Preliminary design of an experiment on the lunar surface
Year: 2023
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The current emerging space race is pushing humanity to innovate and discover new ways to explore the universe. It was not enough for the human curiosity to step on the Moon but to intend to establish a human base on it. Founding a long- term lunar settlement would not only be useful in terms of lunar investigations but also as a transit stop for farther missions. The main goal of this study is based on the design of an experiment on the lunar surface. During this experiment, the thermal conductivity of solar sintered regolith is continuously measured at different temperatures. This way, afterward, it can be evaluated the viability of utilizing lunar regolith as a thermal mass for energy storage purposes. For the design of the experiment, initially, the lunar environment conditions and the physical characteristics of regolith have been considered. Afterwards, the thermal properties of regolith have been assessed with the aim of establishing the reference margins prior to its processing. Following, multiple techniques of regolith processing have been analyzed and compared. At the end, solar sintering has been the technique applied. Subsequently, the implementation of the experiment has been designed from the point of view of three subsystems: the solar concentration, the data acquisition, and the data transmission. Finally, the global set-up of the experiment and the procedure followed have been determined. During the development of this investigation, the simplicity of the implementation and the use of local resources (ISRU) have been prioritized.
Author: Gallardo Duval, María Isabel
Language: English
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7061244512