Evolution of Regilith Feed Systems for Lunar ISRU O2 Production Plants

Mueller, Robert P.; Townsend, Ivan I.; Mantonvanni, James; Metzger, Philip T.

doi:10.2514/6.2010-1547

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Other than maturing the robotics, the technological progress most needed for space industry is to adapt existing technologies to the space and planetary environments. This is already on-going, including mining vehicles [22,23], low-gravity regolith conveyance systems [24,25], beneficiation systems to concentrate minerals found in lunar regolith [26,27] and chemical processors to extract resources from the minerals [28][29][30]. Their maturity level is adequate for the beginning stages of industry, and the point of bootstrapping is to develop the technology as we go along.…”

Section: Technological Readiness For Space Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• Space agencies will fund development of In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies (e.g., water mining [25], oxygen extraction from regolith [28], and 3D printing landing pads from regolith [145,146]) to support their sortie and outpost missions. These technologies lower the mission costs and pay back the agencies in the near term.…”

Section: Practical Demonstration Requiredmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Space development and space science together, an historic opportunity

Metzger

2016

Space Policy

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The national space programs have an historic opportunity to help solve the global-scale economic and environmental problems of Earth while becoming more effective at science through the use of space resources. Space programs will be more cost-effective when they work to establish a supply chain in space, mining and manufacturing then replicating the assets of the supply chain so it grows to larger capacity. This has become achievable because of advances in robotics and artificial intelligence. It is roughly estimated that developing a lunar outpost that relies upon and also develops the supply chain will cost about 1/3 or less of the existing annual budgets of the national space programs. It will require a sustained commitment of several decades to complete, during which time science and exploration become increasingly effective. At the end, this space industry will capable of addressing global-scale challenges including limited resources, clean energy, economic development, and preservation of the environment. Other potential solutions, including nuclear fusion and terrestrial renewable energy sources, do not address the root problem of our limited globe and there are real questions whether they will be inadequate or too late. While industry in space likewise cannot provide perfect assurance, it is uniquely able to solve the root problem, and it gives us an important chance that we should grasp. What makes this such an historic opportunity is that the space-based solution is obtainable as a side-benefit of doing space science and exploration within their existing budgets. Thinking pragmatically, it may take some time for policymakers to agree that setting up a complete supply chain is an achievable goal, so this paper describes a strategy of incremental progress. The most crucial part of this strategy is establishing a water economy by mining on the Moon and asteroids to manufacture rocket propellant. Technologies that support a water economy will play an important role leading toward space development.Please cite this article in press as: P.T. Metzger, Space development and space science together, an historic opportunity, Space Policy (2016), http://dx.

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Section: Technological Readiness For Space Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practical Demonstration Requiredmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space development and space science together, an historic opportunity

Metzger

2016

Space Policy

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“…Auger based regolith feed systems have been shown to work well in ISRU field tests in moving regolith vertically from a receiving hopper on the ground into an ISRU oxygenproductionreactor at a height of2.1 m above ground (Mueller 2010). Augers are simple, easy to control and very robust.…”

Section: Auger Systems For Conveying Planetary Regolithmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These techniques have been shown in recent years ·to be viable regolith delivery systems as a result of field testing under terrestrial and reduced gravity conditions. The NASA ISRU project is concerned with extracting oxygen from minerals like ilmenite in lunar regolith through chemical processes that take place in a fluidizedbed reactor system (Mueller 2010). The ISRU regolith transfer team identified the flow and transfer characteristics of lunar regolith simulants to be a concern for oxygen production efforts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Planetary Regolith Delivery Systems for ISRU

Mantovani

Townsend

2013

J. Aerosp. Eng.

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The challenges associated with collecting regolith on a planetary surface and delivering it to an in-situ resource utilization system differ significantly from similar activities conducted on Earth. Since system maintenance on a planetary body can be difficult or impossible to do, high reliability and service life are expected of a regolith delivery system. Mission costs impose upper limits on power and mass. The regolith delivery system must provide a leak-tight interface between the near-vacuum planetary surface and the pressurized ISRU system. Regolith delivery in amounts ranging from a few grams to tens of kilograms may be required. Finally, the spent regolith must be removed from the ISRU chamber and returned to the planetary environment via dust tolerant valves capable of operating and sealing over a large temperature range. This paper will describe pneumatic and auger regolith transfer systems that have already been field tested for ISRU, and discuss other systems that await future field testing.

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