Paved roads and landing sites could be created on the moon by using lasers to melt lunar soil into a harder, layered substance, according to a proof-of-concept study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Although these experiments were conducted on Earth using a substitute for lunar dust, these results demonstrate the feasibility of the method and show that it can be repeated on the Moon. However, according to the authors, more work may be needed to improve the process.

Lunar dust is a serious problem for lunar rovers because, due to low gravity, it tends to float when disturbed and can damage equipment. Therefore, infrastructure such as roads and landing pads will be necessary to reduce dust problems and facilitate transportation on the Moon. However, since transporting construction materials from Earth is expensive, resources on the Moon will have to be used.

Hines-Palomares, Miranda Fateri and Jens Günster melted a fine-grained material called EAC-1A (developed by the European Space Agency as a replacement for lunar soil) with a carbon dioxide laser to simulate how lunar dust could be melted with focused sunlight. The moon turns into solid matter.

The authors experimented with laser beams of different powers and sizes (up to 12 kilowatts and 100 millimeters, respectively) to create a strong material, but found that blocking or overlapping the path of the laser beam led to cracking. They developed a strategy of using a laser beam with a diameter of 45 mm to create triangular geometric shapes with a hollow center of approximately 250 mm in size. The authors suggest that these could be brought together to create a solid surface that could serve as a road and landing pad over large areas of lunar soil.

To reproduce this approach on the Moon, the authors estimate that a lens with an area of ​​approximately 2.37 square meters would need to be transported from Earth to act as a concentrator of sunlight rather than a laser. The relatively small size of the required equipment will be an advantage in future lunar missions.

Source: Port Altele

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