SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “In Situ Resource Utilization”

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 271 records · Page 15

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2019

KSC Intern Narrative Report

There are limited resources on extraterrestrial bodies and current launch vehicles can only send finite resources on deep space missions. Transporting resources needed for deep space missions is extremely expensive; at tens of thousands of dollars per pound launched. In order to sustain life and establish outposts on other celestial bodies, it is necessary to find a way to utilize the resources that are readily available in these environments. This process is called In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), which is comprised of searching for, collecting, processing, and storing materials found on other celestial bodies and using them for construction, science applications, propulsion, and other life sustaining purposes. The processing and use of regolith, which is a loose rocky material found on the surface of bodies like the Moon or Mars, is the main focus of ISRU work done in Swamp Works in the Engineering Development Lab at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The research Swamp Works has done in regolith applications ranges from construction and infrastructure to propellant production to storage of oxygen and water.

George, Amber↗

NASA NTRS2001

Technology Development for Human Exploration Beyond LEO in the New Millennium IAA-13-3 Strategies and Plans for Human Mars Missions

As we look forward into the new millennium, the extension of human presence beyond Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) looms large in the plans of NASA. The Agency's Strategic Plan specifically calls out the need to identify and develop technologies for 100 and 1000-day class missions beyond LEO. To meet the challenge of these extended duration missions, it is important that we learn how to utilize the indigenous resources available to us on extraterrestrial bodies. This concept, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) can greatly reduce the launch mass & cost of human missions while reducing the risk. These technologies may also pave the way for the commercial development of space. While no specific target beyond LEO is identified in NASA's Strategic Plan, mission architecture studies have been on-going for the Moon, Mars, Near-Earth Asteroids and Earth/Moon & Earth/Sun Libration Points. As a result of these studies, the NASA Office of Space Flight (Code M) through the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers, is leading the effort to develop ISRU technologies and systems to meet the current and future needs of human missions beyond LEO and on to Mars. This effort also receives support from the NASA Office of Biological and Physical Research (Code U), the Office of Space Science (Code S), and the Office of Aerospace Technology (Code R). This paper will present unique developments in the area of fuel and oxidizer production, breathing air production, water production, C02 collection, separation of atmospheric gases, and gas liquefaction and storage. A technology overview will be provided for each topic along with the results achieved to date, future development plans, and the mission architectures that these technologies support.

Larson, William E.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Recovery and Utilization of Extraterrestrial Resources

This special bibliography includes the extraction, processing, and utilization of lunar, planetary, and asteroid resources; mining and excavation equipment, oxygen and propellant production; and in situ resource utilization.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2018

Zero Launch Mass Three Dimensional Print Head

NASA's strategic goal is to put humans on Mars in the 2030's. The NASA Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT) and NASA Mars Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0 has determined that in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is an essential technology to accomplish this mission. Additive construction technology using in-situ materials from planetary surfaces will reduce launch mass, allow structures to be three dimensionally (3D) printed on demand, and will allow building designs to be transmitted digitally from Earth and printed in space. This will ultimately lead to elimination of reliance on structural materials launched from Earth (zero launch mass of construction consumables). The zero launch mass (ZLM) 3D print head project addressed this need by developing a system that 3D prints using a mixture of in-situ regolith and polymer as feedstock, determining the optimum mixture ratio and regolith particle size distribution, developing software to convert g-code into motion instructions for a FANUC robotic arm, printing test samples, performing materials testing, and printing a reduced scale habitable structure concept. This paper will focus on the ZLM 3D Print Head design, materials selection, software development, and lessons learned from operating the system in the NASA KSC Swamp Works Granular Mechanics & Regolith Operations (GMRO) Laboratory.

3D print↗

NASA NTRS2015

Opportunities and Strategies for Testing and Infusion of ISRU in the Evolvable Mars Campaign

