An illustration of lunar highways. Credit: SpaceFactory
Think of it as “paving the way” — but on the moon.
The quest for human permanence on that grimy, rock-laden and crater-pocked world would be made smoother by the presence of mini-highways. These special paths could handle back-and-forth traffic, such as from lunar landing and launch pads to human-occupied habitats and other infrastructure, while limiting exposure to the pervasive lunar dust that plagued Apollo astronauts.
Since 2023, researchers at the Michigan Technological University (MTU) in Houghton, Michigan, and SpaceFactory of Huntsville, Alabama, have been working together to build and test the first-ever lunar “road” in a simulated space environment.
At the center of these efforts is a proprietary material they call lunar “asphalt,” a mix of additive biopolymers and simulant that mimics lunar regolith.
“The whole project is based on the idea that to have any infrastructure on the lunar surface, you have to start with improving that surface,” said Paul van Susante, an MTU associate professor who serves as principal investigator on the lunar road project. “The lunar regolith itself is not strong enough, even if you compact it. Our work is improving that bearing strength.”
Strength-assessment tests began last year in MTU’s Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber at the Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab. First, a paving machine laid down the lunar asphalt to create a road-like surface. Then, the researchers attached a specially fabricated lunar rover wheel to a gantry, which moved the wheel back and forth across the asphalt 900 times.
“The wheel was spring loaded to have a constant wheel pressure on the asphalt, similar to a rover on the lunar surface,” said van Susante.
Those tests and other development work are funded by NASA Small Business Technology Transfer awards. The group received a $150,000 Phase I award in 2023 and an $850,000 Phase II award in February. That second award is to fund activities into 2027.
Foremost among the design challenges is ensuring that the asphalt can withstand the moon’s 14 days of sun and 14 days of darkness, during which temperatures oscillate between a scorching 127 degrees Celsius (260 degrees Fahrenheit) to a cold plunge of minus 173 C (minus 280 F).
“We are currently studying the mixture and material properties in more rigorous detail,” says van Susante, “for example, performing bending tests of road-bed samples at cryocooled temperatures and at lunar hot temperatures.”
David Malott, SpaceFactory’s founder and the firm’s principal investigator on the project, said the team is now “working towards automating the remaining steps in our process — excavation, grading, and feedstock preparation — to prep the ground before surfacing the lunar road.”
In development is a set of modular components that can be strung together for continuous in-line processing or as individual implements for a robotic arm mounted to a rover or lander, said Malott. “We see this as providing greater operational flexibility for both small-scale lunar surface demonstrations and dedicated missions.”
The group plans to blueprint a fully integrated construction system, with the aim of being ready for lunar deployment by 2026, said Malott.
The long-term goal is to commercialize and bring the lunar roadwork innovations to federal and commercial markets, said MTU’s van Susante, noting that any number of lunar operations would benefit from having paved, dust-free zones.
“You can travel faster on nice smooth roads, avoid craters and rocks, and also dramatically reduce the wear on your vehicles,” he said. “Roads are important if you go back and forth to lunar infrastructure, and they also protect you from dust contamination.”
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