SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Oxygen extraction”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1992

Space resources. Volume 3: Materials

Space Resources addresses the issues of using space resources to support life on the Moon and for exploration of Mars. This volume - Materials - covers a number of technical and policy issues regarding the materials in space (mainly lunar and asteroidal) which can be used to support space operations. In part 1, nature and location of these materials, exploration strategy, evaluation criteria, and the technical means to collect or mine these materials is discussed. A baseline lunar mine and the basics of asteroid mining are presented and critiqued. In part 2, the beneficiation of ores and the extraction of such materials as oxygen, metals, and the makings of concrete are discussed. In part 3, the manufacturing and fabrication of nonterrestrial products are discussed. The economic tradeoffs between bringing needed products from Earth and making these products on location in space is considered.

Mckay, Mary Fae↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Characterization of Fluorescence Signals in Synthetic Anorthite

In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is a key capability to enable a long term presence on the Moon and other planetary bodies. For example, efforts have been underway to develop processes to utilize the lunar regolith to produce building materials and extract useful resources. In processes that utilize the regolith directly to produce construction materials, such as in various sintering methods, characterizing the composition of the regolith is important as the composition can affect the optimal process parame-ters. In processes that involve extracting resources such as iron, oxygen, hydrogen, etc., identifying areas with higher abundance of a particular resource will be critical since different regions of the Moon exhibit differing regolith composition. To this end, Ra-man is one technique that can rapidly characterize the mineralogy of rock samples. This technique has al-ready been deployed on Mars to detect various miner-als including olivine, carbonates, phosphates, etc. Besides characterizing the mineralogy, Raman spectra often contain unwanted fluorescence signals that can mask Raman peaks. In some cases, the fluorescence signals are narrow enough to aid in the identification of specific elements in soils. In this work, we explore fluorescence peaks in a synthetic anorthite sample, which are at the same position as Ruby fluorescence peaks attributed to chromium. These fluorescence peaks, as well as similar fluorescence peaks attributed to other elements, could have important implications for ISRU and the mining of critical resources as has been previously described.

Raman Spectroscopy↗

NASA NTRS2024

Metal Extraction from Trash via Trash-to-Gas Processing for Use in 3D Printing

This work synergized state-of-the-art trash-to-gas (TtG) and in-space manufacturing (ISM) technologies to successfully extract metals from astronaut waste items for use in 3D printing. This was accomplished by isolating pure aluminum (Al 1235) from astronaut multilayer food packaging via TtG processing, cleaning the extracted aluminum, and preparing it for compatibility with the bound metal deposition (BMD) 3D printing process. A suite of material analyses was performed on the extracted aluminum product to fully characterize the key properties linked to effective additive manufacturing, including particle size distribution, oxygen content quantitation, and elemental composition. Metal extraction from Lunar and Martian regolith has become a significant area of interest for the in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) community to produce metallic equipment for various mission scenarios. However, the extraction of metals from astronaut waste streams has yet to be investigated. This project demonstrated an end-to-end waste metallic reuse process which may garner considerable metal production that would otherwise be disposed of.

Ray Pitts↗

NASA NTRS1991

A method for the retrieval of atomic oxygen density and temperature profiles from ground-based measurements of the O(+)(2D-2P) 7320 A twilight airglow

This paper describes a technique for extracting thermospheric profiles of the atomic-oxygen density and temperature, using ground-based measurements of the O(+)(2D-2P) doublet at 7320 and 7330 A in the twilight airglow. In this method, a local photochemical model is used to calculate the 7320-A intensity; the method also utilizes an iterative inversion procedure based on the Levenberg-Marquardt method described by Press et al. (1986). The results demonstrate that, if the measurements are only limited by errors due to Poisson noise, the altitude profiles of neutral temperature and atomic oxygen concentration can be determined accurately using currently available spectrometers.

Fennelly, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS2009

The Evolution and Development of the Lunar Regolith and Implications for Lunar Surface Operations and Construction

The lunar regolith consists of about 90% submillimeter particles traditionally termed lunar soil. The remainder consists of larger particles ranging up to boulder size rocks. At the lower size end, soil particles in the 10s of nanometer sizes are present in all soil samples. Lunar regolith overlies bedrock which consists of either lava flows in mare regions or impact-produced megaregolith in highland regions. Lunar regolith has been produced over billions of years by a combination of breaking and communition of bedrock by meteorite bombardment coupled with a variety of complex space weathering processes including solar wind implantation, solar flare and cosmic ray bombardment with attendant radiation damage, melting, vaporization, and vapor condensation driven by impact, and gardening and turnover of the resultant soil. Lunar regolith is poorly sorted compared to most terrestrial soils, and has interesting engineering properties including strong grain adhesion, over-compacted soil density, an abundance of agglutinates with sharp corners, and a variety of properties related to soil maturity. The NASA program has supported a variety of engineering test research projects, the production of bricks by solar or microwave sintering, the production of concrete, the in situ sintering and glazing of regolith by microwave, and the extraction of useful resources such as oxygen, hydrogen, iron, aluminum, silicon and other products. Future requirements for a lunar surface base or outpost will include construction of protective berms, construction of paved roadways, construction of shelters, movement and emplacement of regolith for radiation shielding and thermal control, and extraction of useful products. One early need is for light weight but powerful digging, trenching, and regolith-moving equipment.

