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Terran 1

The first 3D-printed rocket is about to launch into space

7 March 2023

US aerospace start-up Relativity Space is planning to launch its 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket on 8 March, skipping planned tests and heading straight for orbit
Mare Crisium is a large, dark, basaltic plain on the Moon that filled an ancient asteroid impact. Basaltic plains on the Moon were created by early volcanic eruptions. Mare Crisium was flooded with basaltic lava, a dark, runny lava commonly found on Earth. Basaltic plains on the Moon are also known as lunar maria, because of a mistaken belief by early astronomers that these dark areas were oceans ? ?maria? is the Latin word for ?seas.? We now know these spots to be plains of basalt created by early volcanic eruptions, but the nomenclature of ?maria? (plural) or ?mare? (singular) remains. The basalts in Mare Crisium range in age from 2.5 to 3.3 billion years old! These dates come from measuring the radioactive isotope signatures of samples returned from Mare Crisium by the Soviet Luna 24 mission. Along the rim of Mare Crisium lies an outer boundary of wrinkle ridges. Wrinkle ridges are commonly found in places where the surface has contracted. As the surface is compressed, it bends and fractures, and can form complicated patterns of faults and folds.

Bricks made of dust from the moon and Mars could make space buildings

25 May 2022

Baking a mixture of saltwater and materials that mimic dust from the moon or Mars at a high temperature produced sturdy bricks that could be used to build human habitats in space
A gloved hand holds samples of Astrocrete

Astronauts could use their blood and urine to make Martian concrete

14 September 2021

Mixing materials extracted from their own blood and urine with native Martian soil could let astronauts produce a type of concrete for building a colony
Down the drain - and into a 3D printer

Astronauts could 3D print tools from their own processed faeces

5 April 2018

Astronauts on long missions won't be able to bring all their tools with them. A new way of turning faeces into 3D-printable plastic may solve that problem

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