Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Lunar Volatiles”

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.

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

At least 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2017

Characterization of Volatiles Loss from Soil Samples at Lunar Environments

Resource Prospector Integrated Thermal Vacuum Test Program A series of ground based dirty thermal vacuum tests are being conducted to better understand the subsurface sampling operations for RP Volatiles loss during sampling operations Hardware performance Sample removal and transfer Concept of operationsInstrumentation5 test campaigns over 5 years have been conducted with RP hardware with advancing hardware designs and additional RP subsystems Volatiles sampling 4 years Using flight-forward regolith sampling hardware, empirically determine volatile retention at lunar-relevant conditions Use data to improve theoretical predictions Determine driving variables for retention Bound water loss potential to define measurement uncertainties. The main goal of this talk is to introduce you to our approach to characterizing volatiles loss for RP. Introduce the facility and its capabilities Overview of the RP hardware used in integrated testing (most recent iteration) Summarize the test variables used thus farReview a sample of the results.

In Situ Resource Utilization↗
NASA NTRS2017

Determination of Trace and Volatile Element Abundance Systematics of Lunar Pyroclastic Glasses 74220 and 15426 Using LA-ICP-MS

Since their recognition as pyroclastic glasses generated by volcanic fire fountaining on the Moon, 74220 and 15426 have garnered significant scientific interest. Early studies recognized that the glasses were particularly enriched in volatile elements on their surfaces. More recently, detailed analyses of the interiors of the glasses, as well as of melt inclusions within olivine grains associated with the 74220 glass beads, have determined high H2O, F, Cl and S contents. Such elevated volatile contents seem at odds with evidence from moderately volatile elements (MVE), such as Zn and K, for a volatile- depleted Moon. In this study, we present initial results from an analytical campaign to study trace element abundances within the pyroclastic glass beads. We report trace element data determined by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for 15426 and 74220.

McIntosh, E. Carrie↗
NASA NTRS2015

Neutron Spectrometer Prospecting in the Mojave Volatiles Project Analog Field Test

We know that volatiles are sequestered at the poles of the Moon. While we have evidence of water ice and a number of other compounds based on remote sensing, the detailed distribution, and physical and chemical form are largely unknown. Additional orbital studies of lunar polar volatiles may yield further insights, but the most important next step is to use landed assets to fully characterize the volatile composition and distribution at scales of tens to hundreds of meters. To achieve this range of scales, mobility is needed. Because of the proximity of the Moon, near real-time operation of the surface assets is possible, with an associated reduction in risk and cost. This concept of operations is very different from that of rovers on Mars, and new operational approaches are required to carry out such real-time robotic exploration. The Mojave Volatiles Project (MVP) was a Moon-Mars Analog Mission Activities (MMAMA) program project aimed at (1) determining effective approaches to operating a real-time but short-duration lunar surface robotic mission, and (2) performing prospecting science in a natural setting, as a test of these approaches. Here we describe some results from the first such test, carried out in the Mojave Desert between 16 and 24 October, 2014. The test site was an alluvial fan just E of the Soda Mountains, SW of Baker, California. This site contains desert pavements, ranging from the late Pleistocene to early-Holocene in age. These pavements are undergoing dissection by the ongoing development of washes. A principal objective was to determine the hydration state of different types of desert pavement and bare ground features. The mobility element of the test was provided by the KREX-2 rover, designed and operated by the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center. The rover-borne neutron spectrometer measured the neutron albedo at both thermal and epithermal energies. Assuming uniform geochemistry and material bulk density, hydrogen as either hydroxyl/water in mineral assemblages or as moisture will significantly enhance the return of thermalized neutrons. However, in the Mojave test setting there is little uniformity, especially in bulk material density. We find that lighter toned materials (immature pavements, bar and swale, and wash materials) have lower thermal neutron flux, while mature, darker pavements with the greatest desert varnish development have higher neutron fluxes. Preliminary analysis of samples from the various terrain types in the test area indicates a prevailing moisture content of 2-3 wt% H2O. However, soil mineralogy suggests that the welldeveloped Av1 soil horizon beneath the topmost dark pavement clast layer contains the highest clay content. Structural water (including hydroxyl) in these clays may explain the enhanced neutron albedo over dark pavements. On the other hand, surface and subsurface bulk density can also play a role in neutron albedo - lower density of materials found in washes, for example, can result in a reduction in neutron flux. Analysis is ongoing.