McKay, David↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Water Pilot Plant Conceptual Design

A study was conducted to determine mass, power, and concept of operations for a polar water pilot plant that can produce 1000 kg of oxygen in a year from 1125 kg of water extracted from the icy regolith in a permanently shadowed region(PSR). Icy regolith in the PSR is excavated and delivered to a stationary dryer that extracts the water which is frozen in an ice tanker and delivered up to the ridge for further processing into oxygen and hydrogen. This study assumed a previously landed nuclear reactor was available in the PSR to provide power for the water extraction, which requires 2.4 kW of power, including a 30 percent margin. At 325 kg, the ISRU system massin the PSR, including the excavator, should be deliverable by one of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) landers, and the packaging and concept of operations are shown using one specific CLPS lander. The mass and power of the ISRU system components on the ridge for water electrolysis and liquefaction and storage of the oxygen and hydrogen are estimated at 840 kg and 4.3 kW.

Lunar↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Water Pilot Plant Conceptual Design

A study was conducted to determine mass, power, and concept of operations for a polar water pilot plant that can produce 1000 kg of oxygen in a year from 1125 kg of water extracted from the icy regolith in a permanently shadowed region(PSR). Icy regolith in the PSR is excavated and delivered to a stationary dryer that extracts the water which is frozen in an ice tanker and delivered up to the ridge for further processing into oxygen and hydrogen. This study assumed a previously landed nuclear reactor was available in the PSR to provide power for the water extraction, which requires 2.4 kW of power, including a 30 percent margin. At 325 kg, the ISRU system mass in the PSR, including the excavator, should be deliverable by one of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) landers, and the packaging and concept of operations are shown using one specific CLPS lander. The mass and power of the ISRU system components on the ridge for water electrolysis and liquefaction and storage of the oxygen and hydrogen are estimated at 840 kg and 4.3 kW.

Lunar↗

NASA NTRS1989

Chlorination processing of local planetary ores for oxygen and metallurgically important metals

The use of chlorine to extract, reclaim, and purify metals has attractive possibilities for extraterrestrial processing of local planetary resources. While a complete cyclic process has been proposed for the recovery of metallurgically significant metals and oxygen, herein the chlorination step of the cycle is examined. An experimental apparatus for reacting refractory materials, such as ilmenite, in a microwave induced plasma is being built. Complex equilibria calculations reveal that stable refractory materials can, under the influence of a plasma, undergo chlorination and yield oxygen as a by-product. These issues and the potential advantages for plasma processing in space are reviewed. Also presented is a discussion of the complex equilibria program used in the analysis.

Lynch, D. C.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Mars Soil-Based Resource Processing and Planetary Protection

The ability to extract and process resources at the site of exploration into products and services, commonly referred to as In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), can have significant benefits for robotic and human exploration missions. In particular, the ability to use in situ resources to make propellants, fuel cell reactants, and life support consumables has been shown in studies to significantly reduce mission mass, cost, and risk, while enhancing or enabling missions not possible without the incorporation of ISRU. In December 2007, NASA completed the Mars Human Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0 study. For the first time in a large scale Mars architecture study, water from Mars soil was considered as a potential resource. At the time of the study, knowledge of water resources (their form, concentration, and distribution) was extremely limited. Also, due to lack of understanding of how to apply planetary protection rules and requirements to ISRU soil-based excavation and processing, an extremely conservative approach was incorporated where only the top several centimeters of ultraviolet (UV) radiated soil could be processed (assumed to be 3% water by mass). While results of the Mars DRA 5.0 study showed that combining atmosphere processing to make oxygen and methane with soil processing to extract water provided the lowest mission mass, atmosphere processing to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen was baselined for the mission since it was the lowest power and risk option. With increased knowledge and further clarification of Mars planetary protection rules, and the recent release of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) report on "Special Regions and the Human Exploration of Mars", it is time to reexamine potential water resources on Mars, options for soil processing to extract water, and the implications with respect to planetary protection and Special Regions on Mars.

