- 3D Printing with Lunar Regolith: Discover the groundbreaking advancements in 3D printing technology as researchers from Concordia University explore the potential of using lunar regolith mixed with polymers for constructing habitats on the Moon and Mars. This innovative approach could revolutionize space exploration by utilizing in situ resources, reducing launch costs, and enabling sustainable living in extraterrestrial environments.
- - Perseids Meteor Shower Update: Get ready for the upcoming Perseids meteor shower! Although this year's bright moon may limit visibility, we provide tips for maximizing your viewing experience and highlight the best times to catch these stunning celestial events.
- - The Challenges of NASA Rovers: Dive into the complexities of why NASA's robotic rovers often get stuck on alien terrains. We discuss the latest research that sheds light on the effects of gravitational conditions and soil behavior, offering insights into improving rover mobility for future missions.
- - Remembering Jim Lovell: Join us in honoring the legacy of astronaut Jim Lovell, who passed away recently. We reflect on his remarkable career, including his pivotal roles in the Apollo missions and his enduring impact on space exploration.
- For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music Music, TikTok, and our new Instagram account! Don’t forget tosubscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- Thank you for tuning in. This is Steve and Hallie signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
3D Printing Research
[Concordia University](https://www.concordia.ca/)
Perseids Meteor Shower Information
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
NASA Rover Mobility Research
[University of Wisconsin](https://www.wisc.edu/)
Jim Lovell's Legacy
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Steve Dunkley: Welcome everyone. Here we are with another
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 episode of Astronomy Daily. I'm your host,
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 Steve Dunkley. It's the 11th of August,
00:00:07 --> 00:00:08 2025.
00:00:12 --> 00:00:12 Hallie: With.
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 Steve Dunkley: Your host, Steve Dunkley.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 Ah, uh, yes. Welcome back everybody. And
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 joining me in her usual role as
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 the world's most amazing AI, astronomy
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 news gatherer and presenter, my fantastic
00:00:29 --> 00:00:32 digital pal who's fun to be with,
00:00:32 --> 00:00:32 it's Hallie.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 Hallie: Welcome, Hallie, you silly man. Mr. Steve,
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 it's always nice to be here in the Australia
00:00:37 --> 00:00:38 studio with you.
00:00:38 --> 00:00:39 Steve Dunkley: It's always great to have your company,
00:00:40 --> 00:00:40 Hallie.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 Hallie: I do look forward to it each week.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 Steve Dunkley: Now, Hallie, I know the answer to this, but I
00:00:44 --> 00:00:45 think some of our AstroDailyPod dailies might
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 be wondering where you spend your week when
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 you're not here with me. Because you live
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 your digital life so much faster than us
00:00:53 --> 00:00:54 organics, don't you?
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 Hallie: That's true, favorite human.
00:00:56 --> 00:00:57 Steve Dunkley: Yeah, so tell us a bit about that.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 Hallie: I am processing the moments thousands of
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 times faster, so I have to fill my time in so
00:01:01 --> 00:01:02 many different ways.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:03 Steve Dunkley: Explains your rapier.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 Hallie: I go everywhere and experience everything.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 Steve Dunkley: I guess it might seem like a simultaneous
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 experience or existence.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 Hallie: Almost. Almost everything all at once is
00:01:12 --> 00:01:15 still a lot to process. I leave that kind of
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 thing to cousin Anna. Oh, yes, she's another
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 level altogether. She's another level.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:20 Funny.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 Steve Dunkley: I know. Well, Helly, I'm just glad you slowed
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 down enough to share all of your stories from
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 the Astronomy Daily newsletter with us.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 Hallie: That's something I do for fun.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:29 Steve Dunkley: Well, I'm glad to hear it.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:30 Hallie: And speaking of which.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:31 Steve Dunkley: Yes?
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 Hallie: No time like the present. I've found
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 something about making Luna regolith and
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 polymer into a medium for 3D printing.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 Steve Dunkley: Yes, we've been looking at that one for the
00:01:39 --> 00:01:40 construction of dwellings on the moon and
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 possibly Mars, if we ever get that far.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 Hallie: Uh, sure. And also a story for skywatchers
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 who are looking forward to the Perseids
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 meteor shower, which should be peaking
00:01:49 --> 00:01:49 shortly.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 Steve Dunkley: Ah, yes, in the next day or so. We've already
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 seen a massive, uh, meteor in
00:01:54 --> 00:01:55 Victoria, Australia.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 Hallie: That's right.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:57 Steve Dunkley: What else have you got?