rover-borne neutron spectrometer↗
NASA NTRS1973

Volatile element chemistry of selected lunar, meteoritic, and terrestrial samples

Using vacuum pyrolysis and high resolution mass spectrometry, a study is made of the gas release patterns of representative lunar samples, meteorites, terrestrial samples, and synthetic samples doped with various sources of carbon and nitrogen. The pyrolytic gas evolution patterns were intercorrelated, allowing an assessment of the possible sources of the volatilizable material in the lunar samples to be made. Lightly surface adsorbed species and more strongly chemisorbed species are released from ambient to 300 C and from 300 to 500 C, respectively. The low-temperature volatiles (less than 500 C) derived from various chondrites correlate well with the gas evolution patterns of volatile-rich samples, as for example 74220 and 61221. Solar wind entrapped species and molecules derived from reactions probably in the grain surfaces are evolved from about 500 to 700 C, respectively. Solar wind implanted C, N, and S species are generated from 750 to 1150 C, probably by reaction with the mineral matrix during the annealing process. Possible indigenous and/or refractory carbide, nitride, and sulfide C, N, and S are released in the region from 1200 C to fusion.

Simoneit, B. R.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Lunar Science Conference, 6th, Houston, Tex., March 17-21, 1975, Proceedings. Volume 2 - Chemical and isotopic studies

The chemical compositions of lunar rocks and soils are examined, taking into account sulfur abundances and distributions in mare basalts and their source magmas, lithophile trace and major elements in Apollo 16 and 17 lunar samples, the role of vaporization processes in lunar rock formation, chemical studies of the lunar regolith with emphasis on zirconium and hafnium, a model for the lunar anorthositic gabbro, and trace-element chemistry and reducing capacity of size fractions from the Apollo 16 regolith. Other topics considered are related to lunar chronology, volatile meteoritic elements, isotopic studies, light element geochemistry, and agglutinates and regolith processes. Attention is given to meteoritic material in four terrestrial meteorite craters, the state of meteoritic material on the moon, volatile elements in Allende inclusions, oxygen isotope fractionation in Apollo 17 rocks, cosmogenic isotope production in Apollo deep-core samples, and the effects of exposure conditions on cosmic-ray records in lunar rocks.

Merrill, R. B.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Resource Investigation With NASA's VIPER Mission

The VIPER mission will be NASA’s first mobile robotic lunar drilling and volatiles assessment mission bound for the lunar south pole. From a resources perspective, the data acquired through VIPER’s operation on the lunar surface will inform future Artemis missions. The VIPER mission will provide important geotechnical details as well as volatiles qualification and quantification. The VIPER mission instrumentation suite and the overall science mission objectives will be presented at the European Lunar Symposium 2024.

VIPER↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Viper Science Operations: Lunar Dynamic Science Table and ‘Tracker’ Tool.