Sanders, G. B.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Iron-rich clay minerals on Mars - Potential sources or sinks for hydrogen and indicators of hydrogen loss over time

Although direct evidence is lacking, indirect evidence suggests that iron-rich clay minerals or poorly-ordered chemical equivalents are widespread on the Martian surface. Such clays can act as sources or sinks for hydrogen ('hydrogen sponges'). Ferrous clays can lose hydrogen and ferric clays gain it by the coupled substitution Fe(3+)O(Fe(2+)OH)-1, equivalent to minus atomic H. This 'oxy-clay' substitution involves only proton and electron migration through the crystal structure, and therefore occurs nondestructively and reversibly, at relatively low temperatures. The reversible, low-temperature nature of this reaction contrasts with the irreversible nature of destructive dehydroxylation (H2O loss) suffered by clays heated to high temperatures. In theory, metastable ferric oxy-clays formed by dehydrogenation of ferrous clays over geologic time could, if exposed to water vapor, extract the hydrogen from it, releasing oxygen.

Burt, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Oxygen and iron production by electrolytic smelting of lunar soil

Oxygen, present in abundance in nearly all lunar materials, can theoretically be extracted by molten silicate electrolysis from any known lunar rock. Derivation of oxygen by this method has been amply demonstrated experimentally in silicate melts of a variety of compositions. This work can be divided into three categories: (1) measurement of solubilities of metals (atomic) in silicate melts; (2) electrolysis experiments under various conditions of temperature, container material, electrode configuration, current density, melt composition, and sample mass (100 to 2000 mg) measuring energy required and character of resulting products; and (3) theoretical assessment of compositional requirements for steady state operations of an electrolysis cell.

Colson, R. O.↗

NASA NTRS1993

The EET87513 clast N: A CM2 fragment in an HED polymict breccia

Xenoliths of material resembling carbonaceous chondrites have been found in several HED polymict breccias. Most workers concluded that these clasts are related to CM2 meteorites on the basis of texture, bulk composition, and mineralogy. Data on clast N, a carbonaceous chondrite fragment from the howardite EET87513 large enough (approximately 4x5mm on the surface of the slab from which it was separated) to extract bulk samples for INAA and oxygen isotope analysis and to provide a thin section for electron microprobe, SEM, and TEM analysis is reported. Preliminary data for this clast were previously reported. INAA was performed at Oregon State University and bulk oxygen isotopic composition was determined at the University of Chicago. These data confirm that EET87513 clast N is a fragment of CM2 material.

Buchanan, P. C.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Surface Cargo Offloading Concepts

A sustainable presence on the lunar surface will serve as a vital training ground and technology demonstration test site in preparation for future human missions to Mars. Robotic lunar surface campaigns will focus on the exploration of resources providing information on the availability and extraction of usable resources, such as oxygen and water, and prepare the surface for a sustained human presence. Landers, outfitted with sensor packages, will be used to conduct risk-reduction activities and aid in the development of technologies prior to the crewed lunar missions that drive the need to for a logistics supply chain that requires offloading. A series of landers will be required on other planetary surfaces to build up the capabilities, capitalizing on those resources, required for sustained human presence. In each of those landers will be cargo including ascent vehicles, habitats, supplies, science packages, spare parts, fluids commodities for fuel and life support, and others varying in volume and ranging from mass in hundreds of kilograms to an estimated 6-14 metric tons to support Human Landing Systems and surface logistics requirements. This paper will examine the challenge of offloading examples of these cargo elements from different categories of landers on the lunar surface using a variety of methodologies. Challenges on the lunar surface arise with the conditions present (thermal, lighting, communications, regolith consistency), the desire to minimize mass of all landed systems, the desire to perform much of the activities with limited to minimal human interaction, and the overall configuration of the landers that are responsible for landing the cargo.

Lunar↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Surface Cargo Offloading Concepts

Lunar↗

NASA NTRS2024

NIAC Phase I Final Report Lunar South Pole Oxygen Pipeline (LSPOP)

The Lunar South Pole Oxygen Pipeline (LSPOP) Phase I NIAC, is to analyze the feasibility of constructing a pipeline at the Moon’s South Pole for transporting gaseous oxygen from point of generation to point of use. A lunar pipeline has never been pursued and will revolutionize lunar surface operations for the Artemis program and reduce cost and risk. Our starting concept is for a 5 km pipeline to transport oxygen gas from an oxygen production source, for example from our molten regolith electrolysis (MRE, currently at TRL 5, see references[1],[2],[3],[4],[5],[6] for technical discussions of the MRE process) extraction site, or any other source, to an oxygen storage/liquification plant near a lunar base. The pipeline is designed to: 1) be constructed robotically from regolith-derived metals with minimal material transferred from Earth, 2) be repairable robotically, 3) have an oxygen flow rate of ~2 kg/hour, which is commensurate with the NASA initial projected need of 10,000 kg/year, 4) operate with minimal power over the lifetime of the pipeline, with a goal of high operational reliability and the ability to survive in the lunar environment for > 10 years. We compare this concept to a pipeline concept with pipe produced on Earth and then transported to and assembled on the Moon. Both approaches will use earth-based compressors, valves, and fittings which are integrated into the pipeline on the Moon.