HE Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) is developing the plans and systems needed for a robust, evolutionary strategy to explore cis-lunar space, the Mars sphere of influence (including the moons of Mars), and the surface of Mars. Recently, the emphasis of NASA's plans has changed to focus on the prolonged pioneering of space, rather than focusing on a single crewed mission as the ultimate goal. A sustainable, pioneering vision of space would include in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) in multiple forms and at multiple destinations: atmospheric capture of Mars CO2 and/or volatiles for consumables and propellants, regolith for bulk and refined materials, and in-situ manufacturing at the Moon, Mars, and other bodies. These resources would enable a reduction in the logistical needs from Earth for future missions, thus preparing the way for a sustained presence on Mars. Although the EMC initially relies only on propellant production for the Mars ascent vehicle via ISRU, one of its primary objectives is to prospect at every EMC destination to understand the potential for ISRU; this will permit true pioneering to be enabled after the first crew arrives at Mars. Recent and ongoing analysis has considered the possible prospecting measurements that can be performed at the asteroid returned to cis-lunar space by the Asteroid Robotic Redirect Mission (ARRM), at the lunar surface, at Phobos and Deimos, and on the surface of Mars to identify available resources for future use. These opportunities will be available on missions currently in the Evolvable Mars Campaign construct, and will also facilitate the testing and demonstration of resource acquisition, processing, storage, and useage technologies that can play a role in later missions. This analysis has also led to the identification of several objectives that should be targeted during the missions building up to and including the initial crewed missions. These objectives are mapped to strategies for incorporating ISRU to support resource cycle closure and reduce mass requirements from Earth. This analysis has yielded engineering constraints, based on ISRU, that impact the evaluation of landing sites for missions to the surface of Mars. The terrain of a particular site must be sufficiently flat to permit ISRU systems, as well as ancillary systems such as power and propellant storage tanks, to be landed, moved into position, set up, and operated. Water must be accessible in a form that can be acquired via ISRU, in quantities that align with demands. The chosen method of acquiring and processing water should align with the available resources at a particular site, and that site must have sufficient quantities to meet the requirements (based on crew consumables and propellant demands). Lower altitude landing sites are preferred, as the increase in density can facilitate carbon dioxide acquisition from the atmosphere. Another preference is for sites with a greater ability to move regolith for civil engineering purposes; for example, this would be conducive to both bulk regolith uses (such as the manufacture of berms), and processed regolith uses (such as microwave sintering).

Evolvable Mars Campaign↗

NASA NTRS2006

Miniature Ground Penetrating Radar, CRUX GPR

Under NASA instrument development programs (PIDDP 2000-2002, MIPD 2003-2005, ESR and T, 2005) we have been developing miniature ground penetrating radars (GPR) for use in mapping subsurface stratigraphy from planetary rovers for Mars and lunar applications. The Mars GPR is for deeper penetration (up to 50 m depth) into the Martian subsurface at moderate resolution (0.5 m) for a geological characterization. As a part of the CRUX (Construction and Resource Utilization Explorer) instrument suite, the CRUX GPR is optimized for a lunar prospecting application. It will have shallower penetration (5 m depth) with higher resolution (10 cm) for construction operations including ISRU (in-situ resource utilization).

