space scientists 3D print LEGO bricks with meteorite dust to build astronaut homes on moon

3D printed ‘ESA space bricks’ similar to LEGO blocks

Scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) produce 3D printed bricks similar to LEGO blocks using dust from a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite. Dubbed ESA Space Bricks, these construction materials come out because the scientists are designing launch pads and shelters for astronauts who are visiting the moon as part of the Artemis program. They want to understand and test whether or not the materials astronauts will find in space could be used to construct buildings there. To find and review their discovery, they first 3D printed ESA Space ‘LEGO’ Bricks from the closest space material they could get on Earth, which is the meteorite dust.

all images courtesy of LEGO

LEGO-like space bricks made of meteorite dust

The space material on the moon is regolith, which NASA describes as ‘a layer of unconsolidated debris’. The issue is that there’s only a very small sample available on Earth, collected from the Apollo mission. The closest material next to it is meteorite. The scientists of the European Space Agency (ESA) grind them up into dust and mix them with a small amount of polylactide and regolith simulant.

The components produced are used to 3D print bricks similar to LEGO bricks, resulting in the series of ESA Space Bricks. The dust added to the mixture is around 4.5 billion years old. It was originally discovered in North-West Africa in 2000 and was classified as an L3-6. The meteorite dust is a brecciated stone which has many different elements incorporated within it, including large metal grains, inclusions, chondrules, and other stone meteorite elements.

Scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) use 3D printing to produce bricks similar to LEGO blocks

Building test structures with 3D printed ESA Space Bricks

Aidan Cowley, ESA Science Officer, says that no one has ever built structures on the moon, so he and his team are working out both how to construct them and what materials to use to make them, given that they can’t source directly from the moon at the moment. ‘My team and I love creative construction and had the idea to explore whether space dust could be formed into a brick similar to a LEGO brick so we could test different building techniques. The result is amazing and whilst the bricks may look a little rougher than usual, importantly the clutch power still works, enabling us to play and test our designs,’ he says.

the ESA Space Bricks are made of dust from a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite

While the real houses and launch pads are expected to be built on the moon using materials found there such as regolith, it may be imperative for scientists on Earth to figure out if such components could even be made into building blocks. By testing building small-scale structures on Earth using the meteorite dust, their questions may be answered insightfully. So far, the scientists are able to work out the first phase through the 3D printed ESA Space Bricks that resemble LEGO blocks.

The scientists are fans of LEGO brick building, so it might not come as a surprise that they drew inspiration from this playful sphere. Following the important part in developing potential future infrastructure on the moon, 15 ESA Space Bricks will go on display in select LEGO Stores globally to help encourage kids to find out more about space travel and be inspired to build their very own moon shelters. The ESA Space Bricks will be on display in select LEGO Stores in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Spain, and Australia plus the LEGO House in Billund, Denmark from June 24th to September 20th.

the 3D printed ESA Space Bricks resembling LEGO blocks are used to test small-scale shelter structures