We dive into a wild piece of space research showing that potato starch — yes, the same stuff in your pantry — can make concrete bricks on Mars or the moon that are twice as strong as the concrete we use on Earth. The University of Manchester team behind “StarCrete” found that potatoes outperform earlier experiments using astronaut blood and urine, offering a far more practical path to building off‑world habitats. We break down the science, the implications for future colonies, and the surprisingly emotional role human tears might still play in Martian construction.

In this episode, we explore one of the strangest and most promising breakthroughs in extraterrestrial construction: StarCrete, a potato‑starch‑based concrete that could help astronauts build durable structures on Mars and the moon. According to researchers at the University of Manchester, mixing potato starch with simulated Martian or lunar soil produces bricks with strengths of 72 MPa and 91 MPa, more than double that of conventional concrete on Earth . Even better, just 25 kilograms of dehydrated potatoes can produce over 200 bricks, making it a lightweight, resource‑efficient option for space missions where every kilogram counts.

We also revisit the team’s earlier experiments using astronaut blood and urine as binders — a method that worked but came with obvious drawbacks, including the need for astronauts to repeatedly donate bodily fluids . As lead researcher Aled Roberts put it, “Astronauts probably don't want to be living in houses made from scabs and urine” Current pageCurrent page. "Astronauts probably don't want to be living in houses made from scabs and urine," he said in a statement ..

But human biology isn’t entirely off the hook: the magnesium chloride used in StarCrete can be sourced from Martian soil or from human tears, meaning future spacefarers might still contribute a little piece of themselves to their homes on other worlds.

We unpack the science, the humor, and the huge implications of this research — from in‑situ resource utilization to the future of sustainable off‑world living — all sparked by the humble potato.

https://www.space.com/space-bricks-potato-starch-mars-moon-dirt