Thermal Conductivity Measurements of Dry and Icy Lunar Regolith Simulants

Kurzfassung

This thesis describes experiments conducted to measure the thermal conductivity of icy lunar regolith simulants. The measurements have been conducted inside a thermal vacuum chamber using the transient hot strip method. Different icy lunar regolith simulants have been prepared and their thermal conductivity measured. The experiment results have then been fitted to a thermal conductivity model of lunar regolith, which can then be used to simulate heat transfer through the material. One application of these simulations can be the extraction of water from icy lunar regolith found in craters near the lunar south pole.