Lunar Auger Dryer ISRU (LADI) Breadboard Testing and Model Validation

Jacob Collins; Lisa Renee Erickson; Otis R Walton

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NASA NTRS · 20210016645

Lunar Auger Dryer ISRU (LADI) Breadboard Testing and Model Validation

Jacob Collins·Lisa Renee Erickson·Otis R Walton

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Abstract

In 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite(LCROSS) provided definitive proof of water in the Lunar’s southern permanently shadowed region (PSR)[1]. Both the 2020 NASA Technology Taxonomy[2] and the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII) team identified capability gaps in icy regolith transfer and reactor processing in Permanently Shadowed Region(PSR) environmental conditions. A screw conveyor dryer system operating from inside the PSR can continuously process water (and volatiles) for both breathable air and propellant. NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) began development of a similar sub-system for Mars operation in 2017 and fabricated a unique breadboard test stand for validating the feasibility of this concept. This testing was postponed with the redirection of NASA’s mission from Mars to Moon. A JSC led trade study[3] in FY20 formulated a plan to leverage existing hardware to test concept feasibility, developed a lunar auger dryer sizing tool, and identified that both a physical flow and thermal model is required to develop an Engineering Development Unit (EDU) for environmental testing. Beginning in FY21, the Game Changing Development Program (GCDP) funded a three-year technology development project to increase the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the Lunar Auger Dryer ISRU (LADI) subsystem to TRL 5.

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Jacob Collins, Lisa Renee Erickson, Otis R Walton. 2021-06-10. Lunar Auger Dryer ISRU (LADI) Breadboard Testing and Model Validation. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210016645

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