In the exploration of the moon and outer space, our preliminary mission lies in the construction of lunar base. To make lunar concrete with local materials on the moon becomes the key technology to promote the construction of lunar bases. In order to further study the feasibility of using lunar in-situ resources to prepare concrete and build a lunar base, the environment and resources on the lunar surface are analyzed, and the severe challenges brought by extreme environment to concrete preparation and the prerequisites of in-situ resources are clarified. In this paper, the research progress of lunar concrete is summarized from the aspects of raw material acquisition, concrete preparation methods and performance, and the comparative analysis of cement concrete, sulfur concrete, geopolymer concrete and polymer concrete is carried out. Existing studies have shown that in the acquisition of raw materials, sulfur concrete has more advantages, cement concrete and geopolymer concrete are also feasible, but polymer, as a scarce resource on the moon, is difficult to obtain. In terms of preparation methods, cement concrete and geopolymer concrete are more suitable for the production of prefabricated components in artificial environment due to the limitation of external environment and the demand of water circulation, while the in-situ preparation methods represented by sulfur concrete and polymer concrete can be used for the connection and node reinforcement of prefabricated components on the moon. In terms of performance, the mechanical properties of the four kinds of concrete all meet the basic requirements, but the service performance in the harsh environment of the moon needs to be further studied. Meanwhile, the key location characteristics for lunar base construction in different regions are analyzed in terms of topography, environment and in-situ resources. Finally, the future exploration direction of the construction of the lunar bases is proposed.

As icy regolith is believed to exist in the subsurface of permanently shadowed areas near the lunar south pole, there is a growing interest in obtaining samples from these polar regions. To qualify for spaceflight, sampling instruments must demonstrate their ability to operate in the expected environment. However, there is currently no quantitative data detailing the extent and distribution of ice in polar regolith. While work has been done to determine the effects of water ice content in simulants such as JSC-1A, to date there has been no investigation into the properties of icy simulants of the regolith believed to be found at lunar polar regions. A series of experiments has therefore been conducted to determine the properties of icy NU-LHT-2M lunar highland simulant, an approximation of lunar polar regolith, at varying degrees of saturation. A number of procedures for preparing the simulant were tested, with the aim of defining a standardised technique for the creation of icy simulants with controlled water contents. Saturation of the highland simulant was found to occur at a water mass content between 13% and 17%, while cone penetration tests demonstrated that a significant increase in penetration resistance occurs at 5 +/- 1%. Uniaxial compression tests showed an increase in regolith strength with water mass and density, which slows down as the saturation level is reached. The results presented here demonstrate the first characterisation of the properties of icy lunar polar regolith simulants, which can be expanded upon to further the understanding of its properties for use in future instrumentation testing. (C) 2016 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.