High-temperature microwave dielectric properties and processing of JSC-1AC lunar simulant
Abstract
Successful development of extraterrestrial microwave heating technologies depends on the study of the dielectric properties that control the microwave heating behavior of simulants and regoliths. Microwave heating may serve many lunar applications including heating the regolith for lunar surface dust stabilization, oxygen production, building materials, and mineral refinement. The dielectric properties (dielectric constant, ε′, and loss factor, ε″) of the lunar simulant, JSC-1AC, were measured at 2.45 GHz microwave frequency from room temperature to 1,100°C. The dielectric loss tangent and half-power depth were calculated from the measured properties. The loss tangent increased from a low value of 0.02 at room temperature to a high value of 0.31 at 1,100°C, indicating increased efficiency of microwave absorption at higher temperatures. The low temperature loss tangent indicated that relatively slow, low efficiency heating would be expected at room temperature. The microwave heating experiments confirmed weak heating related to absorption below 250°C, and increasingly strong absorption above 250°C, leading to rapid heating and melting or the so-called thermal runaway of JSC-1AC. Heating with microwaves as the only energy source produced a thermal runaway with wide variations in the JSC-1AC, such as fully molten glass, with unsintered loose particulate located millimeters away. The addition of a supplemental radiant heat source to the microwave mitigated the thermal runaway effect and produced uniform solid materials from the JSC-1A lunar simulant. The room temperature dielectric properties of JSC-1AC were measured and found to be comparable with the range of published lunar regolith properties, making JSC-1AC a reasonable starting point for microwave heating and computational modeling studies.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
A more uniform condensed structure was achieved by sintering JSC-1 Lunar simulant in a hybrid microwave furnace.
“As illustrated in Fig. 17.b, a more uniform condensed structure was achieved by sintering the JSC-1 Lunar simulant in a hybrid microwave furnace.”
From A comprehensive review of lunar-based manufacturing and construction (2024) · cites this paper as [327]
At the same microwave power, the heating speed accelerated to beyond 100/min.
“At the same microwave power, the heating speed accelerated to beyond 100/min.”
From A comprehensive review of lunar-based manufacturing and construction (2024) · cites this paper as [327]
Allan et al. observed low heating absorption below 250°C and progressively more significant absorption above 1100°C for JSC-1AC simulant at 2.45 GHz.
“They observed low heating absorption below 250 ◦ C and a progressively more significant absorption above 1100 ◦ C.”
From A comprehensive review of lunar-based manufacturing and construction (2024) · cites this paper as [327]
Cites
Lunar sourcebook : a user's guide to the moon
Heiken, G. H., Vaniman, D. T., & French, B. M. (1991) · Cited by 737 · see citing works
Dielectric properties of the first 100 meters of the Moon
Olhoeft, G. R., & STRANGWAY, D. W. (1975) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/0012-821x(75)90146-6 · Cited by 296 · see citing works
The Effects of Lunar Dust on Eva Systems During the Apollo Missions
Gaier, J. R. (2013) · NASA Technical Reports Server (NASA) · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Structural Design of a Lunar Habitat
Ruess, F., Schaenzlin, J., & Benaroya, H. (2006) · Journal of Aerospace Engineering · doi:10.1061/(asce)0893-1321(2006)19:3(133 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
ENHANCEMENT OF DIFFUSION-LIMITED RATES OF VAPORIZATION OF METALS
Turkdogan, E. T., Grieveson, P., & Darken, L. S. (1963) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry · doi:10.1021/j100802a017 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
JSC-1A lunar soil simulant: Characterization, glass formation, and selected glass properties
Ray, C. S., dos Reis, S. T., Sen, S., & O'Dell, J. S. (2010) · Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids · doi:10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2010.04.049 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Lunar Surface Stabilization via Sintering or the Use of Heat Cured Polymers
Hintze, P., Curran, J., & Back, T. (2009) · 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including The New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition · doi:10.2514/6.2009-1015 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Self-citationHutcheon, R. M., de Jong, M., & Adams, F. P. (1992) · Journal of Microwave Power and Electromagnetic Energy · doi:10.1080/08327823.1992.11688176 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Lunar Regolith Simulant User's Guide
Schrader, C. M., Rickman, A. D. L., McLemore, C., & Fikes, J. (2010) · NASA STI Repository (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Microwave processing of lunar materials: potential applications
