EPSCoR Research Fellows: NSF: Mechanical Testing and Modeling of Sustainable Moon-to-Mars Construction Materials Made from Planetary Regolith

As part of its moon exploration program (Artemis), NASA will establish key infrastructure on the lunar surface, including a habitat that will house four astronauts in the near future. Building this infrastructure on the Moon—and eventually on Mars—comes with unique challenges. Structures like lunar habitats, landing pads, and blast shields must be designed to withstand complex conditions, such as shallow moonquakes and the extreme environment of space.

Comprehensive fundamental research is still needed to address the natural hazards that could affect these structures. To tackle this challenge, it is crucial to first understand how the newly developed 3D printing construction (3DPC) materials made from lunar and Martian regolith (dust and broken rocks) behave and to create reliable models that predict their performance.

This project advances scientific knowledge by exploring the mechanical behavior of these regolith-based 3DPC materials in harsh extraterrestrial environments. This NSF EPSCoR Research Fellowship will offer valuable training opportunities to the PI and a graduate student to learn advanced fabrication and testing techniques at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and create a new research collaboration on mechanical testing and computer modeling of sustainable planetary regolith-based materials between the University of Mississippi (UM) and NASA MSFC.

NASA has initiated the Moon-to-Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology (MMPACT) program to advance in-space 3DPC systems. Many scientific aspects regarding 3DPC materials fabricated from lunar and Martian regolith (and simulants), processing methods, resulting properties, and performance are yet to be uncovered for in-space construction. This NSF EPSCoR Research Fellowship project will focus on understanding the relationships among in-situ 3DPC processes, regolith components, newly developed binders, and the mechanical properties of planetary regolith-based materials.

This understanding will aid in formulating elastoplastic and damage models for these materials under extraterrestrial conditions. It will generate critical knowledge of how composite ingredients, curing times, and thermal and strain rate effects influence the mechanical responses of regolith-based 3DPC materials under high-strain rates, vibration, and thermal shock, such as those caused by shallow moonquakes and temperature fluctuations on the lunar surface.

The proposed mechanical testing and modeling of these materials will be essential in designing and building the space infrastructure required for long-term Moon-to-Mars missions, in support of the Artemis program. Back on Earth, promoting the wider use of in-situ additive construction and manufacturing has the potential to significantly reduce material waste.

The new knowledge and techniques acquired by the PI and his team through training at NASA MSFC will seamlessly integrate into his existing mechanics and materials lab, transforming it into a competitive experimental and computational research facility, which will bolster the mechanical engineering program at UM.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.