Arkansas Team Sinters Lunar Soil Into Building Blocks
University of Arkansas researchers printed bricks from pure lunar regolith simulant without any binding agent.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Materials Science
University of Arkansas researchers demonstrated that pure lunar regolith simulant can be sintered into LEGO-like building blocks without binders. The research was published in the journal npj Advanced Manufacturing, with Cole McCallum as first author and Wan Shou as senior author.
Why it matters
Using regolith for construction could reduce how much NASA must send from Earth for future lunar settlements, since binders would otherwise have to be transported from Earth. The blocks made from pure regolith are more porous and structurally weaker than those printed with binders, so more work is needed.
The team printed crosses and letter-H shapes a few centimeters wide using laser powder bed fusion on Lunar Highlands Regolith Simulant (LHS-1), which contains no organic matter. Whether these results hold in microgravity and vacuum conditions remains unknown.
The players
University of Arkansas
A public research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where the regolith sintering research was conducted.
Wan Shou
An assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Arkansas who served as senior author of the research.
The details
A fine powder of regolith simulant is spread across a flat bed and fused by a relatively low-power light source, then the bed is lowered for the next layer. Other researchers relied on binders that would have to be brought from Earth, while the Arkansas approach sinters the material directly.
Timeline
May: Cole McCallum graduated with degrees in mechanical engineering and physics from the University of Arkansas.
The Big Picture
The result suggests in-situ resource use could reshape how NASA plans permanent lunar outposts, cutting the mass of supplies launched from Earth. It builds on the broader push toward using local lunar materials rather than shipping every construction input across space.
Pragmatic lunar construction using local soil could eventually lower the cost and mass of building settlements on the Moon. Its immediate practical effect is limited, since the blocks remain weaker than binder-based versions and must be optimized before use.
The takeaway
Local materials could make permanent lunar settlements far more practical, but the process must be proven in microgravity and vacuum before it can be relied upon. Watch for follow-up work on strength and performance from university research programs.
Further reading
Explore more Materials Science coverage on how novel fabrication methods are reshaping engineering research.