Meek, T. T., Cocks, F. H., Vaniman, D. T., & Wright, R. A. (1984) · University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Allen, C. C., Graf, J. C., & McKay, D. S. (1994) · Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space IV · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Thermal Properties of Lunar Regolith Simulants
Street, Jr., Ray, C., Rickman, D., & Scheiman, D. A. (2010) · Earth and Space 2010 · doi:10.1061/41096(366)28 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Lunar sample electrical properties
Olhoeft, G. R., STRANGWAY, D. W., & Frisillo, A. L. (1973) · NASA Technical Reports Server (NASA) · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Dielectric properties of Apollo 14 lunar samples at microwave and millimeter wavelengths
Bassett, H. L., & Shackelford, R. G. (1972) · LPSC · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Lunar Oxygen Production - A Maturing Technology
Allen, C. C., Bond, G. G., & McKay, D. S. (1994) · Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space IV · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Microwave Enhanced Drying and Firing of Geopolymers
Gubb, T. A., Baranova, I., Allan, S. M., Fall, M. L., Shulman, H. S., & Kriven, W. M. (2011) · Ceramic engineering and science proceedings · doi:10.1002/9781118095393.ch4 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationSimulation of Microwave Heating of Mullite Rods
Goodson, C. C. (1997) · VTechWorks (Virginia Tech) · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Investigation of microwave heating with time varying material properties
Braunstein, J., Connor, K. A., Salon, S. J., & Libelo, L. F. (1999) · IEEE Transactions on Magnetics · doi:10.1109/20.767384 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Microwave Permittivity and Permeability Measurement on Lunar Soils
Barmatz, M. B., Steinfeld, D. E., Begley, S. B., Winterhalter, D., & Allen, C. (2011) · NASA Technical Reports Server (NASA) · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Susceptor Investigation for Microwave Heating Applications
Gaustad, G. G., Metcalfe, J., & Allan, H. S. A. S. (2006) · Ceramic transactions /Ceramic transactions · doi:10.1002/9781118407820.ch3 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
UNIQUE LUNAR SOIL PROPERTIES FOR ISRU MICROWAVE PROCESSING. Law
Taylor, L. A., Hill, E., & Liu, Y. (2005) · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Electromagnetic energy applied to and gained from lunar materials
Meek, T. T., Vaniman, D. T., Blake, R. D., & Cocks, F. H. (1986) · University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Numerical Simulation of Microwave Sintering of Zinc Oxide
Fischer, P. (1997) · VTechWorks (Virginia Tech) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
What is the best microwave absorber
Hutcheon, R. M., Adams, F. P., & Jong, D. W. W. (1995) · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Microwave sintering of lunar soil: properties, theory, and practice
Taylor, L. A., & Meek, T. T. (2005) · Journal of Aerospace Engineering · doi:10.1061/(asce)0893-1321(2005)18:3(188
Flagged first, then by citations
2 of the 27 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Farries, K. W., Visintin, P., Smith, S. T., & van Eyk, P. (2021) · Construction and Building Materials · doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.123627 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Commercial lunar propellant architecture: A collaborative study of lunar propellant production
Kornuta, D., Abbud-Madrid, A., Atkinson, J., Barr, J. D., Barnhard, G. P., Bienhoff, D., Blair, B. R., Clark, V., Cyrus, J., DeWitt, B., et al. (2019) · REACH · doi:10.1016/j.reach.2019.100026 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Extra-terrestrial construction processes – Advancements, opportunities and challenges
Lim, S., Prabhu, V. L., Anand, M., & Taylor, L. A. (2017) · Advances in Space Research · doi:10.1016/j.asr.2017.06.038 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Overview of the Lunar In Situ Resource Utilization Techniques for Future Lunar Missions
Zhang, P., Dai, W., Niu, R., Zhang, G. C., Liu, G., Liu, X., Zheng, B. R., Wang, Z., Zheng, H., Liu, C., et al. (2023) · Space Science & Technology · doi:10.34133/space.0037 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Materials and design concepts for space-resilient structures
Naser, M. Z., & Chehab, A. I. (2018) · Progress in Aerospace Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.paerosci.2018.03.004 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Just, G. H., Smith, K., Joy, K. H., & Roy, M. J. (2019) · Planetary and Space Science · doi:10.1016/j.pss.2019.104746 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Sintering of HUST-1 lunar regolith simulant
Han, W., Ding, L., Cai, L., Zhu, J., Luo, H., & Tang, T. (2022) · Construction and Building Materials · doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.126655 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Kim, Y.-J., Ryu, B. H., Jin, H., Lee, J., & Shin, H.-S. (2021) · Ceramics International · doi:10.1016/j.ceramint.2021.06.098 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
