Search NASA⌕ Search
Home/Archive/NASA NTRS

NASA NTRS · 20080014248

Radiator Development for Oxygen Storage on the Moon

Chui, Talso·Zhang, Burt·Zhong, Fang·Barmatz, Martin
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Vision for Exploration includes "use of lunar resources to support sustained human space exploration". In a favorable orbit, dark sky could be a valuable resource. Spitzer Space Telescope dewar shell maintained at 35 K. Lunar orbit is favorable. Design of radiator to specific lunar environment. A large patch of lunar sky is permanently dark. Radiator provides reliable and un-interrupted cooling. Applications include: a) Zero-boil-off cryogen storage; b) Separation of lunar volatiles for resource utilization; c) Purify oxygen for astronauts; and d) Scrub air for habitation.

Explore related subjects

moonradiator

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Chui, Talso, Zhang, Burt, Zhong, Fang, Barmatz, Martin. 2006-02-08. Radiator Development for Oxygen Storage on the Moon. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20080014248

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related reports

NASA NTRS2023

Space Weathering at the Moon

In this paper we summarize the substantial recent progress in understanding space weathering that has occurred through technical innovations in the laboratory and in space, including employment of ultra-high-resolution imaging of lunar samples, a wave of new remote sensing observations, samples returned from asteroid regolith, and new methods for simulating space weathering to gain insight into its mechanisms. The paper begins with a summary of space weathering processes and their observed effects on lunar samples (Section 2). It then describes new insights gleaned from remote sensing at a broadened range of wavelengths (Section 3.1) and from observations of special lunar environments where space weathering inputs vary, such as the intensity of solar wind at lunar swirls or in permanent shadow in polar regions (Section 3.2). We then outline how laboratory simulations have informed the understanding of space weathering mechanisms and rates (Section 4). Finally, we discuss the integrated observations and simulations and the current state of our knowledge (Section 5) and make suggestions for future investigations (Section 6).

moon↗
NASA NTRS2021

Prolonged Rock Exhumation at the Rims of Kilometer-scale Lunar Craters

Fresh impact ejecta deposits on the lunar surface can be characterized as heterogeneous mixtures of boulders, cobbles, and fine-grained regolith that are deposited on the lunar surface during the impact crater formation process. Over time, the surface boulders associated with ejecta deposits break down into fine-grained regolith due to a combination of later impacts and thermal fatigue. Nonetheless, observations of old (>2.0 Ga) kilometer-scale (0.8–2.0 km) lunar impact craters in high-resolution images reveal >1 m boulders along their rims and in their near-proximal ejecta deposits on the lunar maria. Here, we use a combination of radar and thermal-infrared data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft to show that the rims of kilometer-sized impact craters exhibit elevated rock abundances for the lifetime of the lunar maria. We interpret these results as indicating that boulders are continually being uncovered at crater rims due to downslope movement of the overlying regolith. Moreover, rocks found at crater rims that have been exhumed from depth in geologically recent times are locally derived and unlikely to have come from other areas of the Moon. Future collection of lunar samples at crater rims will serve to mitigate the potential for sample contamination from distal sources, helping to ensure accurate geologic interpretations from the collected samples.

moon↗
NASA NTRS2020

Coronagraphic Observations of the Lunar Sodium Exosphere 2018-2019

Remote observations of the lunar sodium corona have been obtained with the Goddard Lunar Coronagraph located at the Winer Observatory in Sonoita, Arizona. We previously reported the results of observations in the spring, 2017, observing season (Killen et al., 2019). We report herein the results of the 2018–2019 observing campaign. We show definitive effects on the corona - the extended lunar sodium exosphere above 150 km from the surface - of enhanced ion flux onto the Moon as measured by the ARTEMIS ElectroStatic Analyzer. The three observations in this dataset with the largest column abundances are associated with entrance of the Moon into the magnetosheath. The enhancement in the exosphere due to ion flux is not long-lived after the enhanced ion influx decreases, confirming the findings of Killen et al., 2012. The column abundance is greatest at both the dawn and dusk terminators as predicted and simulated by Smyth and Marconi, 1995. The cause of the increased scale height at the terminators is consistent with radiation pressure acceleration anti-sunward. We report a shallow decline of column abundance with increasing latitude which is also consistent with radiation pressure acceleration. Most of our measured scale heights are on the order of 800–1800 km, increasing at high latitudes, consistent with the data set published in Killen et al., 2019. Although the intensity extrapolated to the surface decreases with latitude, the scale height increases with latitude, so that the exospheric column decreases more slowly with increasing latitude than does a cosine function.

moon↗