How we could soon be building houses on the Moon

Image source, Esa

Image caption, How do you fancy a place on the Moon one day?

Scientists have taken us one step closer to living on the Moon by making bricks using a 3D printer and imitation moondust.

By 'baking' the dust with concentrated sunlight, the European Space Agency have made blocks that could help build lunar homes of the future.

Image source, Esa

Image caption, The scientists baked the moondust at a scorching 1000掳C (1832F) for five hours.

The space bricks will now go through a number of tests to see if they are strong enough to build houses with.

The plan is to one day take the special 3D printer to the Moon - using the Sun's rays and local materials like moondust.

Image source, Esa

Image caption, How the inside of a printed moon house could look

Following private company SpaceX's announcement that they will be flying tourists to the Moon by 2018 this is exciting news.

Advenit Makaya, who is in charge of the project for the ESA, said: "This project is a proof of concept, showing that such a lunar construction method is indeed feasible."