Introduction: The NASA VIPER lunar rover mission [1] presents a unique operational paradigm within the history of robotic spaceflight. The proximity of the Moon to the Earth and the terrain elements (surface characteristics, light/shadow dynamics, communication links) of the Lunar South Polar landing site create unprecedented operational conditions between these two planetary bodies. Apollo era lunar science and exploration included humans in situ to operate instruments and assimilate observational inputs in real-time. Previous lunar orbital missions have worked to operational timescales, e.g., decisional timelines and communication exchanges, that were weeks in duration. Mars rover missions have worked to operational timescales, e.g., decisional timelines and communication exchanges between Mars and Earth, that were hours, days, and weeks in length. In the case of the VIPER mission, our operational decisioning for rover driving and instrument commanding will be compressed to minute-scale timeframes. These operational conditions will directly impact the workflow and speed with which the VIPER Science Team (VST) will be required to synthesize and analyze data and produce timely science-driven decisions throughout surface mission operations [2]. The VST in the VIPER Mission Science Center (MSC) and the Mission Operations Center (MOC) shall provide mission-enhancing scientific input to guide traverse planning and drill site confirmation/selection throughout surface operations. Further, the VST input will be of vital importance to the mission’s ability to maximize science return and to meet broader NASA objectives for future lunar ISRU and exploration activities. Specifically, the VST in the MSC and MOC will provide science-driven, consensus-based, timely input and decision-making to enhance mission operations and align mission science return with broader Agency goals. They will enable the characterization of the distribution (lateral and vertical extent, concentration, variability), form (chemical/physical state of these reservoirs of lunar water and key isotopes), and context (e.g., accessibility/overburden, environment, soil mechanics, trafficability, and temperatures) of lunar polar volatiles and water content for the VIPER mission. Additionally, the MSC will be selecting or reconfirming the location and path towards and from the third drill site (Drill Site Charlie) within each Science Station [6]. To enable scientific decision-making within the operational paradigm of the VIPER lunar rover mission requires detailed articulation of the VST’s scientific objectives and goals, and the operationalization of these objectives and goals through their association with specific data products, tasks, and decisional procedures. Further, defining and tracking scientific success metrics throughout surface operations will enable the VST to have a quantified understanding of the mission’s evolving ability to accomplish the stated scientific objectives and goals both during and after the mission. This abstract provides an overview of the methods and development activities towards defining, operationalizing, and tracking scientific objectives and goals throughout VIPER surface operations. Specifically, we focus on the VIPER Lunar Dynamic Science Table (LDST) and the VIPER “Tracker” tool.

Darlene Sze Shien Lim↗
NASA NTRS2019

Current NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Strategic Vision

Perform development to TRL 5/6 through ground demonstration in relevant environment. Perform component/subscale subsystem flight demonstrations on small/mid-size landers. Assess and characterize water in volatiles in lunar polar shadowed regions and craters. Reduce risk of ISRU for mission critical consumables through Integrated End-to-End Flight Demonstrations (pilot scale). Establish initial Human Mission Scale production capability to promote sustainable operations and as anchor for commercial involvement. Identify and characterize polar region environment and resources/volatiles for Science and future Exploration/Commercial applications. Provide ground-truth physical, mineral, and water/volatile resource characteristic information at multiple locations to provide geological context for science-focused theories of volatile placement and initial mining assessments.Test technologies and processes to reduce risk of future extraction/mining systems. Quantify concentration and lateral/vertical distribution of resources/volatiles. Utilize ISRU capabilities to Extend and Enhance Human Lunar Exploration Missions. Provide oxygen (and fuel) to enable reusable human lunar lander (10+ MT/yr O2)Process carbon-based crew waste/trash into gases and propellants; can reduce logistics while minimizing public perception issues (alternative is conversion to radiation shielding). Scavenge unused propellants and hardware from spent landers. Metal extraction from regolith as feedstock for in situ and in space manufacturing demonstrations. Civil engineering and construction aimed at future outpost/infrastructure build-up. Develop and Demonstrate ISRU for Human Mars Missions. ISRU for propellant production (10-15 MT/yr); Liquefy, store, transfer, and refuel ascent vehicle. Use Moon for operational experience and mission validation for Mars: Pre-deployment & remote activation and operation without crew. Storing and transferring mission consumables Landing crew with empty tanks with ISRU propellants already made and waiting. Support/Promote Commercialization of Space. Large scale polar ice mining (100+ MT/yr water)O2/H2 propulsion for landers/cis-lunar transportation with surface and in space depots. In situ construction and energy expansion at mining and human outpost site(s). ISRU Ground Development. Develop and advance ISRU technologies to enable acquisition of resources and processing into mission consumables. Utilize Multi-center collaboration with a portfolio that includes internal NASA work, external contracts, and collaborative agreements/partnerships. Where appropriate, develop lunar ISRU components and subsystems with a Mars-forward application. Engage industry through public-private partnerships to lay the foundation for long-term lunar and space economic development. Spin-in/spin-out technologies for terrestrial applications and industry (mining, oil & gas, alternative energy, construction). Flight Demonstration Path to Operational ISRU. Utilize small demonstrations with near off-the-shelf hardware to obtain critical information quickly on lunar resources and operations. Demonstrate critical technologies and processes that interact with lunar materials and environments. Perform 'pilot plant' demonstrations at architecture relevant scales and durations to reduce the risk for ISRU-provided products for critical human mission applications.