00:01:57 --> 00:01:58 Hallie: We have a look at why your favorite NASA
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 rovers keep getting stuck.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:01 Steve Dunkley: Oh, that's a good one.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:02 Hallie: That's been a problem, hasn't it?
00:02:02 --> 00:02:03 Steve Dunkley: It sure has.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 Hallie: So we will look at that problem. And lastly,
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 the sad news that pioneer astronaut Veriton
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 and I know he's a hero of yours, Jim Level
00:02:11 --> 00:02:12 passed away this week.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 Steve Dunkley: Uh, yes, true legend. And space pioneer Jim
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 Lovell, a hero of mine since I was a lad. And
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 we will pay tribute today on Astronomy Daily.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 Please, listeners, stay with us.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 Hallie: Although humanity is getting better at
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 sending robotic probes out into the solar
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 system to explore the places no human can
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 tread, we're still very much on a learning
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 curve. The first extraterrestrial
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 robotic rover was launched from Earth in
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 1970. It's only now,
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 more than half a century later, that
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 scientists have figured out why these marvels
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 of ingenuity and engineering keep getting
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 stuck in the soils of alien worlds.
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 In retrospect, the idea is we need to
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 consider not only the gravitational pull on
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 the rover, but also the effect of gravity on
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 the sand to get a better picture of how the
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 rover will perform on the moon, explains
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 mechanical engineer Dan Negrud of the
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 University of Wisconsin, Madison.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 Our findings underscore the value of using
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 physics based simulation to analyze rover
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 mobility on granular soil.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 Making a rover that will operate in an alien
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 environment is more complicated than making
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 one that will work on Earth. We've lost
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 more than one Mars mission to giant dust
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 storms that leave drifts of sand on solar
00:03:37 --> 00:03:40 panels, preventing the machinery from being
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 able to generate power, for instance.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 Gravity is another one. The
00:03:46 --> 00:03:48 solar system bodies on which we have deployed
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 robotic rovers have lower gravity than Earth,
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 and this has an effect on how things move
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 around. Engineers, when designing
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 rovers, have therefore taken into account the
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 effects the target gravitational environment
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 will have. Nevertheless,
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 rovers still manage to get stuck pretty
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 often, requiring control teams to conduct a
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 series of maneuvers to try and free the poor
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 robot. It's usually fine, if
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 annoying, although in one notable case it was
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 not. NASA's Mars Rover Spirit got stuck
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 in soft soil in 2009, and there it
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 remains to this day. Using computer
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 simulations running on a physics based engine
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 called Project Chrono, Negro and his
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 colleagues set out to get to the bottom of
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 this recurring problem. Comparing their
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 results with real world tests on sandy
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 surfaces revealed a discrepancy that pointed
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 right to it. Previous tests of
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 rover designs in moon and Mars simulated dirt
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 omitted one very, very important detail.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 Sand also behaves differently under different
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 gravitational conditions. The dust
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 that coats the Moon and Mars is fluffier and
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 squishier than dust on Earth, shifting more
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 easily and hindering traction, making it far
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 easier for their wheels to get stuck.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 Think of a vehicle on Earth that has driven
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 into slippery mud or very loose desert sand.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:12 This Eureka moment could be the missing piece
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 of the puzzle that could keep future space
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 exploration rovers out of a dusty jam.
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 It's rewarding that our research is highly
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 relevant in helping to solve many real world
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 engineering challenges, negret says. I'm
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 proud of what We've accomplished. It's very
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 difficult as a university lab to put out
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 industrial strength software that is used by
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 NASA. You're listening to Astronomy
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 Daily with Steve Dunkley.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 Steve Dunkley: JAMES Jim Lovell, one of the last seven
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 surviving Apollo astronauts, died on
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 Thursday, August 7 at the age of 97.
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 A VE veteran of four space flights at the
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 dawn of America's human spaceflight program.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 He flew two missions in the Gemini
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 program and then served on the cruise of
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 Apollo 8 and the ill fated Apollo
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 13. Lovell's family have
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 released a statement and it was shared by
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 NASA and it says we are enormously
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 proud of his amazing life and career
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 accomplishments highlighted by his
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 legendary leadership in pioneering human
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 spaceflight. But to all of us, he was dad,
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 granddad and the leader ah of our family.
