA, and published in the journal New Space, analyzed the challenges of construction in situations where lunar dust would swirl around during launches or landings.
That's a lot of theory and lab experiments. But, who will initiate action and build a lunar base with moon soil first?
Turns out, China will.
And they even have an estimated time of action.
Work to build the lunar base with moon soil will begin in five years
Chinese media reported that China plans to start building a lunar base using soil from the moon in five years, with the work set to kick off in five years.
A recent conference, the Extraterrestrial Construction Conference held at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, saw more than 100 Chinese scientists, researchers, and space contractors getting together to discuss ways to build infrastructure on the moon.
According to Changjiang Daily, Ding Lieyun, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said a team is designing a robot named "Chinese Super Masons" to make bricks out of lunar soil.
"Building a habitat on the moon is needed for long-term lunar explorations, and will certainly be realized in the future," Ding said. He also understood the difficulty of achieving the mission in the short term, the report stated.
Reuters reported that the robot tasked with making bricks out of lunar soil will be launched during China's Chang'e-8 mission around 2028. Ding added that China is aiming to retrieve the world's first soil sample from the far side of the moon in a mission around 2025.
Previously, China had retrieved soil samples from the near side of the moon with its Chang'e-5 mission in 2020.
Once the country establishes a lunar research station on the moon, astronauts could stay on the moon for longer periods, China has stated.
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