Electromagnetic Characterization of EAC-1A and JSC-2A Lunar Regolith Simulants

The development of devices for the in situ resource utilization (ISRU) of lunar surface powder (regolith) by means of microwaves needs regolith simulants with electromagnetic properties similar to the lunar regolith. This document deals with the measurement of complex permittivity and dielectric loss tangent of the aforementioned simulants at ambient temperature from 400 MHz to 20 GHz, performing measurements using two lunar dust simulants, EAC-1A and JSC-2A, resulting, on the one hand, in permittivity values of ε′=−0.0432f+4.0397 for the EAC-1A lunar dust simulant and ε′=−0.0432f+4.0397 for the JSC-2A simulant, and on the other hand, in loss tangent values of tanδe=−0.0015f+0.0659 for the EAC-1A powder and tanδe=−0.0039f+0.1429 for the JSC-2A powder. In addition, further studies are carried out taking into account the humidity of the samples and their densities at room temperature. The obtained results are applicable for comparing the measured values of EAC-1A and JSC-2A between them and with other previously measured simulants and real samples. The measurements are carried out by applying two different nonresonant techniques: Open-Ended Coaxial Probe (OECP) and transmission line. For this purpose, the DAK and EpsiMu commercial kits are used, respectively.