Penn Engineers Turn Everyday Mylar Into a Promising Insulator for the Moon

Everyday Mylar turned into a promising insulator for lunar habitats

Establishing a long-term presence on the moon will require solving challenges that are easy to overlook on Earth. Lunar temperatures, for instance, can vary from hundreds of degrees below zero to boiling, making effective insulation essential for lunar habitats.

Penn Engineers turn everyday Mylar into a promising insulator for the moon

Penn Engineers have developed a promising new type of insulation for the moon by stacking hundreds of ultrathin sheets of Mylar, the same material used in post-race blankets for marathon runners. The resulting material combines exceptional resistance to heat transfer in a vacuum with the flexibility and durability needed for future lunar habitats, rovers and other space technologies.

Ordinary plastic could help protect astronauts living on the Moon

Engineers have developed an experimental insulation material by stacking thin sheets of Mylar, a plastic familiar from reflective emergency blankets. Laboratory tests suggest the material could combine strong thermal protection with the durability needed for future structures on the moon. The research, from the University of Pennsylvania, was published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. […]

UPenn engineers created a flexible, durable insulator out of mylar to protect future lunar habitats

UPenn engineers found that coated Mylar stacks can retain vacuum insulation after repeated compression, a promising step toward durable lunar habitat materials.