Variable Emissivity Modeling for Sustainable Lunar Surface Habitats
Abstract
Lunar habitats will be one of the first platforms to enable long-term human presence beyond Low Earth Orbit. These structures act as a stepping stone for exploring our solar system while simultaneously enabling lunar resource utilization, low-energy cryopreservation, and various other applications. These habitats must be designed to withstand the extreme thermal variation of the lunar surface caused by the changing orientation with respect to the Sun and Earth. White paints and multi-layered insulation are conventionally used to minimize solar heating, yet this approach is static and results in a structure that requires internal heating to survive lunar night. An adaptive approach to control absorbed and emitted radiation allows for highly efficient daytime cooling and improved nighttime heat retention. Louvers and shutters have been employed to switch between high- and low-emissivity states; however, this approach relies on ensuring moving parts are resilient to dust contamination. Alternatively, variable emissivity materials are a solid-state solution with no moving parts. The emissivity of these materials can be switched passively based on surface temperature, or actively as a result of applied voltage. Despite their potential to reduce power consumption and increase thermal stability, variable emissivity materials have yet to be explored on the lunar surface. We first present a finite element modeling approach to predict the thermal performance of simplified habitats in realistic lunar environments. We then demonstrate the benefit of variable emissivity materials for thermal stability and lunar night survival by comparing them to traditional constant emissivity coatings. By using variable emissivity materials, we envision near-constant temperature lunar habitats with significantly reduced internal heating requirements.
Versions
Related
- Modeling of variable angle tow composites using a variable separation method based on a unified formulation
- Fluid deformable surfaces with variable thickness - a Surface Shallow-Water-Helfrich model
- Collective-Variable Stein Variational Gradient Descent for Free Energy Surface Exploration
- Neutrino Emissivity in Δ-direct-Urca Processes Inside Neutron Stars
- Micromagnetic modeling of surface acoustic wave—driven dynamics: Interplay of strain, magnetorotation, and magnetic anisotropy
BibTeX
@misc{keller2026variable,
title = {{Variable Emissivity Modeling for Sustainable Lunar Surface Habitats}},
author = {S. Keller and S. Stewart and S. Taylor and O. Ilic},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2607.23685},
eprint = {2607.23685},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.23685},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Variable Emissivity Modeling for Sustainable Lunar Surface Habitats
AU - S. Keller
AU - S. Stewart
AU - S. Taylor
AU - O. Ilic
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/26
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2607.23685
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.23685
AB - Lunar habitats will be one of the first platforms to enable long-term human presence beyond Low Earth Orbit. These structures act as a stepping stone for exploring our solar system while simultaneously enabling lunar resource utilization, low-energy cryopreservation, and various other applications. These habitats must be designed to withstand the extreme thermal variation of the lunar surface caused by the changing orientation with respect to the Sun and Earth. White paints and multi-layered insulation are conventionally used to minimize solar heating, yet this approach is static and results in a structure that requires internal heating to survive lunar night. An adaptive approach to control absorbed and emitted radiation allows for highly efficient daytime cooling and improved nighttime heat retention. Louvers and shutters have been employed to switch between high- and low-emissivity states; however, this approach relies on ensuring moving parts are resilient to dust contamination. Alternatively, variable emissivity materials are a solid-state solution with no moving parts. The emissivity of these materials can be switched passively based on surface temperature, or actively as a result of applied voltage. Despite their potential to reduce power consumption and increase thermal stability, variable emissivity materials have yet to be explored on the lunar surface. We first present a finite element modeling approach to predict the thermal performance of simplified habitats in realistic lunar environments. We then demonstrate the benefit of variable emissivity materials for thermal stability and lunar night survival by comparing them to traditional constant emissivity coatings. By using variable emissivity materials, we envision near-constant temperature lunar habitats with significantly reduced internal heating requirements.
ER -