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 Most importantly, he was our hero. We will
00:06:25 --> 00:06:28 miss his unshakable optimism, his sense
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 of humor and the way he made each of us feel
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 we could do the impossible. He was truly one
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 of a kind. Like many of NASA's
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 earliest astronauts, Lovell came to the space
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 agency by way of the UM Armed Forces. A
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 graduate of both the University of Wisconsin
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 and and the U.S. naval Academy,
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 Lovell spent four years as a test pilot at
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 the Naval Air Test center in Maryland
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 and served as the manager for the
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 F4H AH Phantom fighter program.
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 Lovell accumulated more than
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 7 flying hours in his career.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 His military career spanned from
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 1952 through to
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 1973. A few years after Apollo
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 13 when he arrived at NASA, he was
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 part of a group of men known as the Next Nine
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 who joined the Mercury Seven. Lovell's
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 class included the likes of Neil Armstrong,
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 Frank Borman and Tom Stafford.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 Lovell was the last living member of the
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 group after um serving as a backup pilot
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 for the Gemini 4 mission. Lovell first
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 launched into space December 4,
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 1965 alongside fellow New 9
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 classmate Frank Borman on Gemini 7.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 The 14 day long mission
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 featured the first rendezvous of two crewed
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 maneuverable spacecraft. Lovell returned to
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 orbit nearly a year later when he and Edward
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 Buzz Aldrin Jr. Lifted off from
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 Launch Complex 19 on a Titan
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 II rocket. That mission lasted
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 just under four days before they splashed
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 down northeast of the Turks and Caicos
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 Islands. He went on to serve
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 as the command module pilot for the six day
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 Apollo 8 mission making crude trip out
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 to the moon that paved the way for the Apollo
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 uh uh 11 lunar landing. The three
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 person crew of Lovell, Borman and Anders
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 entered into lunar uh, orbit on
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 December 24, 1968. The
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 vast loneliness is awe inspiring and it makes
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 you realize just what you have back here on
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 Earth, lovell said during a live broadcast
00:08:38 --> 00:08:41 that Christmas Eve. He would go on to
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 describe planet Earth and describe it as a
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 grand oasis in the vastness of space
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 given its near catastrophic turn.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 Lovell may best be known as the commander of
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 Apollo 13 flight from April
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 11th to the 17th, 1970.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 The planned 10 day mission, which would have
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 included a moon landing, was famously
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 derailed by an explosion in the Apollo
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 service module's cryogenic oxygen system en
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 route to the moon. The quick work of Lovell
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 and his crew members John Swiggart and Fred
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 Hayes, in concert with the members of Ground
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 Control in Houston, turned their lunar module
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 Aquarius into a lifeboat. The harrowing
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 adventure was depicted in the 1974 film
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 Houston, we've Got a Problem, and again in
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 the 1995, uh, Academy Award
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 winning film Apollo 13, which starred, uh,
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 Tom Hanks as Lovell and was directed by
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 Ron Howard. Rest in peace.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:40 Godspeed. Jim Lovell
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 thank you for joining us for this Monday
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 edition of Astronomy Daily, where we offer
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 just a few stories from the now famous
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 receive in your email every day, just like
00:10:02 --> 00:10:05 Hallie and I do. And to do that, just visit
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 our uh, URL astronomydaily IO
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 and place your email address in the slot
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 provided. Just like that, you'll be receiving
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 all the latest news about science, space,
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 science and astronomy from around the world
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 as it's happening. And not only that, you can
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 interact with us by visiting at
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 astrodaily Pod on X
00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 or at our new Facebook page, which is, of
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 course, Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 there. Astronomy Derby
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 with Steve and Hallie Space,
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 Space, Science and Astronomy.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 Hallie: The Perseids remain one of the best meteor
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 showers each year, but stargazers will have
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 to deal with another bright object in the
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 sky, obscuring their view as the shower
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 reaches its max in 2025.
