Moon News  
Turning Lunar Dust Into Gold

SCARAB will carry a drill specifically designed to penetrate the harsh lunar soil and an on-board lab for small-scale oxygen production. Credit: NASA/PISCES/UH Hilo
by Laura Kinoshita
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jan 13, 2009
'On Hawai'i's Mauna Kea volcano, which rises over 13,000 feet above sea level, there is a mid-level base facility where scientists can pretend they are on the moon. Hawai'i's volcanic terrain, soil and remote environment provide an ideal environment for testing instruments and equipment that someday may be used by astronauts at a lunar base.

Recently, a team of scientists working for the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) demonstrated its first field test for NASA's In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Project. Research Operations Manager John Hamilton supported the mission simulation to show how astronauts will be able to prospect for resources on the moon to make their own oxygen, fuel and water from lunar rocks and soil. A key motivation of these experiments is the fact that almost half the moon, by weight, is made of oxygen.

Representatives from four NASA space centers (Johnson, Kennedy, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Glenn Research Center) were at the test site. Engineers from the Canadian and German space agencies also were at the site, as were representatives from Carnegie Mellon University, Lockheed Martin, and Michelin North America - making this field test a true global effort.

The crew convened at a small campsite located at the bottom of a rough and narrow four-wheel-drive road. For some, this field test was their first chance to meet and work with their colleagues outside of a lab. Much of the equipment had been developed by teams working in different locations. During the two week field test, the crew worked through complications that arose as the different pieces of hardware were brought together for the first time.

Strong winds had been gusting for days, reaching up to 45 mph. Most of the crew were bundled in protective clothing, with eye protection, dust masks, large hats, ear plugs and gloves. Any area left exposed would be covered in a layer of gritty dust, as was the large platter of papayas, pineapple and other exotic fruit the scientists had brought in from Hilo. Although wind will never be an issue on the moon, the dust added an unexpected level of realism to the operation.

"We know we have to do deal with lunar dust," said Jerry Sanders, ISRU Project Manager at NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center. "We just didn't know we had to deal with it right now!"

Moon Tools
The type of dust that attracted the engineers to Hawai'i is called "tephra," a fine, powder-like material that is ejected during a volcanic eruption. Tephra works well in the prototype chemical processing units because it mimics the dust found on the moon.

A NASA-developed rover called SCARAB showed how a prospecting rover could dig beneath the dusty lunar surface to process soil in order to extract oxygen. A similar rover on the moon could look for water ice and volatile gases such as hydrogen, helium and nitrogen in the permanently shadowed craters of the moon's poles.

Larger systems could produce oxygen from greater quantities of moon soil. Roxygen (developed by NASA) and the Precursor In Situ Resource Utilization Lunar Oxygen Testbed, or PILOT (developed by Lockheed Martin) both feature a hydrogen reduction system that can produce and store oxygen from soil.

"We're trying to make the lunar outposts more self-sustaining," explained Tom Simon, head of the OPTIMA program at NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center, which is overseeing the development of the PILOT and ROxygen test units. "We want to produce oxygen, but we also want to extract oxygen from the regolith so that we can combine it with what's left of the residual hydrogen from the descent tanks and make water. Our goal is to never send a tank of oxygen or a tank of water to the moon."

During this field test, a robotic excavator, similar in size and weight to those currently exploring the planet Mars, showed how soil could be extracted and delivered to the ROxygen system. Also tested was an excavator that uses a bucket drum to collect and deliver soil to the PILOT system.

"It's one thing to test these instruments in the laboratory," said Hamilton, "but that really doesn't tell you how it will perform during a lunar mission. Our challenge is to replicate those conditions as closely as possible to ensure that the test results will be a true reflection of how these instruments will perform on the moon."

Advanced Life Support
NASA's lunar exploration plan says that on-site lunar resources could generate about one to two metric tons of oxygen per year, enough to support four to six people annually. Since it takes about 100 kilograms (kg) of soil to get 1 kg of oxygen, team leaders are looking at electrostatic and magnetic separation techniques to possibly concentrate the soil and increase the production rate. Next June, for example, testing will begin on a process that could potentially draw as much as 10 or 20 kg of oxygen out of every 100 kg of soil.

Other concepts tested at the PISCES test site included a new lunar wheel developed by Michelin North America, a sample coring drill developed by the Northern Center for Advanced Technology in Canada, and a night vision camera developed by Neptec for navigation and drill site selection.

The wheel has plastic spokes that can absorb shocks, prevent flats and give better traction. The coring drill is a small unit that can autonomously dig beneath the surface without any "down-the-hole" electric components.

"We hope to make sure that we are not missing any process steps," said Simon. "We are just getting a handle on where our starting point is based on the precursors. This equipment will get smaller and more compact each and every year."

The Canadian Space Agency is also contributing a utility support vehicle for personnel and hardware transportation, and the German Space Agency is developing an autonomous mole drill, which can burrow deep beneath the surface to search for water or other resources.

Frank Schowengerdt, director of PISCES, explains that the Center uses state funding and working agreements from public and private partners, including several universities, to involve students from around the world in space research. "In the next two years, PISCES will conduct research and testing on the Big Island, and we will be major contributors to the space exploration programs of several countries planning missions to the moon, including the United States."

Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Living and Working on the Moon at Astrobiology
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Sixteen Tons Of Moondust
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jan 13, 2009
If you listen closely, you might hear a NASA project manager singing this song. Lately, Marshall Space Flight Center's Carole McLemore has been working at the end of a sledge hammer opposite a big pile of rocks, so she has good reason to sing the song Tennessee Ernie Ford made famous.







  • A Testing Future Of Exploration And More For NASA In 2009
  • US gives green light for first commercial spaceport
  • NASA finds clues to Mars mysteries
  • ISS Crew Marks 40th Anniversary Of First Human Moon Trip

  • Martian Rock Arrangement Not Alien Handiwork
  • Study: Pebbles can move against wind
  • Human Spaceflight To Mars Proposed Using Combination Of Space Shuttles
  • A Change Of Seasons On Mars

  • Nuclear Power In Space - Part 2
  • Nuclear Power In Space
  • Outside View: Nuclear future in space

  • Baby Jupiters Must Gain Weight Fast
  • Jupiter-Like Planets Could Form Around Twin Suns
  • Sagittarius offers planet clues
  • NASA's Kepler Spacecraft Ready To Ship To Florida

  • Nanoparticles Used To Make 3-D DNA Nanotubes
  • Nanomaterials may pose health risk
  • EPA seeks comment on nanosilver petition
  • Scientists Create Balloon One Atom Thick

  • Manipulating Salmonella In Spaceflight Curtails Infectiousness
  • USRA Division Of Space Life Sciences Celebrates 25th Anniversary
  • A card swipe machine may test for diseases
  • Officials: Cadavers used in NASA project

  • Hot Bird 10 Delivered For Multi-Payload Ariane 5 February Liftoff
  • Ariancespace Celebrates Year Of Successes
  • ISRO To Launch Four Foreign Satellites This Year
  • Arianespace To Launch Egyptian Satellite Nilesat 201

  • NASA Seeks Concept Proposals For Ares V Heavy Lift Rocket
  • ISRO Develops Rocket For Heavy Satellite Launches
  • Report: Atlas, Delta rockets to save money
  • Flight Acceptance Hot Test Of Indigenous Cryogenic Engine Successful

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement