IGF::OT::IGF OTHER FUNCTIONS - PLUME MITIGTION FOR MARS TERMINAL LANDING P436 PROJECT.CERALINK INC. WAS FUNDED FOR A PHASE I SBIR TO DEVELOP AUTOMATED MICROWAVE-HEATING TECHNOLOGIES FOR PREPARATION OF LAUNCH/LANDING PADS USING LUNAR REGOLITH. THAT PROJECT DEVELOPED A TECHNOLOGY FOR SINTERING LUNAR REGOLITH SIMULANT, AND A MODEL THAT COULD BE USED TO DETERMINE OPTIMUM PARAMETERS FOR HEATING OF OTHER REGOLITH SIMULANTS. IN THIS PHASE III PROJECT, THE MODEL WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS FOR MICROWAVE SINTERING UNDER MARTIAN CONDITIONS, INITIAL MICROWAVE HEATING/SINTERING TESTS WILL BE PERFORMED, AND DESIGN CONCEPTS FOR A MICROWAVE APPLICATOR WILL BE DEVELOPED. TASK DESCRIPTION/OBJECTIVE: 1. MONTHLY TELECOMS. CERALINK WILL REPORT ON PROGRESS IN MONTHLY TELECOM MEETINGS WITH NASA (AND US ARMY) COLLABORATORS. 2. DEVELOP REMOTE IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES. CERALINK WILL INTERFACE WITH PROJECT COLLABORATORS ON STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT MICROWAVE SINTERING ONTO REMOTE, MOBILE SYSTEMS. 3. ATTEND ONE MEETING WITH ALL COLLABORATORS. CERALINK WILL ATTEND ONE MEETING AT A TBD LOCATION WITH ALL PROJECT COLLABORATORS. 4. MEASURE AND OBTAIN DIELECTRIC AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF MARS SIMULANTS. CERALINK WILL OBTAIN NECESSARY DIELECTRIC PROPERTY MEASUREMENTS OF A MARS SIMULANT. MEASUREMENTS WILL BE TAKEN AS A FUNCTION OF TEMPERATURE UP TO 1400 C, USING THE CAVITY PERTURBATION METHOD. CERALINK WILL OBTAIN THERMAL PROPERTY DATA FROM NASA. 5. MODEL HEATING OF MARTIAN REGOLITH USING NASA DEFINED SIMULANTS. CERALINK WILL CREATE SOLID MODELS OF THE MICROWAVE HEATING SCENARIOS TESTED EXPERIMENTALLY IN TASKS 6. THE DIELECTRIC AND THERMAL PROPERTY DATA COLLECTED IN TASK 4 WILL BE IMPORTED INTO THE SOLID MODELS. THE MODEL USES THE GID PRE-PROCESSOR, AND PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE DEVELOPED FOR CERALINK AT RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. A. THE MODEL WILL BE RUN BASED ON THE OPEN SURFACE SCENARIOS TESTED PREVIOUSLY BY CERALINK FOR LUNAR SIMULANTS. B. MODELING OF THE SLOW-WAVE AND/OR LEAKY WAVEGUIDE WILL UTILIZE MODELING SUPPORT FROM DR. JEFF BRAUNSTEIN. 6. PERFORM INITIAL MICROWAVE HEATING EXPERIMENTS. CERALINK WILL PERFORM 15 MICROWAVE HEATING EXPERIMENTS USING MARS SIMULANT SPECIFIED BY NASA. THE MICROWAVE HEATING STUDIES WILL BE PERFORMED IN AN ATMOSPHERE CONTROLLED 6 KW CPI AUTOWAVE MICROWAVE SYSTEM. THE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS IN THE CHAMBER WILL BE CONTROLLED TO APPROXIMATE THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE USING CARBON DIOXIDE, AND LOW PRESSURE. MICROWAVE HEATING WILL BE TESTED USING TECHNOLOGIES IDENTIFIED IN CERALINK S PHASE I SBIR INCLUDING DIRECT MICROWAVE HEATING AND DISTRIBUTED PARTICULATE SUSCEPTOR (DPS) HEATING. 7.SPECIFY A PROTOTYPE MICROWAVE APPLICATOR DESIGN. CERALINK WILL SPECIFY A PROTOTYPE MICROWAVE APPLICATOR(S) THAT COULD BE IMPLEMENTED IN A BREADBOARD SYSTEM. MICROWAVE GENERATOR EQUIPMENT TO POWER THE APPLICATOR WILL BE SPECIFIED.