A review towards the design of extraterrestrial structures: From regolith to human outposts
Kalapodis, N. A., Kampas, G., & Ktenidou, O. (2020) · Acta Astronautica · doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.05.038 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Mechanical behaviour of additively manufactured lunar regolith simulant components
Goulas, A., Binner, J. G., Engstrøm, D. S., Harris, R. A., & Friel, R. J. (2019) · Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part L: Journal of Materials: Design and Applications · doi:10.1177/1464420718777932 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Lunar shelter construction issues: The state-of-the-art towards 3D printing technologies
Ulubeyli, S. (2022) · Acta Astronautica · doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.03.033 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Goulas, A., & Friel, R. J. (2016) · Rapid Prototyping Journal · doi:10.1108/rpj-02-2015-0022 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
A comprehensive review of lunar-based manufacturing and construction
Azami, M., Kazemi, Z., Moazen, S., Dubé, M., Potvin, M.-J., & Skonieczny, K. (2024) · Progress in Aerospace Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.paerosci.2024.101045 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Regolith sintering and 3D printing for lunar construction: An extensive review on recent progress
Suhaizan, M. S., Tran, P., Exner, A., & Falzon, B. G. (2023) · Progress in Additive Manufacturing · doi:10.1007/s40964-023-00537-1 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Manufacture of glass and mirrors from lunar regolith simulant
Schleppi, J., Gibbons, J., Groetsch, A., Buckman, J., Cowley, A., & Bennett, N. (2019) · Journal of Materials Science · doi:10.1007/s10853-018-3101-y · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Spark plasma sintering of HUST-1 lunar regolith simulant and its thermal shock resistance properties
Han, W., Zhou, Y., Dang, F., Zhou, C., & Ding, L. (2023) · Advances in Space Research · doi:10.1016/j.asr.2023.11.027 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Computational Modeling and Experimental Microwave Processing of JSC-1A Lunar Simulant
Allan, S. M., Braunstein, J., Baranova, I., Vandervoort, N., Fall, M. L., & Shulman, H. S. (2012) · Journal of Aerospace Engineering · doi:10.1061/(asce)as.1943-5525.0000245 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Self-citationWater extraction from icy lunar simulants using low power microwave heating
Cole, J. D., Lim, S., Sargeant, H. M., Sheridan, S., Anand, M., & Morse, A. (2023) · Acta Astronautica · doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2023.04.035 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Phuah, X. L., Wang, H., Zhang, B., Cho, J., Zhang, X., & Wang, H. (2020) · Materials · doi:10.3390/ma13184128 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Development of lunar regolith composite and structure via laser-assisted sintering
Zhao, H., Meng, L., Li, S., Zhu, J., Yuan, S., & Zhang, W. (2022) · Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering · doi:10.1007/s11465-021-0662-2 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Zhang, T., Tang, H., Li, X., Zhou, C., Yu, W., Mo, B., Liu, J., & Zeng, X. (2024) · Advances in Space Research · doi:10.1016/j.asr.2023.08.029 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Jin, H., Lee, J., Li, Z., Yeom, S., Shin, H., & Kim, Y. (2024) · Journal of Building Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2024.109193 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Wang, C., Zhang, G., Wang, Y., & Song, L. (2025) · Galaxies · doi:10.3390/galaxies13050103 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Liu, Z., Li, J., Yang, X., Ding, Y., & Meng, S. (2024) · Journal of the European Ceramic Society · doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2024.117047 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Properties of novel LX lunar regolith simulant system — The base simulants: Part 1
Patzwald, J., Kleba-Ehrhardt, R., Schiperski, F., Griemsmann, T., Linke, S., Neumann, T., Overmeyer, L., Stoll, E., & Karl, D. (2025) · Acta Astronautica · doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.02.030 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Just, G. H., Roy, M. J., Joy, K. H., Hutchings, G. C., & Smith, K. (2021) · Journal of Field Robotics · doi:10.1002/rob.22050 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Aiyeki, A. D., Тихонов, А. А., & Chugunov, S. S. (2025) · Acta Astronautica · doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.04.009 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Microwave permittivity and permeability measurements on lunar simulants at low temperatures