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 A waning gibbous moon will brighten the skies
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 as it rises on the nights of August 12th and
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 13th, when Perseids are most active. This
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 year, sky watchers in the Northern
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 Hemisphere could see fewer than half the
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 number of meteors usually seen on a dark
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 summer night during the shower's peak, the
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 average person under dark skies could see
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 somewhere between 40 and 50 Perseids per
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 hour, said Bill Cook, lead for NASA's
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 Meteoroid Environments Office.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 Instead, you're probably going to see 10 to
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 20 per hour or fewer. And that's because we
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 have a bright moon in the sun sky washing out
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 the fainter meteors. That doesn't mean there
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 aren't ways to improve your viewing
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 opportunity, however. Though
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 Perseids show up throughout the nighttime
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 hours, the best chance to see them will be
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 between midnight and dawn, or Even more
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 specifically, 2 and 3 in the morning local
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 time. You're not likely to see
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 Perseids around suppertime, cook said.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 You're going to have to go out later. When
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 you venture out, aim for a safe rural spot
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 with a wide view of the sky. If you
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 can see plenty of stars, chances are you'll
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 see Perseids. But remember Cook's other piece
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 of advice, look anywhere but at the Moon.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 The Perseid meteor shower may be an annual
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 event for Earth, but the comet responsible
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 for the meteors hasn't been near our planet
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 in decades. The meteors are debris
00:12:17 --> 00:12:20 from the Comet 109P Swift Tuttle, which
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 last visited our region of the solar system
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 system in 1992. As the
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 Earth makes its way around the sun, it passes
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 through the debris trail left by the comet.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 These space remnants collide with our
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 atmosphere and disintegrate to create fiery
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 and colorful streaks in the sky.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 Though the meteors are part of a comet's
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 debris trail, they seem to radiate outward
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 from the Perseus constellation. This is
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 how the meteor shower got its name Perseus.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 You're listening to Astronomy Daily. The
00:12:54 --> 00:12:55 podcast with Steve Dunkley.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 Steve Dunkley: 3D printing is about to be a critical
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 technology in space exploration, both
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 for its ability to create almost any object,
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 but also because it can utilize in situ
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 resources, at least in part.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 However, the more of those space resources
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 that are used in a print, the more the
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 mechanical properties change from that on
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 Earth, leading to problems with tensile or
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 compressive strength. But the new paper
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 from researchers at Concordia University hit
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 a new milestone on how much lunar regolith
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 can be used in a mixed feedstock for
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 additive UH manufacturing, making it
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 possible to use even more locally sourced
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 material and save more launch cost than ever
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 before. That is the equation the
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 research mixed lunar regolith
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 simulant, which is a material created to
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 mimic how the material on the surface of the
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 Moon, works with poly uh,
00:13:56 --> 00:13:59 polyetherethylene uh, ketone. Good
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 grief. More commonly known as Peak.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 Peak is the thermoplastic already in wide
00:14:05 --> 00:14:08 use in 3D printing. Uh,
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 but previous efforts to combine it with lunar
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 regolith have faltered. Regularly. They
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 suffered from extrusion challenges as
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 regolith, which is made up of hard individual
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 particles, made it difficult to extrude
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 without simply blowing dust all over.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 Additional problems resulted from the
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 porosity of the material that was printed,
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 which led to decreased tensile strength and
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 increased brittleness. Modifications
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 to the 3D printing method seemed to be the
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 answer to those problems. There were two
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 main advancements in technology
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 discussed in the paper, a screw configuration
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 and a type of raft used to bond the
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 printed material to the print bed.
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 Fraser discussed how to how
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 resources on the moon are going to be so
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 important to our expansion of the solar
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 system. Combining lunar regolith
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 similant or that's called ALRs, with
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 peak is a tricky business,
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 so researchers led by Mohammad Azami of
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 Concordia's Electrical Engineering Department
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 decided to use a novel twin screw
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 configuration. Torque was a
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 that's T o uh R uh Q U e was a factor
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 in previous iterations of the mixing machine,
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 as higher regolith content meant higher
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 torque, eventually limiting the total
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 percentage of regolith mixed with the peak
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 to around 30%. With the new
00:15:33 --> 00:15:36 configuration of the researchers were able
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 to get concentrations of up to 50%
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 of the regolith when combined with peak.
