Emily Chan
In the future, scientists plan to build various types of infrastructure on Mars and the moon, a feat that is both extremely expensive and difficult to accomplish. So, efforts are currently being made to ensure that construction materials are both as simple and strong as possible.
Two researchers from the University of Manchester in England have developed a concrete alternative to be used in space. It consists of simulated Martian or lunar soil, a pinch of salt, and potato starch.
The new material, named StarCrete, is twice as strong as conventional concrete and is well-suited for use in extraterrestrial environments.
In their study, the researchers demonstrated that potato starch can act as an effective binder when mixed with simulated Martian and lunar soils.
The mixture has double the strength of ordinary concrete, which measures around 32 Megapascals (MPa). The StarCrete made with fake Martian soil had a compressive strength of 72 MPa, while the StarCrete made with fake moon dust was at 91 MPa.
The research team estimated that only 55 pounds of dehydrated potatoes are needed to produce nearly half a ton of StarCrete. That is enough to make over 200 bricks. On Earth, about 7,500 bricks are required to build a three-bedroom house.
As with any space mission, the weight of materials is a major consideration for future lunar and Mars constructions. The heavier the delivery package, the more costly it is to send into space. So, a strategy called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) has long been used to figure out how to create sustainable structures on other planetary bodies.
A concrete mix with a lightweight base of potato starch might be the most desirable option in terms of availability, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness.
Potato starch wasn’t the first ingredient that the team experimented with. This work improves on a previous study where they used human blood and urine as binding agents for concrete. Blood and urine are consistently available from astronauts, so they’re renewable resources.
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