UTSA kicks off new phase of work with Astroport on lunar construction for NASA

"Leveraging innovative technologies and systems such as those proposed in this study offers remarkable opportunities for the use of lunar materials, construction processes and our efforts toward achieving space sustainability," Awolusi said.

The two entities previously collaborated on developing machinery and materials to build a reusable launching pad on the Moon. Last year, a team of UTSA researchers worked on designing an induction furnace nozzle for forming and placing lunar regolith bricks for landing pad construction. They identified the temperatures at which moon soil liquifies. This material will be used to build launch pad bricks on the Moon.

Bin-Shafique and Awolusi's work will build on the previous research by developing transportation technologies for the bricklaying system of the lunar infrastructure construction.

"This research is a natural progression of the university's regolith liquefaction investigations, in that the Phase 1 study will develop discreet-event modeling of the bulk regolith conveyance methods to help determine feed rates for Astroport's Lunatron bricklayer system," Bin-Shafique said.

UTSA graduate students will contribute to the lunar construction research that will define conveyance techniques and the sorting and filtering process to prepare and deliver excavated regolith to Astroport's Lunatron bricklayer system.

"This project has the potential to promote UTSA's research excellence in the sense that it will not only get UTSA students motivated about the opportunity to work with leading researchers and experts to support a unique project like this, but challenge them to be diligent with their research, acquire the experience and knowledge that will set them apart and make them role models to others," Awolusi said.