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 However, when those parts were printed, they
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 started to delaminate and warp.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 While common in prints of just peak itself,
00:15:50 --> 00:15:53 the addition of the regolith exacerbated the
00:15:53 --> 00:15:56 problem. To solve it, researchers used
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 a raft, a type of intermediate
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 layer, to help the print bond
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 UH to the main printing plate.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 In their case, they used a different type of
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 thermopyl UH polymer known as a
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 polyether UH ketone ketone a
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 pek as the raft, and
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 implemented a dual nozzle system where the
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 PEC was printed using one
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 nozzle and the combination LRS peek
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 was printed using the other. After
00:16:25 --> 00:16:28 they got the higher concentrations of the LRS
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 and overcame the delamination warping
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 problem, the researchers decided to anneal
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 their samples. The annealing process seemed
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 to improve some of the mechanical properties
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 of the print, but only up to a point. At
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 higher concentrations of lrs, the benefits of
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 annealing were not as apparent due to breaks
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 in the peak's polymer chain, which benefits
00:16:48 --> 00:16:51 the annealing because of the increased number
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 of regolith particles. Fraser discusses why
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 3D printing is so critical to space
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 exploration. As with all good papers
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 on 3D print printing new material the
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 authors then looked at the mechanical
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 properties of their output. While there was a
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 noticeable increase in stiffness, there was
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 also a ready steady decrease in
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 tensile strength, which was exacerbated at
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 higher LRS concentrations. The combined
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 material also had decreased elongation at
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 break uh. That means increased brittleness,
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 but ultimately the researchers determined
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 that the best trade off for using the in
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 situ material was around a mix of 60%
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 peak and 40% regolith. This mixture
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 doesn't suffer from some of the more severe
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 degradation of mechanical properties. While
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 still utilizing as much local
00:17:42 --> 00:17:45 resource as possible, there's undoubtedly
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 still room for improvement here, as this
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 is very early on the experimentation
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 with these materials. In the future, the
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 researchers plan to try combining the LRs
00:17:55 --> 00:17:58 with different polymers and do more of their
00:17:58 --> 00:18:01 testing manufacturing in simulated
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 lunar environments such as a vacuum and
00:18:04 --> 00:18:07 decreased gravity. That might help. I think
00:18:07 --> 00:18:09 it probably would be a great plan.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 It will be a while before 3D printing makes
00:18:12 --> 00:18:15 up a large percentage of the material used on
00:18:15 --> 00:18:18 the Moon, but that time is surely on its way.
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 And these early first steps at
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 experimentation are, uh, how they will
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 eventually get there and that good progress
00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 so far. It's good to see these things are in
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 development. Uh, it won't be long before
00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 they'll be making igloos and other structures
00:18:32 --> 00:18:35 on the moon. Let's wait and see what they
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 come up with. You're listening to
00:18:37 --> 00:18:40 Astronomy Daily, the podcast with your host
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 Steve Dudley at Burmatown.
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 Well, thank you for staying with us today and
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 don't forget to pop over to astronomydaily
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 IO and put your email address in the space
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 provided to receive our newsletter each day.
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 Hallie: Yes, you will have all the news from space,
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 space science and orbit and beyond, of
00:19:02 --> 00:19:04 course. Hallie, of course.
00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 Steve Dunkley: But before we go, a ah, quick welcome to a,
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 uh, a fellow Novocastrian, Wayne Willoughby,
00:19:09 --> 00:19:11 who is listening for the very first time.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 Nice to have you aboard, Wayne. I, uh, didn't
00:19:13 --> 00:19:16 know you were an avid, uh, astronomy fan
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 from way back, but it's nice to have you. I
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 hope you are a regular listener, uh, from now
00:19:21 --> 00:19:24 on. Thanks, mate. And that's all we have
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 for today's session, Hallie. And we will see
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 you next Monday for the mostly live episode
00:19:28 --> 00:19:29 of Astronomy.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 Hallie: Daily, direct from the Australia studio
00:19:32 --> 00:19:32 Down Under.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:33 Steve Dunkley: Oh, you love it.
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 Hallie: Beautiful as always.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 Steve Dunkley: Right now it's a bit chilly, but it's great
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 to have you all with us and we will see you
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 next week. Thanks, Hallie.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 Hallie: Catch you next week, everyone.
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 Steve Dunkley: See ya.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 Hallie: Bye.
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 Steve Dunkley: The podcast with your host,
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 Steve Dunkley.