Improved Lunar Regolith Simulant Ion Implantation

Lunar regolith presents unique challenges for laser-based additive manufacturing. Unlike conventional metal or ceramic powders, regolith is a heterogeneous mixture of ceramics, metals, metal oxides, and minerals. During laser processing, each constituent undergoes independent phase transitions, creating material behavior variations between layers. Excessive heat causes dissociation and gas bubble formation, while rapid cooling traps porosity. The glassy components are particularly sensitive; once melted, they cannot return to their original state, and improper thermal management during re-melting causes crystalline structure failures and anisotropy throughout parts. This methodology addresses these challenges through coordinated thermal control across the build. Custom scan patterns and beam-shaping optics maintain target temperature ranges across the processing area while controlling heating and cooling rates. Layer height, hatch spacing, scan pattern, re-heating intervals, laser power, and inter-layer dwell times are precisely coordinated to manage the sequential phases of melting, nucleation, grain growth, and annealing. Previous layers of unsintered regolith act as insulation and as a controlled quench medium, maintaining temperature and preheating subsequent layers. A dedicated build plate is not required; a firebrick build plate has been used to support rapid, quick-turn parameter development in a laboratory setting. Real-time thermal imaging monitors the process. The methodology has been demonstrated in sustained operation within a thermal vacuum chamber at 10e-6 Torr, replicating the operational environments for lunar and Martian surface manufacturing. The amorphous vitrified glass process is at TRL 5; glass-ceramic components are currently undergoing validation for final strength claims. This advanced thermal management process is available for patent licensing.

WaveRider is a form of EDS technology that uses wires or insulated metal rods held a few millimeters above a substrate that is laden with dust. The wires carry a high-voltage AC square-wave signal. As the wires are moved across the surface, the dust is repelled and moves away from the wires until the whole surface is cleaned. The benefit of WaveRider over traditional EDS is that it can work on any surface, whereas traditional EDS only works with an insulating top coat. This would be a concern to any spacecraft that uses a statically dissipative surface as it's exterior top coat, and would require something like WaveRider to remove dust. Additionally, It may be beneficial to have moving wires as opposed to just having stationary electrodes for optically reliant surfaces (such as mirrors, solar panels, and helmets), as stationary wires can affect visibility. Also, because it uses wires, it can conform to irregularly shaped surfaces such as astronaut helmets or curved radiator surfaces. Moving electrodes may also offer fewer integration complexities compared with embedding stationary electrodes above the surface, since it may save weight and is structurally less complex. Electrodes on top of a surface don't place any burden on integrating it within a system (e.g., traditional EDS needs to be embedded inside cover glass for solar panels, inside O-rings/gaskets, or beneath the surface of a thermal control coating for radiators). It won't affect the properties of a coating, and there are no issues with how well it adheres to a surface like there are with traditional EDSs. Due to the nature of the technology, WaveRider could be adapted into a handheld tool that would allow much more ease of use, which is a freedom that astronauts wouldn't have if the system was built into a spacesuit or built into a machine.

MAC is a zeolite based coating that captures and traps molecules in its microscopically porous structure. This microscopic nano-textured structure, consisting of large open pores or cavities, within a crystal- like structure, provides a large surface area to mass ratio that maximizes available trapping efficiency. MAC is a durable coating that is applied through spray application. These sprayable coatings eliminate the major drawbacks of puck type adsorbers (weight, size, and mounting hardware requirements), resulting in cost savings, mass savings, easier utilization, greater adsorber surface area, more flexibility, and higher efficiency. This coating works in air, as well as vacuum systems, depending on the application. There is potential for ground based spin-off applications of this coating, particularly in areas where contaminants and volatile compounds need to be collected and contained. Example industries include: pharmaceutical production, the food industry, electronics manufacturing (circuit boards and wafers), laser manufacturing, vacuum systems, chemical processing, paint booths, and general gas and water adsorption.

Regolith excavation is desired in future space missions for the purpose of In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) to make local commodities, such as propellants and breathing air, and to pursue construction operations. The excavation of regolith on another planetary body surface, such as the Moon, Mars, an asteroid, or a comet is extremely difficult because of the high bulk density of regolith at lower depths. Additionally, because of the low gravity in these space surface environments, the mass of the excavator vehicle does not provide enough reaction force to enable the excavation blade to penetrate the regolith if traditional terrestrial methods are used. RASSOR uses counterrotating bucket drums on opposing arms to provide near-zero horizontal and minimal vertical net reaction force so that excavation is not reliant on the traction or weight of the mobility system to provide a reaction force to counteract the excavation force in low-gravity environments. The excavator can traverse steep slopes and rough terrain, and its symmetrical design enables it to operate in reverse so that it can recover from overturning by continuing to dig in the new orientation. The system is capable of standing up in a vertical position to dump into a receiving hopper without using a ramp. This eliminates the need for an onboard dump bin, thus reducing complexity and weight. During loading, the bucket drums excavate soil/regolith by scoops mounted on the drums exteriors that sequentially take multiple cuts of soil/regolith while rotating at approximately 20 revolutions per minute. During hauling, the bucket drums are raised by rotating the arms to provide clearance above the surface being excavated. The mobility platform can then travel while the soil/regolith remains in the raised bucket drums. When the excavator reaches the dump location, the bucket drums are commanded to reverse their direction of rotation, which causes soil/regolith to be expelled out of each successive scoop. RASSOR has wireless control, telemetry, and onboard transmitting cameras, allowing for teleoperation with situational awareness. The unit can be programmed to operate autonomously for selected tasks.

This NASA invention utilizes a simple waveguide-based measurement system to determine the complex dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability of arbitrary-shaped planetary rock samples. The system operates at L-band frequencies (~1 GHz) and can be extended to P- and S-bands for broader applications. The approach involves placing an arbitrarily-shaped sample inside an open-ended waveguide excited by a coaxial probe, measuring the scattering parameters, and extracting dielectric and magnetic properties through computational modeling and optimization techniques. A key aspect of this system is its ability to handle non-uniform and irregularly shaped rock samples, enabling the measurement of real-world planetary materials without requiring extensive sample preparation. The methodology includes calibration in an anechoic chamber, computational modeling, and iterative refinement of measured vs. simulated scattering parameters to extract the material properties. Future advancements will involve expanding measurements to different frequency bands, refining computational models using artificial intelligence, and automatically rotating samples within the waveguide to obtain multiple directional measurements (enhancing precision while reducing test time). This NASA innovation has been successfully applied to two Martian meteorite samples, yielding values of dielectric permittivity and permeability relevant for Mars radar applications. The system will further be leveraged to build an expansive database of the dielectric properties of planetary soils and rocks to improve radar-based mapping (e.g., subsurface mapping) missions. The invention could also be applied for the non-destructive screening of a variety of samples using radio waves, including biological samples for medical purposes, additive manufacturing feedstock or finished parts, and mining-related rock samples to test for impurities or resources of interest. This NASA invention is at technology readiness level (TRL) 5 (component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment) and is available for patent licensing.