{"id":121025,"date":"2023-10-24T11:20:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T11:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lasixlineon.com\/?p=121025"},"modified":"2023-10-24T11:20:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T11:20:48","slug":"moon-road-discovery-set-to-give-astronauts-smoother-buggy-rides-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lasixlineon.com\/world-news\/moon-road-discovery-set-to-give-astronauts-smoother-buggy-rides-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Moon road discovery set to give astronauts smoother buggy rides in space"},"content":{"rendered":"
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    Top space boffins have found a way to melt moon dust and turn it into roads \u2013 and they've already got moon cars to drive on them.<\/p>\n

    Moon dust has long been an issue for space experts, as the gravity levels on the moon make it almost impossible to travel without getting caked in it. However, having been working on it for decades, the scientists at the European Space Agency have figured out a way of turning the moon dust into \u201croadworthy surfaces\u201d through a project called Paver which uses a carbon dioxide laser to melt the dust.<\/p>\n

    ESA materials engineer Advenit Makaya said: \u201cIn practice we would not bring a carbon dioxide laser on the Moon. Instead this current laser is serving as a light source for our experiments, to take the place of lunar sunlight which could be concentrated using a Fresnel lens a couple of metres across to produce equivalent melting on the surface of the Moon.<\/p>\n

    READ MORE: Humans could 'hibernate their way to distant planets' to save mankind says expert<\/b><\/p>\n

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    \u201cDuring past in-situ resource utilisation projects \u2013 including brick building using mirror-concentrated solar heat \u2013 we\u2019ve been looking at surface melting limited to relatively small melt spots, from few millimetres to a couple of centimetres in diameter. For building roads or landing pads a much wider focal point is required, to be able to scan a very wide area in a practical timescale.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The team has managed to make a mini road, which has been described as being \u201cglasslike and brittle\u201d but enough to cope with \u201cdownward compression forces\u201d.<\/p>\n

    And should it break, repairs are easy enough, the expert claims. The vehicles used to drive on it already exist \u2013 moon buggies.<\/p>\n

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