"Tiny pieces of so-called lunar glass - a component of the moon's soil, or regolith, along with rocks and mineral fragments - would be collected upon arrival from Earth. The material would be melted down using the same technology as in a domestic microwave oven, along with a 'smart microwave furnace'. A 'smart microwave furnace' will be developed to aid melting and blow the glass into a bubble, which would harden into a large, transparent structure."
"The firm's test spheres are only a couple of inches wide - but the goal is to expand them by hundreds or thousands of feet, into workable astronaut homes. The compound used to build a spherical habitat - which it is hoped could be between around 1,000ft and 1,600ft wide - could be altered to make the eventual glass self-healing. It is a special type of glass made of polymers which can reorganise themselves after any breaks, from micrometeorites or 'moonquakes' for instance."
NASA is funding research into constructing large livable transparent spheres on the lunar surface using locally collected lunar glass from regolith. The approach uses microwave-style heating and a 'smart microwave furnace' to melt silicate-rich dust and blow it into large glass bubbles that harden into structures. Skyeports has demonstrated small glass spheres from lunar dust and plans to scale them to habitats approximately 1,000 to 1,600 feet wide. The glass could incorporate polymer-based self-healing compounds to repair micrometeorite and moonquake damage. The habitats could be fitted with solar panels and linked into larger settlements by glass bridges.
Read at Mail Online
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