https://j.people.com.cn/n3/2026/0513/c95952-20455760.html
Lunar Soil Fiber Samples Arrive at China’s Space Station for Long-Term Exposure Testing in Outer Space
People’s Daily Online (Japanese Edition), May 13, 2026, 14:44
Fiber samples made from lunar soil are on China’s space station aboard the cargo spacecraft Tianzhou. The samples will undergo long-term exposure testing on an external exposure platform, where they will be subjected to the harsh conditions of space, including high vacuum, intense radiation, and extreme temperature fluctuations.
Based at the National Key Laboratory for Advanced Fiber Materials of Donghua University, researchers designed the world’s first lunar-environment simulated spinning device entirely from scratch. Using 0.5 grams of actual lunar soil brought back by the Chang’e-5 lunar probe — basaltic samples weathered by space over billions of years — the team produced continuous fibers approximately 3 meters long and as thin as human hair. This core technology received the Grand Prize at the China International Industry Fair.
The research has been underway for a decade. It began in 2016 with studies of materials for extreme environments, and a major turning point came in 2020 when Chang’e-5 collected lunar soil samples. The aim of the research is to meet the future needs of constructing scientific research bases on the Moon. Because transportation costs between Earth and the Moon are extremely high, manufacturing materials on-site using local lunar resources is considered a crucial direction for future development.
Potential applications for lunar soil fibers include flexible structural materials and reinforcement materials for lunar-soil-based concrete. However, the related research is still at the stage of fundamental verification, and practical applications will require more time before becoming reality.
The current external space exposure experiment is being carried out to obtain performance data under real space conditions and provide reference data for future exploration activities.