Steps made toward lunar self-sufficency

Over the past two weeks the 9,600 foot level of Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaii, has been acting as an analog of the moon. The In Situ Utilization Project has been successfully testing machinery to produce oxygen and hydrogen from the volcanic soil which is chemically similar to that of the moon.
Article

The ability to produce consumables on site is crucial to the development of permanent bases on the moon and to the manned exploration of Mars.

reply to post by Phage


Nice...

Enough oxygen to sustain 4 to 6 people...not a large amount, but definitely a good beginning.

I have not done a search yet, but I wonder how many individuals are needed at one time to begin a lunar post...?


Either way, good info...

Interesting to see how they are progressing with this technology - very well by all accounts! Self sufficiency is certainly the key to living away from home.

Thanks for posting Phage

Thanks for posting this, Phage!

The Scarab Lunar Robot is really cool. I found this YouTube video from a Daily Planet program, where you can take a closer look at the prospecting robot.

From the commentary on the video:
The robot is not very fast, but it got highly manouverable wheels, so that it can look over obstacles, climb over them - and even drive sideways on steep slopes. The wheels can also become part of a steady platform for a drill designed to penetrate the hard soil on the moon. The robot will then drill up core samples, and move on to the next location on the moon.

Nasa wants to use it to explore the South Pole of the moon and go inside the craters there, where the sun never shines. Orbiting probes have discovered something very interesting there, a consentration of hydrogen.



The Scarab Lunar Rover also has it's own website with lots of more information:

www.frc.ri.cmu.edu...



[edit on 15/11/08 by ziggystar60]

Another step towards lunar self-sufficency:

Lunar Rock-Like Material May Someday House Moon Colonies

Initially designed to construct a dome, the building material is composed of a lunar rock-like material mixed with powdered aluminum that can be molded into any shape. The invention recently won the In-Situ Lunar Resource Utilization materials and construction category award from the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES). The award was one of two prizes given out this year by the research center, which is dedicated to supporting life on the moon and beyond.

Initially designed to construct a dome, the building material is composed of a lunar rock-like material mixed with powdered aluminum that can be molded into any shape. The invention recently won the In-Situ Lunar Resource Utilization materials and construction category award from the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES). The award was one of two prizes given out this year by the research center, which is dedicated to supporting life on the moon and beyond.

Design work on the early-development lunar bricks was based on previous work by the College of Engineering student team’s adviser Kathryn Logan, a professor of materials science and engineering and the Virginia Tech Langley Professor at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) in Hampton, Va. The seven-member student team works with Logan at the NIA.

Logan’s prior research entailed mixing powdered aluminum and ceramic materials to form armor plating for tanks funded through a Department of Defense contract. “I theorized that if I could do this kind of reaction to make armor, then I could use a similar type of reaction to make construction materials for the moon,” Logan said.

Since actual lunar rock, known as regolith, is scarce, the students used volcanic ash from a deposit on Earth along with various minerals and basaltic glass, similar to rock on the lunar surface, according to Eric Faierson, a doctoral student who led the Virginia Tech team.

During initial experiments, the simulated regolith and aluminum powder were mixed and placed inside a shallow aluminum foil crucible. A wire was inserted into the mixture, which was then heated to 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit triggering a reaction called self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS), Logan said. The reaction caused the material to form a solid brick. A ceramic crucible was used in later experiments to form complex curved surfaces.

A composite of simulated lunar regolith and powdered aluminum heats up via wires as part of the fusion process that forms a brick. A team of Virginia Tech students, under the advisement of Kathryn Logan, a professor in the materials science and engineering department, designed the brick as a potential building tool for future colonies on the moon. The NIA carved into the stands for National Institute of Aerospace, which includes Virginia Tech. (Credit: Eric J. Faierson)

www.sciencedaily.com...

Here you can also read more about Pacific International Space Center for
Exploration Systems (PISCES):
pisces.uhh.hawaii.edu...

reply to post by ziggystar60


What a good idea. What an interesting process. I wonder what the power requirements for creating enough heat to build a house would be.

reply to post by Phage


A lot of technical data regarding energy requierments and so on can be found in the Virginia Tech Final Report, called "Lunar Construction and Resource Extraction Utilizing Lunar Regolith".

I found this on page 3:

Our design project utilizes a Self-propagating High-temperature Synthesis (SHS) reaction between lunar regolith simulant and aluminum powder. Lunar regolith simulant and powdered aluminum are mixed together in a pre-determined ratio. Figure 1 represents a volume of the mixture being heated until reaction self-propagation occurs as is shown in Figure 2. When reaction self-propagation occurs, an SHS reaction begins. The reaction will proceed to completion as shown in Figure 3 with no further input of external energy, given the proper ratios of reactants.

They have hypothesized that concentrated solar flux can be used to initiate the SHS regolith reaction.



pisces.uhh.hawaii.edu...

Lots and lots of more to read in the report, but I won't even pretend that I understand half the information provided.

Interesting, but is such technology suitable for a lunar station, or is the process just too slow?? I ask, because I know that part of MFL (Mars for less) program was, to send a probe to Mars 3 years (I'm not sure about the number, but a few years definitely) before the manned mission, to make fuel for a return trip......