Astronauts could build solar panels using the Moon to allow us to live in space, scientists have suggested. The new research would allow future explorers of space to build their own ways of gathering energy – and save us from having to use up fuel and resources to blast them into space.

The case for having a permanent base on the moon as a staging point for space exploration has been made many times over the years. Actually constructing a real lunar facility presents numerous significant logistical challenges, not least of which is the genuinely astronomical cost of sending things into space.

Scientists made solar cell panels from Moon dust to power future lunar cities more easily, safely, and cheaply.