KICT studies the dielectric properties of lunar soil and its interaction with microwaves to produce building blocks
The Artemis program, initiated by NASA, aims to manned exploration of the Moon and the construction of a permanent habitable base on its surface. However, the practical implementation of the creation of such a space station differs significantly from the usual futuristic images.
The main difficulty lies in the need to deliver all the materials necessary for construction to the Moon from Earth. Transporting even a small amount of construction material is an extremely expensive and labor-intensive task. Therefore, it is important to use local resources of the Moon as the main building material for the creation of a lunar base.
One of the promising construction methods using lunar raw materials is microwave sintering of regolith — loose lunar soil. This process allows the material to harden without having to reach its melting point. Research into sintering lunar soil using various energy sources, including lasers, solar energy and microwaves, is actively underway in many countries.
Among these technologies, microwave sintering is particularly promising and is being actively developed by organizations such as NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Construction Technology (KICT).
A group of scientists led by Dr. Hyu-Soung Shin from KICT is conducting detailed studies of the process of microwave sintering of material simulating lunar regolith. The results showed that the lunar soil simulator has the property of being relatively transparent to microwave radiation, which makes its heating and subsequent sintering difficult.
However, it was revealed that the mineral ilmenite (iron titanate), widespread on the surface of the Moon, on the contrary, interacts very strongly with microwaves. The crystal structure of ilmenite allows it to quickly heat up to high temperatures when exposed to microwave radiation.
The use of ilmenite as a heating component in microwave sintering of lunar soil can provide efficient and relatively fast production of building materials directly on the lunar surface. According to KICT scientists, this research will provide an important basis for the further development of microwave technologies, which could play a key role in future lunar exploration and the construction of permanent bases on the lunar surface.