The Buzz: A science and engineering podcast

You may have heard about the proposal to use astronauts' blood plasma, as well as other human waste products, to manufacture "space bricks," by binding the fluids with loose rock and Martian soil - a process known as in-situ resource utilisation. These bricks could then be used to build structures on the moon and Mars as part of future space exploration - indeed, we covered the research in a blogpost last year. Well, in order to get a more in-depth explanation, Kory and Enna caught up with Dr Aled Roberts of the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology and the Department of Chemistry, who explains the theory, and the practical considerations, behind the blood-curdling proposal. Any future long-term planetary exploration would require buildings with exceptionally thick walls, to protect astronaunts from the effects of solar radiation. When you consider that the cost of transporting a single brick to Mars can cost more than a million British pounds, the future construction of a Martian colony could seem prohibitively expensive. 

Show Notes

You may have heard about the proposal to use astronauts' blood plasma, as well as other human waste products, to manufacture "space bricks," by binding the fluids with loose rock and Martian soil - a process known as in-situ resource utilisation. These bricks could then be used to build structures on the moon and Mars as part of future space exploration - indeed, we covered the research in a blogpost last year.

Well, in order to get a more in-depth explanation, Kory and Enna caught up with Dr Aled Roberts of the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology and the Department of Chemistry, who explains the theory, and the practical considerations, behind the blood-curdling proposal.

Any future long-term planetary exploration would require buildings with exceptionally thick walls, to protect astronaunts from the effects of solar radiation. When you consider that the cost of transporting a single brick to Mars can cost more than a million British pounds, the future construction of a Martian colony could seem prohibitively expensive. 

What is The Buzz: A science and engineering podcast?

The University of Manchester's Faculty of Science and Engineering is a real hive of activity - and The Buzz is here to get the word out. Explore the past, present and future of today's most important topics with leading academics, current students, alumni and more. All tied together by the city driving change both then and now: Manchester.