A couple months back, I posted here on MattChat about new technology as it relates to astronauts drinking urine:
I think this one tops that:
Astronauts Could Use Their Own Urine To Make A Moon Base From ‘Space Concrete’
WHAAAAAAAT? A urine-based "space concrete"????
According to the 12 astronauts that have walked on the moon, the lunar surface smells like gunpowder. However, in future there could also be a whiff or urine if the latest research comes to pass.
Published this week in the Journal of Cleaner Production is research that suggests that space agencies like NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) could utilise the urea in the pee of astronauts as a plasticizer to create “moon concrete” for building structures and modules of their planned moon bases.
Essentially, you mix regolith—the loose material from the moon’s surface—with water and astronaut pee. "To make the geopolymer concrete that will be used on the moon, the idea is to use what is there: regolith and the water from the ice present in some areas," said Ramón Pamies, a professor at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (Murcia), where various analyses of the samples have been carried out using X-ray diffraction. “A waste product, such as the urine of the personnel who occupy the moon bases, could also be used,” he added. “The two main components of this body fluid are water and urea, a molecule that allows the hydrogen bonds to be broken and, therefore, reduces the viscosities of many aqueous mixtures.”
Exactly how many astronauts and how much urine are we talking here, guys?
I can really think of nothing else to say on this topic.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt
p.s. nothing else to say except that I learned a new word: "regolith"