Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Skyesports
Topics: Moon, NASA, Science, Space, Technology
Callum Jones
NASA has detailed an ambitious plan that could see people living on the moon in 'lunar glass' domes in the future.
While many would argue there hasn't been much of a breakthrough in terms of space travel in recent decades, the future of exploration certainly looks bright as astronomers continue to push the boundaries of what is possible.
And a recently development talked about by the space agency certainly sounds like something from the far future - but it may be a lot closer than you may think.
As per a new report from The Telegraph, NASA is funding a project aiming to develop glass domes which can be created on the Moon.
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The ambitious plan would utilise particles known as 'lunar regolith' found on the moon's surface to create what would be large glass domes that astronauts could ultimately reside in.
The project is spearheaded by California-based company Skyeports, with chief executive Dr Martin Bermudez hopeful that one day we could see entire cities on the Moon joined together by glass spheres.
Heck, the experts over there are not just limiting their ideas to the Moon, but hope to see these so-called 'lunar glass' domes across space sometime in the future.
"You will never replicate Earth, but this is something that gets pretty close, and we could even put them into orbit one day," Dr Bermudez said.
He added: "Space has always been kind of fascinating for me, and my background was as an architect so I had the chance to start exploring how we can build structures on the Moon or Mars."
Bermudez was intrigued by dust, rock, and mineral fragments that coat the Moon's surface known as lunar regolith, and wondered whether it could be used to build a structure.
"I was originally told ‘well glass is too brittle, it’s gonna break’ so I started reaching out to scientists and realised it can be adapted and become something stronger than steel," he continued.
"I contacted NASA a almost two years ago and they really loved the idea from the beginning."
To build these structures, astronauts would collect up the regolith and feed it into a microwave furnace. This would blow the glass bubbles, with scientists keeping a close eye on developing a special type of glass made from polymers.
Such progress will be vital in making the project come to fruition as it should allow the bubbles the ability to 'self-heal' and withstand the Moon's surface unforgiving environment.