Scientists at the University of Manchester have suggested a new method to convert Martian soil into a stronger material to construct future colonies on Mars. They suggest mixing human blood, sweat, urine, and even tears with Moon or Martian dust to create an adhesive that can come in handy to build (3D print) entire structures.
In simple words, the scientists say we could use astronauts’ blood, sweat, and tears to build homes on a distant world. It’s a creative approach to use resource utilization that could allow future Martian settlers to skip the hefty process of sending materials all the way from Earth.
Making construction on Mars cost-effective
“Scientists have been trying to develop viable technologies to produce concrete-like materials on the surface of Mars, but we never stopped to think that the answer might be inside us all along,” said Aled Roberts, from the University of Manchester.
It isn’t the first time such an idea has been proposed. Other researchers have proposed that insect polymers, human urine, and even mushrooms can come in handy to build structures on other planets. As explained in a new paper published in the journal Materials Today Bio, the Manchester team suggests the use of a special human blood protein as an “in vivo binder” to make a type of Martian soil concrete.
Urea, a nitrogenous product that can be extracted from urine, could then strengthen the material even more. Using animal blood as glue for mortar actually has its roots in medieval technology, thanks to a bonding mechanism that is caused by denaturing of blood proteins. “The concept is literally blood-curdling,” Roberts quipped in the statement.
As good as concrete
The researchers suggest that the resultant called AstroCrete could be 3D-printed on-site, which opens up “an interesting potential avenue for extraterrestrial construction using human-derived feedstocks,” as mentioned in the paper.
The team demonstrated that AstroCrete could have as much compressive strength as ordinary concrete. While urea can offer a compressive strength could rise by over 300 percent, as per the team. The team has calculated that six astronauts could produce over 1,100 pounds of the stuff over a two-year mission.
