Nebula Public Library

In this report we document the development and deployment of an individual hopper intended as a precursor survery mission for planetary exploration.

The objective of the study was to investigate the performance and shielding abilities of lunar regolith-based geopolymer when reinforced with basalt fibres and cured under environmental conditions of the lunar surface. The geopolymer building materials should be suitable for
3D-printing on the Moon. Since there is a very limited supply of water on the moon, the study also focuses on lunar geopolymers with a reduced amount of water in the recipes, without the need for raw materials that cannot be resourced locally on the Moon.

Light-trapping helps enhance the light absorption in space solar cells and hence enables their thickness to be reduced to increase the radiation hardness. We have optimised light-trapping structures (LTS) inspired in the diatom frustule and moth’s eyes. As a solar cell reference, we use the commercial 3G30C model from Azure Space Solar Power GmbH. We have developed a physical model to describe the solar cell absorption and derive the efficiency. The optical description relies on the Fourier modal method and the solar cell performance on the detailed balance limit.

In this activity, lunar regolith simulants were characterised based on their thermal behaviour, particle size distribution and composition, in order to inform the choice of consolidation method for functionally graded materials (FGMs) – powder characterisation results are provided in the 'conference paper' deliverable.

Firstly, an extensive literature review study (deliverable 'Literature Review') identified Digital Light Processing (DLP) and Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) as promising consolidation techniques.