What happens to concrete in the space? ISS astronauts investigate

Concrete is a material used throughout the world because of its strength and relatively light weight. This makes it a useful candidate for a material that can also be used to construct structures in space. But you can not just mix cement in space in the same way as on Earth and hope to achieve the same result. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) conducted experiments to see how concrete reacted during microgravity hardening and how it affected its microstructure and material properties.

"During missions on the Moon and Mars, people and equipment will have to be protected from extreme temperatures and radiation. The only way to do this is to build infrastructure on these extraterrestrial environments, "said lead researcher Aleksandra Radlinska of Pennsylvania State University. A declaration. "One idea is to build in space a material similar to concrete. Concrete is very strong and offers better protection than many materials. "

The project is entitled Microgravity Investigation of Cement Solidification (MICS). It was a question of mixing concrete in space for the first time. The researchers tested a number of cement powder variants using different additives and different powder / water ratios. They discovered key differences in the hardening process from what would happen on Earth, especially that the concrete in the space ended up being more porous, which would probably make it a little less strong.

"Even though concrete has been used for so long on Earth, we still do not understand every aspect of the hydration process. We now know that there are differences between Earth and space systems and we can look at these differences to see which ones are beneficial and which ones are detrimental to the use of this material in space, "he said. Radlinska said. "In addition, the samples were in sealed pouches, so another question is whether they would have additional complexities in an open space environment."

It's good news that mixing concrete in space is possible, even if the result is not quite the same as on Earth. Eventually, concrete and other materials could be used to create light and strong habitats in space, and current research will improve cement processing techniques to make the finished material more reliable.

The results are published in Frontiers in Materials.

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