Could materials from the Moon’s own surface be used to 3D print a large antenna there instead of transporting it from Earth? Yes, perhaps.
This is what Rasmus Elkjær Jacobsen, MSc in Engineering and Assistant Professor in the Electromagnetic Systems division at DTU Space, will investigate together with a group of colleagues in a new two-year research project.
The aim is to demonstrate the principle by developing and 3D printing a working prototype of the antenna here on Earth. As far as possible, it will be made from material that mimics regolith, the loose dust and rock material found on the Moon’s surface. The material, known as lunar regolith simulant, is produced here on Earth.
”We are not going to build an antenna on the Moon as part of this project. Here on Earth, we want to investigate whether we can produce a functioning antenna structure from lunar regolith simulants. In the longer term, the perspective is that advanced communications equipment could be manufactured directly on the Moon using resources available there,” says Rasmus Elkjær Jacobsen.
The project is being carried out by a team led by Rasmus Elkjær Jacobsen in a collaboration between the Electromagnetic Systems division at DTU Space and DTU Construct.
”The project is part of a broader effort. At DTU, we are also investigating in several other projects how far we can take local manufacturing on the Moon using materials and resources that are already available there,” says Rasmus Elkjær Jacobsen.
The new project will provide fundamental knowledge about how local resources could potentially be used to manufacture communications equipment for future lunar missions.
Achieving the right material properties is crucial
The key question is whether lunar regolith can be processed to give it the electromagnetic properties needed for an antenna to function.
The researchers will investigate whether the material is suitable for producing 3D-printed structures with different geometries and material compositions.
Regolith alone, for example, does not have all the electromagnetic properties required to efficiently reflect and receive radio waves.
”We are working with materials in which lunar regolith simulants are combined with small amounts of metal during the 3D-printing process to produce a functioning antenna,” says Rasmus Elkjær Jacobsen.
”We will then test the electromagnetic properties of these composite materials at frequencies ranging from 10 to 100 MHz and further into the GHz range to investigate whether they could actually be used in future radio antenna systems”.
An antenna on the Moon could provide new knowledge about the Universe
The far side of the Moon, which faces away from Earth, is an attractive location for radio astronomy using large antenna systems.
There, antennas are shielded from radio interference from Earth. This provides favourable conditions for detecting very faint radio waves from the early Universe that are almost impossible to observe from the Earth’s surface.
But this requires large antenna structures to be placed directly on the Moon.
”Radio astronomers are interested in detecting the faint radio waves from the earliest epochs of the Universe because they can provide new knowledge about how the first stars and galaxies formed,” says Rasmus Elkjær Jacobsen.
”This requires very large antenna structures, and this is where 3D printing has clear advantages. In principle, antennas for this purpose could be manufactured directly on the Moon’s surface using this method. At the same time, 3D-printing technology makes it possible to combine different materials and create complex geometries that would be both difficult and expensive to transport out there from Earth”.