Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science 2025 NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 1 — Lunar glass and starshades
Oct 15, 2025
Martin Bermudez, CEO of Skyports LLC, explores creating lunar habitats from glass blown from moon dust. Christine Gregg from NASA discusses architected metamaterials for stabilizing lightweight space structures, tackling challenges in imaging distant Earth-like exoplanets. Nobel laureate John Mather introduces an inflatable starshade concept, addressing the mechanics of observing planets around other stars. These pioneers share intriguing insights into the future of lunar living and advanced astronomical observatories.
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Moon Soil Is Glass-Friendly
- Lunar regolith is naturally rich in silica and other glass-forming minerals, enabling in-situ glass production.
- Martin Bermudez and Josh Simpson demonstrated that with fluxes you can melt simulant and form blowable glass.
Layered Glass For Protection
- Multi-shell blown glass habitats can combine transparency with radiation and micrometeoroid protection.
- Filling inter-shell gaps with regolith improves insulation and shielding.
Artist Turns Lunar Simulant Into Glass
- Josh Simpson described using high-fidelity lunar regolith simulants to make test melts after NASA declined to share Apollo samples.
- He leveraged his 50+ years of glass experience to explore forming functional glass from those simulants.