In-situ Resource Utilization↗
NASA NTRS2021

An Innovative Approach to Modeling VIPER Rover Software Life Cycle Cost

NASA’s “Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover” (VIPER) will be the first robotic mission to prospect for water ice near the south pole of the Moon in late 2023 on a 100-Earth-day mission. The information that the VIPER rover provides will help improve understanding of the composition, distribution, and accessibility of Lunar polar volatiles and will help determine how the Moon’s resources can support future human space exploration. VIPER, however, represents a radical departure from the way that NASA has traditionally developed planetary robotic missions. A key consequence of these differences is that estimating the cost of VIPER’s rover software is challenging and complex.For example, VIPER is being developed using management procedures typically applied to NASA research and technology projects, rather than space flight programs. In addition, key portions of the rover’s software are being designed as ground software to run on mission control computers (rather than on-board the rover as flight software as with prior planetary missions) taking advantage of continuous, interactive data communications between the Moon and Earth and higher performance computing available on the ground. Moreover, the rover’s software is being engineered using Agile software development practices and incorporates a significant amount of open-source, rather than following traditional (spiral, waterfall, etc.) development methods and in-house code. In this paper, we present an innovative process to estimate the life cycle cost of VIPER’s rover software. We first describe how we modeled the architecture and code counts for three software elements: Rover Flight Software (RFSW), Rover Ground Software (RGSW), and Rover Simulation Software (RSIM). We then discuss key challenges and unique aspects of our approach, such as the lack of Lunar rover analogies, the need to integrate and test large open source software, and the strategies developed to account for use of non-space flight management practices and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conclude with a summary of our results, including cumulative distribution, nearest neighbors and cluster analysis, as well as heuristics used to confirm the reasonableness of the cost estimate.

Utz, Hans↗
NASA NTRS2009

The Moon is a Planet Too: Lunar Science and Robotic Exploration

This slide presentation reviews some of what is known about the moon, and draws parallels between the moon and any other terrestrial planet. The Moon is a cornerstone for all rocky planets The Moon is a terrestrial body, formed and evolved similarly to Earth, Mars, Mercury, Venus, and large asteroids The Moon is a differentiated body, with a layered internal structure (crust, mantle, and core) The Moon is a cratered body, preserving a record of bombardment history in the inner solar system The Moon is an active body, experiencing moonquakes, releasing primordial heat, conducting electricity, sustaining bombardment, and trapping volatile molecules Lunar robotic missions provide early science return to obtain important science and engineering objectives, rebuild a lunar science community, and keep our eyes on the Moon. These lunar missions, both past and future are reviewed.

