Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences

First Advisor

Andrew Palmer

Second Advisor

Jianhui Li

Third Advisor

Emily Ralston

Fourth Advisor

Travis Hunsucker

Abstract

Off-world crop growth has been deemed mission critical for the support of future settlements on either the Moon or Mars. Presently, the Technological Readiness Level (TRL) of hydroponics for space agriculture applications surpasses that of regolith-based agriculture (RBA) on the Moon. Lunar regolith presents several challenges making it a sub-optimal growth medium for many plants. There are few studies that show regolith as a viable substrate for space crop production as is. However, there is the potential for Lunar regolith to contribute both to crop production and the larger goals of Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) even if it does not serve as a direct substrate.

One strategy is to modify regolith components by binding them via vitrification and sintering techniques. Vitrification would capitalize on readily available substrate, limiting the amount of material required for transport to the lunar surface. Simultaneously, this process reduces chemical leaching, limiting potentially toxic effects. High-temperature vitrification and sintering have long been practiced on Earth, as vitrified composites benefit from increased weathering resilience and stability under a wide range of temperature fluctuations.

Here we present a vitrification process for the fabrication of Lunar Regolith composite ceramics. Given that lunar regulations are not readily available for such research, our process utilizes Lunar Highland Simulant-1 (LHS1) which shares several similar properties to classical ceramics with iron oxide glaze.  Composites generated by this process were evaluated for their ability to support crop growth in hydroponic systems as an alternative to standard substrates like Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA).

We consider this hybridization of regolith-based agriculture with hydroponics in terms of its improved in situ resource utilization (ISRU) as well as its capacity to support plant-growth both alone and as a component of a BLSS. Material availability, energy consumption to produce material, and material reusability under sanitization conditions such as autoclaving were collected to assess feasibility of incorporation of this process into a BLSS comparable in size to the International Space Station (ISS).

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