NIAC Phase I↗

DOE OSTI2021

Influence of Heterointerfaces on the Kinetics of Oxygen Surface Exchange on Epitaxial La 1.85 Sr 0.15 CuO 4 Thin Films

Considerable attention has been directed to understanding the influence of heterointerfaces between Ruddlesden–Popper (RP) phases and ABO 3 perovskites on the kinetics of oxygen electrocatalysis at elevated temperatures. Here, we report the effect of heterointerfaces on the oxygen surface exchange kinetics by employing heteroepitaxial oxide thin films formed by decorating LaNiO 3 (LNO) on La 1.85 Sr 0.15 CuO 4 (LSCO) thin films. Regardless of LNO decoration, tensile in-plane strain on LSCO films does not change. The oxygen surface exchange coefficients (kchem) of LSCO films extracted from electrical conductivity relaxation curves significantly increase with partial decorations of LNO, whereas full LNO coverage leads to the reduction in the kchem of LSCO films. The activation energy for oxygen exchange in LSCO films significantly decreases with partial LNO decorations in contrast with the full coverage of LNO. Optical spectroscopy reveals the increased oxygen vacancies in the partially covered LSCO films relative to the undecorated LSCO film. We attribute the enhanced oxygen surface exchange kinetics of LSCO to the increased oxygen vacancies by creating the heterointerface between LSCO and LNO.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

NASA NTRS2017

Transformers for Lunar Extreme Environments: Ensuring Long-Term Operations in Regions of Darkness and Low Temperatures: II - Phase

This report shows how solar power could enable robotic operations in permanently shaded regions at lunar poles, to extract water ice and further produce liquid hydrogen and oxygen (LH2/LO2) propellant. The power needs are derived from an Architecture for Human Exploration of Mars based entirely on lunar propellant. The extraction of 10 metric tons of water per day (at 10% water in regolith) requires approx. 0.6 MW thermal power. Additional approx. 2 MW electric power are required to produce 7.5 metric tons of LH2/LO2 propellant per day, as needed by the architecture. To provide power to processing equipment inside Shackleton Crater, optimal locations are determined on the crater rim, from which several reflecting TransFormers (TFs) would redirect sunlight, achieving a combined period of illumination of approx. 99% of the year. A single 40-m diameter reflector could provide up to 1 MW solar power. Inflatable rigidizable tower support structures raise reflectors above ground for better solar exposure. There are trade-offs: e.g., two reflectors at ground level would provide the same combined total illumination as a single tower approx. 100-m tall. Such a TF based on a 100-m tower made with inflatable 2-m beams and 40-m diameter reflectors would be of similar dimensions as an MSL-class rover (approx. 1000 kg, 10 m(exp 3)). A TF-prospector rover combo could be designed and deployed in a Discovery-class mission searching for water. The TransFormers would be nodes of a Lunar Utilities Infrastructure that provides solar power year-round in the proximity of the pole, as well as local data transmission andintermittent direct to earth communications. This infrastructure would be instrumental infacilitating the development of a lunar economy.

fuel↗

NASA NTRS2011

Sustainable Mars Sample Return

The proposed Mars sample return mission will be completed using natural Martian resources for the majority of its operations. The system uses the following technologies: In-Situ Propellant Production (ISPP), a methane-oxygen propelled Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), a carbon dioxide powered hopper, and a hydrogen fueled balloon system (large balloons and small weather balloons). The ISPP system will produce the hydrogen, methane, and oxygen using a Sabatier reactor. a water electrolysis cell, water extracted from the Martian surface, and carbon dioxide extracted from the Martian atmosphere. Indigenous hydrogen will fuel the balloon systems and locally-derived methane and oxygen will fuel the MAV for the return of a 50 kg sample to Earth. The ISPP system will have a production cycle of 800 days and the estimated overall mission length is 1355 days from Earth departure to return to low Earth orbit. Combining these advanced technologies will enable the proposed sample return mission to be executed with reduced initial launch mass and thus be more cost efficient. The successful completion of this mission will serve as the next step in the advancement of Mars exploration technology.

Alston, Christie↗