Europeans propose method for paving the surface of the Moon – 10/15/2023 – Sidereal Messenger

Taking aim at efforts currently underway by several countries to establish a base on the Moon, a group of European researchers has just demonstrated a practical method for paving lunar soil, using just a lens and sunlight.

It’s an important concern: the entire surface of the Moon is covered in fine dust, called regolith, which rises extremely easily due to the low gravity. It is a material that can easily cause problems for equipment and even astronauts.

In the manned Apollo missions, this problem was relatively contained by the fact that each spacecraft landed in a different place on the Moon. But in the establishment of a lunar station, with frequent descents in the same location and constant rover traffic, the situation becomes more dangerous.

In fact, there are records that the Apollo 12 landing in 1969, by raising dust on final approach, damaged the unmanned Surveyor 3 probe, which landed two years earlier in the same location.

One way to mitigate this would be to pave the surroundings of a lunar base, creating platforms for rocket descent and roads for rover traffic. It was on this problem that the group led by Juan-Carlos Ginés-Palomares, an engineer at the University of Aalen, in Germany, focused on the ESA (European Space Agency) Paver project.

In an article published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group proposes a simple solution: the use of a lens to concentrate sunlight and then melt the regolith, transforming it into tiles, specifically designed to fit together, making paving easy. of surface regions from local material and reducing the dust problem.

To demonstrate the viability of the process, the Ginés-Palomares team used a laser in the laboratory instead of concentrated sunlight and exposed a material that simulates lunar regolith, successfully manufacturing interlocking tiles measuring around 25×25 cm.

The group analyzed these fabricated samples in terms of their mineralogical composition, internal structure and mechanical properties, and the results are encouraging. To obtain the same result on the Moon from sunlight, the researchers estimate that a lens with an area of ​​2.37 m2 (and approximately 1.74 m in diameter) would be needed.

It is a feasible scale for transportation from Earth to the Moon, and would require no other equipment, such as ovens to make tiles or even solar panels to provide electricity. But it is still too early to say that the technology is ready for use. Ginés-Palomares says they first need to test the tiles’ performance under a rocket engine to ensure they can withstand the stress.

In any case, it is encouraging to see engineers already working on ways to make the natural resources available on the Moon useful for future manned missions. It’s the difference between making a few trips, as was the case with Apollo in the last century, and staying there, as is expected to happen in this century.

This column is published on Mondays in print, in Folha Corrida.

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