US Patent Issued to Blue Origin Manufacturing on Nov. 3 for "Regolith thermal radiator" (California Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,780,451, issued on Nov. 3, was assigned to Blue Origin Manufacturing LLC (Huntsville, Ala.).

"Regolith thermal radiator" was invented by Jesse Dylan Tarnas (Los Angeles), Morgan Leland Hendry IV (Sherman Oakes, Calif.) and Amelia Diane Greig (Los Angeles).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method and system is presented for producing a thermal radiator made from regolith, such as lunar regolith from the Moon's surface. Regolith generally comprises rough, irregular-shaped grains that collectively entrap pores and interstitial spaces, resulting in regolith's relatively low thermal conductivity. Solidified molten regolith, however, is a relativ...