Talk:Quartz/@comment-177.195.40.228-20150815181522/@comment-27034370-20151229015435

Glass made from sand would be cheap but not very reliable. Remember that we are exploring the bottom of the ocean and simple glass would probably not be strong enough. The quartz glass is far stronger and can withstand greater depths therefore letting us make glass from sand would ultimately be redundant.

This is also an alien planet so maybe the sand is made of something else?