THE NEW SPACE RACE: China to test lunar-soil bricks in space to pave the way for its planned moon base.

Samples of bricks made of varying compositions from lunar soil simulant will be launched to the Tiangong space station aboard the upcoming Tianzhou 8 cargo mission, according to a report from Chinese state media CCTV.

The bricks will be subjected to three years of exposure tests in space. They will be bombarded by ultraviolet light and cosmic rays and subjected to temperature differences. This will test the strength and durability of bricks in extreme environments and how the materials behave in the vacuum of space.

The experiment is designed to give insight into which composition and which methods of producing bricks from lunar soil will be most suitable for building structures on the moon.

China is not messing around with landing — and staying — on the moon.

EDIT: I’d left the “not” out originally. Sorry for the confusion!