Super low tech building material using Martian soil discovered

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Ghost147

So if I were to jump and land on Martian soil, would I make bricks under my feet?

No. Acceleration due to gravity is significantly less on Mars.

Really? I would assume Ghost147 weighs significantly more than 10 pounds. Wouldn't that be more than enough to offset the gravitational difference?

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

I live near Childers in Queensland Australia, the soil is very red here.

If i build another house i will look into this, but will prolly use a steel skeleton anyways.... Termites are extreme in these parts.

We've been doing that here on Earth forever, makes sense it would work on Mars too. We call it Rammed Earth on this region of the planet. I'd help Ram Mars if the pay is good. I've helped build some massive walls out of Earth which require no reinforcement and withstand over 300 psi. Here's a sample of what 3 guys and a few pieces of equipment can do in a day. 12 ft tall, 2 ft thick. Personal pics of a couple Earth walls we' built.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

here's one i filmed 5 years ago:

On US 87 just south of Tahoka.

Cute baby tornado learning to walk! Watch out for momma!

I guess eventually they will use martian bricks, right?

It'd be a bitch if after 9 months of weightlessness to get out there and build a couple buildings to do stuff in.

Bare in mind, this is a 'simulated' experiment based on specific quantities of specific elements and not actual Martian soil. It would be a awful let down if after travelling across the solar system, landing machinery and colonists the actual differences in soil from place to place or the the irregularities meant that that it didn't work, so it is a bit of a gamble, also producing a few grams of material compared to slabs and bricks is a big step.