Cohen, Barbara A.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Testing and Resilience of the Impact Origin of the Moon

The leading hypothesis for the origin of the Moon is the giant impact model, which grew out of the post-Apollo science community. The hypothesis was able to explain the high E-M system angular momentum, the small lunar core, and consistent with the idea that the early Moon melted substantially. The standard hypothesis requires that the Moon be made entirely from the impactor, strangely at odds with the nearly identical oxygen isotopic composition of the Earth and Moon, compositions that might be expected to be different if Moon came from a distinct impactor. Subsequent geochemical research has highlighted the similarity of both geochemical and isotopic composition of the Earth and Moon, and measured small but significant amounts of volatiles in lunar glassy materials, both of which are seemingly at odds with the standard giant impact model. Here we focus on key geochemical measurements and spacecraft observations that have prompted a healthy re-evaluation of the giant impact model, provide an overview of physical models that are either newly proposed or slightly revised from previous ideas, to explain the new datasets.

Righter, K.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Light element geochemistry and spallogenesis in lunar rocks

Abundance and isotopic compositions are measured for the very volatile elements carbon, nitrogen and sulfur in 11 lunar rocks representing a wide spectrum of textures and compositions. Samples were combusted sequentially at three temperatures in order to remove terrestrial contaminants before melting the lunar rock and liberating lunar volatiles. The combustion results indicate very little terrestrial sulfur contamination, with sulfur contents correlated with the TiO2 contents of the basalts analyzed. Sulfur isotopic compositions are remarkably uniform and similar to the Canon Diablo meteorite standard. Nitrogen levels are found to be no greater than those obtained with procedural blanks, corresponding to abundances less than 0.1 microg/g. Stable nitrogen isotope measurements indicate a spallogenic N-15 production rate of 4.1 x 10 to the -6th microg N-15/g sample/million years, in agreement with previous estimates. No indigenous carbon in excess of procedural blank levels of about 0.7 microg/g is found in lunar basalts. Levels of 1 to 5 microg/g found in highland rocks may derive from meteoritic or terrestrial sources. The average measured spallogenic C-13 production rate is 4.1 x 10 to the -6th microg C-13/g sample/million years.

Des Marais, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Phase Equilibria of a S- and C-Poor Lunar Core

The composition of the lunar core can have a large impact on its thermal evolution, possible early dynamo creation, and physical state. Geochemical measurements have placed better constraints on the S and C content of the lunar mantle. In this study we have carried out phase equilibrium studies of geochemically plausible S- and C-poor lunar core compositions in the Fe-Ni-S-C system, and apply them to the early history of the Moon. We chose two bulk core compositions, with differing S and C content based on geochemical analyses of S and C trapped melts in Apollo samples, and on the partitioning of S and C between metal and silicate. This approach allowed calculation of core S and C contents - 90% Fe, 9% Ni, 0.5% C, and 0.375% S by weight; a second composition contained 1% each of S and C. Experiments were carried out from 1473K to 1973K and 1 GPa to 5 GPa, in piston cylinder and multi- anvil apparatuses. Combination of the thermal model of with our results, shows that a solid inner core (and therefore initiation of a dynamo) may have been possible in the earliest history of the Moon (approximately 4.2 Ga ago), in agreement with. Thus a volatile poor lunar core may explain the thermal and magnetic history of the Moon.

Righter, K.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Gaseous By-Product of Thermal Vacuum Processing of Lunar Highland Simulant

Scientists at Kennedy Space Center are advancing technologies to achieve oxygen extraction on the Lunar surface. One such technology is Molten Regolith Electrolysis (MRE) in which regolith simulant is melted under high temperatures to perform oxygen extraction through electrolysis of the melt pool. A study was conducted to understand the molten formation and proper-ties of Lunar Highlands Simulants (LHS-1) under high vacuum environments ranging between 10-6 Torr. These studies include investigating the regolith melt behavior and by-product gas analysis systems to prepare for pilot plant development and operations. The off-gassing rates and pressure build-up, gaseous compounds, and material compatibility may be a risk to MRE systems. The KSC findings are reported here for inclusion into future mis-sion architecture and operational planning. The four stages of the experiment were vacuum, resistive heating, regolith melt and gas detection. The regolith mass of 70 g was melted in a 40 cm tall x 50 cm diameter vacuum chamber at temperature increase rate 47 ℃ /min and ramp rate of 1 ampere/3 min up to an 18-amp maximum. The test is conducted for about 60 minutes and the constituent gases produced during heating of regolith is monitored with a re-sidual gas analyzer. During the molten formation, primary off-gassing volatiles included water vapor (18 amu), a peak at 44 amu (FeO2 – expected), and atomic oxygen (16 amu), among a series of other compounds that could create compatibility issues such as magnesium, chlorine, and silicon oxide. These results add to the knowledge required for successful oxygen extraction on the moon.

