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A Lunar Printer Experiment on Laser Fusion of the Lunar Regolith in the Luna-Grunt Space Project

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Abstract

This paper presents the results of laboratory studies on the use of a new technology of selective laser melting to obtain experimental products from the lunar regolith without special additives. The main properties of the natural regolith, which significantly affect the fusion process, are determined. The first samples of a given geometry were obtained from labradorite and gabbro-diabase powders, which are natural analogues of lunar regolith, using this technology. The research results are planned to be used in the preparation of initial data for the development of the Lunar Printer space device as part of the complex of scientific equipment of the promising lunar project Luna-Grunt.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors express their gratitude to the Institute of Engines and Power Plants of Samara University and the Center for Collective Use of the ATOS of Ustinov VOENMEKh University for technical assistance in the experiment on the fusion of lunar regolith simulators on laser facilities, as well as to the staff of the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences for advice on the properties of the regolith.

Funding

This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant no. 22-22-00840.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Blagonravov Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Russian Academy of Sciences, 101990, Moscow, Russia

    T. M. Tomilina, A. A. Kim & A. M. Lysenko

  2. Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997, Moscow, Russia

    D. I. Lisov

Authors
  1. T. M. Tomilina
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  2. A. A. Kim
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  3. D. I. Lisov
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  4. A. M. Lysenko
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Correspondence to A. A. Kim.

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Tomilina, T.M., Kim, A.A., Lisov, D.I. et al. A Lunar Printer Experiment on Laser Fusion of the Lunar Regolith in the Luna-Grunt Space Project. Cosmic Res 61, 314–323 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952523700302

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952523700302

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