The Use of Regolith Simulant as a Material for Building Functional Sensors in Extreme Environments

Space exploration is evolving and demands the development of advanced materials capable of performing in such an environment. This paper explores the potential of using Lunar Regolith simulants for the development of functional sensors to be used in extreme environments. Regolith simulants originally sourced from the Lunar Highland (LHS) and Lunar Mare (LMS) are being used to produce samples via Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D printing. The challenge of in-space manufacturing functional sensors is to find a reliable and efficient method to transform LHS and/or LMS into materials that can function in space conditions. This study demonstrates that DLP epoxy incorporated with a 10% weight Regolith Simulant produces shifts in the Raman peaks when compared to the Regolith raw powder. Raman-spectroscopy provides characteristic peaks for different minerals. The shift of these peaks can be utilized as a sensing property. The results provide insight into the use of in-situ materials for in-space manufacturing functional sensors.