研究目的
Investigating the feasibility of manufacturing glass and mirrors from lunar regolith simulant using susceptor-assisted microwave heating to support future planetary surface missions by reducing launch mass and expanding mission capability.
研究成果
Melting lunar regolith simulant into glass substrates and coating them with reflective materials is feasible, with reflectivity peaks of about 90% achievable in the near-infrared spectrum. The susceptor-assisted microwave heating process is mostly independent of the input material, suggesting its potential for universal application on the lunar surface.
研究不足
The study was conducted under Earth-like conditions, not accounting for the lunar environment's vacuum and temperature extremes. The exact processing temperatures could not be determined due to unavailable emissivity values. The formation of bubbles during melting affected surface quality.