For a sustainable human presence on the Moon, it is critical to develop technologies that could utilise the locally available resources (a.k.a. in situ resource utilisation or ISRU) for habitat construction. As the surface soil is one of the most widely available resources at the Moon, we have investigated the viability of microwave heating of a lunar soil simulant (JSC-1A). JSC-1A was thermally treated in a bespoke microwave apparatus using 2.45 GHz frequency, using five different microwave powers in the range of 250 W to 1000 W. The structural properties of the resulting products were analysed to determine whether their microstructures and mechanical strengths differ under different input powers; and whether input power plays a crucial role in triggering thermal runaway, for identifying the optimum power for developing a microwave-heating. Our key findings are: (i) the higher input powers (800 W and 1000 W) generate the highest yields and microstructures with the greatest mechanical strengths, at the shortest fabrication times, and (ii) thermal runaway improves the microwave heating efficiency despite the rapid increase in temperature, once it is triggered. Our findings are of key importance for developing a microwave-heating payload for future lunar ISRU demonstration missions, contributing towards 3D printing-based extra-terrestrial construction processes.

Lunar Regolith Cement Mixer (LRCM): Governed ISRU Construction-Material Processor for Lunar and Martian Surface Operations Version: 13.0 Document ID: AEMS-LRCM-001 Author: Wayne Griffiths, AEMS LLC / Griffiths Canon Research Group Contact: wayne@aems.tech | ORCID: 0009-0009-4905-7909 Date: July 2026 Description Permanent habitation of the Moon and Mars requires structural construction material produced in situ. Importing Portland cement from Earth at launch costs exceeding USD 50,000 per kilogram is economically prohibitive for any structure beyond a small demonstration slab. Water-based hydration chemistry is unavailable on the lunar surface. There is no free water, no atmospheric moisture, and no pressure to retain it. A fundamentally different approach to construction material is required. This paper presents the Lunar Regolith Cement Mixer (LRCM), a governed ISRU processing vessel that converts raw regolith into structural construction material through four selectable binder pathways: sulfur concrete, alkali-activated geopolymer, water-ice cementation, and microwave sintering. The LRCM repurposes the Governed Electromagnetic Mixing and Batching Chamber (GEMBC) from the CSMMC methane-cracking architecture. The 316L stainless steel shell provides abrasion tolerance, thermal capability from ambient to 1,100 C, and vacuum-sealed integrity. Internal graphene capture coupons are replaced with mixing baffles and paddles. Residence-time logic maps directly to governed mixing time

As NASA strives towards a long duration presence on the Moon, it has become increasingly important to learn how to better utilize resources from the lunar surface for everything from habitats, vehicle infrastructure, and chemical extraction. To that end, a variety of lunar simulants have been sourced from terrestrially available volcanic minerals and glass as Apollo regolith is unavailable for experimentation needing large masses. However, while mineralogy and chemical composition can approach that of lunar material in these simulants, there are still distinct non-lunar phases such as hydrates, carbonates, sulfates, and clays that can cause simulants to behave distinctly non-lunar in a variety of processing conditions that maybe applied in-situ to lunar material. Notably, severe glassy bubbling has been documented in a variety of vacuum sintering experiments on JSC-1A lunar mare simulant heated via microwaves. The origins of this outgassing have not been well understood but are normally attributed to the decomposition of non-lunar contaminates intrinsic to virtually all terrestrially sourced simulants. As such, a series of controlled environmental tests were performed to ascertain the origins of the high temperature outgassing and to develop heat treatments that can drive JSC-1A closer to lunar composition and behavior. It was found that in JSC-1A at elevated temperatures distinct gas evolutions of water, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide occur in both inert gas and vacuum.

Introduction: The goal of the Moon to Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology (MMPACT) Project at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is to develop, deliver, and demonstrate on-demand capabilities to protect astronauts and create infrastructure elements on the lunar surface via construction of landing pads, habitats, shelters, roadways, berms, and blast shields using lunar regolith-based materials. MSFC has strong collaborations with industry, academia, and other NASA Centers to accomplish this goal. The MMPACT project consists of three elements. The first focuses on the development of an autonomous construction system. The second focuses on construction feedstock materials development. The third element focuses on the development of a microwave sintering construction capability. The team plans to demonstrate construction on a small Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) lander in the 2025 timeframe, with a future goal of constructing a subscale landing pad in 2028-2029.The MMPACT project is funded through the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, which is part of the Space Technology Mission Directorate. Technology Development: The MMPACT team will evaluate multiple autonomous construction and microwave construction technologies, materials, and construction element forms. Selected technologies will be matured; processes and operations will be defined for the two flight missions. Evaluations of materials, as well as the technology itself, will be demonstrated

technology in January 2013 that would use lunar regolith raw materials to produce lunar building structures while using enclosed inflatable habitats for housing Lunar habitation is any human habitation on the Moon. Lunar habitation is provided by surface habitats, possibly as part of a moonbase. A possibly easier solution would be to build the lunar habitat on the surface, and cover modules with lunar soil. The lunar soil is composed of a unique blend of silica and iron-containing compounds that may be fused into a glass-like solid using microwave energy. Blacic has studied the mechanical properties of lunar glass and has shown that it is a promising material for making rigid structures, if coated with metal to keep moisture out. This may allow for the use of "lunar bricks" in structural designs, or the vitrification of loose dirt to form a hard, ceramic crust. A lunar habitat built on the surface would need to be protected by improved radiation and micrometeoroid shielding. Building the lunar base inside a deep crater would provide at least partial shielding against radiation and micrometeoroids. Artificial magnetic fields have been proposed as a means to provide radiation shielding for long range deep space crewed missions, and it might be possible to use similar technology on a lunar habitat. Some regions on the Moon possess strong local magnetic fields that might partially mitigate exposure to charged solar and galactic particles. In a turn from the usual engineer-designed lunar habitats, London-based Foster + Partners architectural firm proposed a building construction 3D-printer technology in January 2013 that would use lunar regolith raw materials to produce lunar building structures while using enclosed inflatable habitats for housing the human occupants inside the hard-shell lunar structures. Overall, these habitats would require only ten percent of the structure mass to be transported from Earth, while using local lunar materials for the other 90 percent of the structure mass. "Printed" lunar soil would provide both "radiation and temperature insulation. Inside, a lightweight pressurized inflatable with the same dome shape would be the living environment for the first human Moon settlers." The building technology would include mixing lunar material with magnesium oxide, which would turn the "moonstuff into a pulp that can be sprayed to form the block" when a binding salt is applied that "converts [this] material into a stone-like…