Innovative Method for Producing Lunar Construction Materials Using Microwaves

Innovative Method for Producing Lunar Construction Materials Using Microwaves
by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jul 11, 2024

The Moon's recent discovery of resources like water ice has renewed interest in its potential as a sustainable hub for space exploration. NASA's Artemis mission, aiming for long-term human presence on the lunar surface, highlights the need for infrastructure such as lunar bases. However, the high cost of transporting construction materials from Earth, at about 1.2 million USD per kilogram, makes this task challenging.

To address this issue, the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), led by President Kim Byung-Suk, has developed technology to produce construction materials using the Moon's in-situ resources.

Lunar regolith, the Moon's surface soil, is the most readily available resource. It can be sintered through heat to form solid blocks, though energy efficiency is crucial in space environments. Microwaves offer an energy-efficient solution for this process.

A research team from KICT's Future and Smart Construction Research Division, including Dr. Jangguen Lee, Dr. Young-Jae Kim, Dr. Hyunwoo Jin, and led by Dr. Hyu-Soung Shin, has used microwave sintering to produce blocks from lunar regolith simulant. This process involves heating and compacting the material.

Using microwaves for heating can create hot and cold spots, leading to thermal runaway and uneven sintering. The team developed a stepwise heating program with specific temperatures and dwell times to mitigate this issue. They also preheated the lunar regolith simulant under vacuum conditions at 250 C to prevent internal cracks caused by volatile substances during sintering.

The sintered blocks were evaluated by core drilling at specific locations. The average density, porosity, and compressive strength of the samples were 2.11 g/cm, 29.23%, and 13.66 MPa, respectively, with standard deviations confirming the homogeneity of the blocks.

KICT plans to validate this technology in space environments to meet the growing demand for space construction technology. Dr. Shin noted, "Many previous space construction studies related to microwave sintering technology have resulted in small or heterogeneous sintered bodies." He also shared plans to use this technology for various infrastructure needs on the lunar surface.

Research Report:Optimized manufacturing process of homogeneous microwave-sintered blocks of KLS-1 lunar regolith simulant