Barmatz, M. B., Steinfeld, D. E., Batres, J., Hao, H.-Y., Rickman, D. L., & Shulman, H. S. (2023) · Advances in Space Research · doi:10.1016/j.asr.2023.08.041 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationKim, Y., Jin, H., Lee, J., Ryu, B.-H., & Shin, H. (2024) · Construction and Building Materials · doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2024.136599 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Lim, S., Reeve, S., Lekuona, E., Garbayo, A., Toux, T. L., Morse, A. D., Bowen, J., & Anand, M. (2021) · Advances in Space Research · doi:10.1016/j.asr.2021.10.038 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Liu, Y., Zhang, X., Chen, X., Wang, C., Yu, Y., Yi, J., & Yao, W. F. (2024) · Crystals · doi:10.3390/cryst14121022 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Microwave Simulation Experiments on Regolith (Lunar Dust) Deposition on Stainless Steel
Skvortsova, N. N., Stepakhin, V. D., Сорокин, А. А., Малахов, Д. В., Gusein-zade, N. G., Akhmadullina, N. S., Borzosekov, V. D., Voronova, E. V., & Николаевич, Ш. О. (2021) · Materials · doi:10.3390/ma14216472 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Zhang, R., Wang, T., & Wang, G. (2025) · Additive Manufacturing Frontiers · doi:10.1016/j.amf.2025.200238 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Investigation on heat conduction of multi-sized sintered-ceramic powders based on Monte-Carlo method
Zhang, Y., Wu, Q., Han, Z., Rhamdhani, M. A., Guo, C., & Brooks, G. A. (2022) · International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer · doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2022.123631 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Laser welding study of vacuum sintered HUST-1 lunar regolith simulant
Han, W., Ding, L., Zhou, C., Zhou, Y., & Dang, F. (2024) · Science China Technological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11431-023-2675-0 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-Sufficient Production of Lunar Regolith Gravels on the Moon by Ultrarapid Microwave Sintering
Tsubaki, S., Fujii, S., Yamamoto, M., Kanamori, H., HOSHINO, T., Hosoda, S., & Wada, Y. (2024) · ACS Omega · doi:10.1021/acsomega.4c02702 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Yu, J., Zhou, Q., Feng, Q., Li, F., & Zhou, S. (2025) · Journal of Building Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2025.114371 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Khalilidermani, M., & Knez, D. (2023) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app132312913 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Benedi, J., Just, G. H., Roy, M. J., & Smith, K. (2022) · Acta Geotechnica · doi:10.1007/s11440-022-01527-3 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Characterization and Discrete Element Modeling of LHS-1 Lunar Highlands Simulant
Tasnim, Z., Chen, Q., Badal, J., & Wang, L. (2023) · ASCE Geo-Congress · doi:10.1061/9780784484692.008 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Magnetic field coupling with lunar soil simulants
Garman, S., Roth, M. C., Roux, V. G., & Smith, J. R. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-36527-0 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Li, X., Zhou, C., Li, S., Gan, Y., Zhou, Y., & Ding, L. (2025) · Rock Mechanics Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.rockmb.2025.100257 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Effect of high vacuum environment on the microwave melting behavior of lunar regolith simulant
Li, H., Li, Z.-W., Feng, X.-T., Lv, C.-X., Wang, Z.-H., Chen, L., & He, C.-D. (2026) · Construction and Building Materials · doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2026.146981 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Zhang, Y., Wu, Q., Han, Z., Rhamdhani, M. A., Brooks, G. A., & Guo, C. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4125195
Sintering: A Method for Construction of Off-Earth Infrastructure from Off-Earth Materials
Scott, L., & Nguyen, T. T. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-97913-3_12
Kim, Y., Jin, H., Li, Z., Yeom, S., Lee, J., & Shin, H. (2025) · Case Studies in Construction Materials · doi:10.1016/j.cscm.2025.e05449
Real-time measurement of dielectric properties of lunar regolith simulantsPreprint
O’Connell, C., Garcia-Baños, B., Catalá-Civera, J. M., Gutiérrez-Cano, J. D., Fabris, A. L., & Lim, S. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-11234859/v1
- Authors
- Allan, S. M., Merritt, B. J., Griffin, B. F., Hintze, P. E., & Shulman, H. S.
- Affiliations
- Senior Material Engineer, Ceralink, Inc., 105 Jordan Rd., Troy, NY 12180 (corresponding author).
- Alfred University (US)
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott Arizona Campus (US)
- Kennedy Space Center (US)
- President and Chief Technical Officer, Ceralink, Inc., 105 Jordan Rd., Troy, NY 12180.
- Venue
- Journal of Aerospace Engineering
- Published
- 2013-10
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 874-881
- ISSN
- 0893-1321 (ISSN-L)
- 1943-5525
- OpenAlex
- W1998247299
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Aerospace Engineering (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Microwave-Assisted Synthesis and Applications
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Microwave Dielectric Ceramics Synthesis
- Keywords
- lunar regolith, microwave heating, dielectric properties, loss tangent, thermal runaway, microwave absorption, radiant heat source, lunar oxygen production
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