Molten Regolith Electrolysis↗
NASA NTRS1992

Mapping the Moon in Soft x Rays: Promises and Challenges

Recent ROSAT images reported by Schmitt et el. show that the sunlit part of the Moon is a significant source of very soft x rays. Stimulated by these observations, Edwards et al. have made an analysis of the response of the Moon to the solar soft x ray and EUV spectrum. They argue that much of the observed emission is in the form of discrete fluorescence lines in the energy range 25 to 100 eV, and that these lines are generally much stronger than the adjacent directly scattered solar background. On this basis they suggest that soft x ray fluorescence can be used to remotely obtain high-precision elemental maps of the lunar surface. Edwards et al. have continued to develop this idea and have suggested a system using soft x ray telescopes in lunar orbit, which could also obtain very good spatial resolution. This combination could be extremely valuable in furthering our understanding of lunar chemistry and potential resource distributions. High spatial resolution combined with the thin surface layer from which these soft x rays arise suggests the exciting possibility that x ray telescopes could map lunar volcanic volatiles from orbit.

Housley, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS2008

John F. Kennedy Space Center's Technology Development and Application 2006-2007 Report

Topics covered include: Reversible Chemochromic Hydrogen Detectors; Determining Trajectory of Triboelectrically Charged Particles, Using Discrete Element Modeling; Using Indium Tin Oxide To Mitigate Dust on Viewing Ports; High-Performance Polyimide Powder Coatings; Controlled-Release Microcapsules for Smart Coatings for Corrosion Applications; Aerocoat 7 Replacement Coatings; Photocatalytic Coatings for Exploration and Spaceport Design; New Materials for the Repair of Polyimide Electrical Wire Insulation; Commodity-Free Calibration; Novel Ice Mitigation Methods; Crack Offset Measurement With the Projected Laser Target Device; New Materials for Structural Composites and Protective Coatings; Fire Chemistry Testing of Spray-On Foam Insulation (SOFI); Using Aerogel-Based Insulation Material To Prevent Foam Loss on the Liquid-Hydrogen Intertank; Particle Ejection and Levitation Technology (PELT); Electrostatic Characterization of Lunar Dust; Numerical Analysis of Rocket Exhaust Cratering; RESOLVE Projects: Lunar Water Resource Demonstration and Regolith Volatile Characterization; Tribocharging Lunar Soil for Electrostatic Beneficiation; Numerically Modeling the Erosion of Lunar Soil by Rocket Exhaust Plumes; Trajectory Model of Lunar Dust Particles; Using Lunar Module Shadows To Scale the Effects of Rocket Exhaust Plumes; Predicting the Acoustic Environment Induced by the Launch of the Ares I Vehicle; Measuring Ultrasonic Acoustic Velocity in a Thin Sheet of Graphite Epoxy Composite; Hail Size Distribution Mapping; Launch Pad 39 Hail Monitor Array System; Autonomous Flight Safety System - Phase III; The Photogrammetry Cube; Bird Vision System; Automating Range Surveillance Through Radio Interferometry and Field Strength Mapping Techniques; Next-Generation Telemetry Workstation; GPS Metric Tracking Unit; and Space-Based Range.

Source record↗