ground penetrating radars (GPR↗

NASA NTRS2015

NASAs Evolvable Mars Campaign: Mars Moons Robotic Precursor

Human exploration missions to the moons of Mars are being considered within NASA's Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) as an intermediate step for eventual human exploration and pioneering of the surface of Mars. A range of mission architectures is being evaluated in which human crews would explore one or both moons for as little as 14 days or for as long as 500 days with a variety of orbital and surface habitation and mobility options being considered. Relatively little is known about the orbital, surface, or subsurface characteristics of either moon. This makes them interesting but challenging destinations for human exploration missions during which crewmembers must be able to effectively conduct scientific exploration without being exposed to undue risks due to radiation, dust, micrometeoroids, or other hazards. A robotic precursor mission to one or both moons will be required to provide data necessary for the design and operation of subsequent human systems and for the identification and prioritization of scientific exploration objectives. This paper identifies and discusses considerations for the design of such a precursor mission based on current human mission architectures. Objectives of a Mars' moon precursor in support of human missions are expected to include: 1) identifying hazards on the surface and the orbital environment at up to 50-km distant retrograde orbits; 2) collecting data on physical characteristics for planning of detailed human proximity and surface operations; 3) performing remote sensing and in situ science investigations to refine and focus future human scientific activities; and 4) prospecting for in situ resource utilization. These precursor objectives can be met through a combination or remote sensing (orbital) and in-situ (surface) measurements. Analysis of spacecraft downlink signals using radio science techniques would measure the moon's mass, mass distribution, and gravity field, which will be necessary to enable trajectory planning. Laser altimetry would precisely measure the moon's shape and improve the accuracy of radio science measurements. A telescopic imaging camera would map the moon at submeter resolution and photograph selected areas of interest at subcentimeter resolution and a visible and near-infrared (0.4-3.0 mm) imaging spectrograph would produce a global map of mineral composition variations at a resolution of tens of meters and maps of selected areas of interest at meter resolution. Additional remote sensing capabilities could include a thermal infrared imager (heat flow, thermal inertia, and grain size distributions), a gamma-ray and neutron detector (atomic composition), a ground-penetrating radar (internal structure), and a magnetometer and Langmuir probe (magnetic properties and plasma field). Once on the surface of Phobos or Deimos, necessary instrumentation would include a penetrometer (regolith compressive strength), a motion-imagery camera (to observe the penetrometer tests before, during, and after contact), a dust-adhesion witness plate and camera (dust levitation), a microimager (dust particle sizes and shapes), and an alpha-proton-X-ray, X-ray fluorescence, Mossbauer, or Raman spectrometer (atomic and mineral composition of surface materials) and an optional temperature probe (regolith thermal properties). A variety of robotic mission design options to enable both orbital and surface measurements are being considered that include fully integrated and modular approaches. In-situ measurements from at least one surface location would be required, with additional measurement locations possible through use of multiple landers, through propulsive relocation of a single lander, or through electromechanical surface translation by a walking or hopping lander vehicle, which could also serve to evaluate such mobility capabilities for subsequent human missions. Preliminary orbital analysis suggests that remote sensing would likely be performed while in a distant retrograde orbit around the target moon. Mission design options to enable characterization of both Mars’ moons in a single mission are also being studied.

Gernhardt, Michael L.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Towards the Use of Space Resources

Humans are making technological progress at leveraging resources in space. Ames is a pioneer in In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). ISRU is among the only cost-effective ways to construct habitats off-world.

ISRU↗

NASA NTRS2007

Lunar Resource Utilization: Development of a Reactor for Volatile Extraction from Regolith

The extraction and processing of planetary resources into useful products, known as In- Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), will have a profound impact on the future of planetary exploration. One such effort is the RESOLVE (Regolith and Environment Science, Oxygen and Lunar Volatiles Extraction) Project, which aims to extract and quantify these resources. As part of the first Engineering Breadboard Unit, the Regolith Volatiles Characterization (RVC) reactor was designed and built at the NASA Glenn Research Center. By heating and agitating the lunar regolith, loosely bound volatiles, such as hydrogen and water, are released and stored in the reactor for later analysis and collection. Intended for operation on a robotic rover, the reactor features a lightweight, compact design, easy loading and unloading of the regolith, and uniform heating of the regolith by means of vibrofluidization. The reactor performance was demonstrated using regolith simulant, JSC1, with favorable results.

Kleinhenz, Julie E.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Experimental Testing and Modeling of a Pneumatic Regolith Delivery System for ISRU

Excavating and transporting planetary regolith are examples of surface activities that may occur during a future space exploration mission to a planetary body. Regolith, whether it is collected on the Moon, Mars or even an asteroid, consists of granular minerals, some of which have been identified to be viable resources that can be mined and processed chemically to extract useful by-products, such as oxygen, water, and various metals and metal alloys. Even the depleted "waste" material from such chemical processes may be utilized later in the construction of landing pads and protective structures at the site of a planetary base. One reason for excavating and conveying planetary regolith is to deliver raw regolith material to in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) systems. The goal of ISRU is to provide expendable supplies and materials at the planetary destination, if possible. An in-situ capability of producing mission-critical substances such as oxygen will help to extend the mission and its success, and will greatly lower the overall cost of a mission by either eliminating, or significantly reducing, the need to transport the same expendable materials from the Earth. In order to support the goals and objectives of present and future ISRU projects, NASA seeks technology advancements in the areas of regolith conveying. Such systems must be effective, efficient and provide reliable performance over long durations while being exposed to the harsh environments found on planetary surfaces. These conditions include contact with very abrasive regolith particulates, exposure to high vacuum or dry (partial) atmospheres, wide variations in temperature, reduced gravity, and exposure to space radiation. Regolith conveying techniques that combine reduced failure modes and low energy consumption with high material transfer rates will provide significant value for future space exploration missions to the surfaces of the moon, Mars and asteroids. Pneumatic regolith conveying has demonstrated itself to be a viable delivery system through testing under terrestrial and reduced gravity conditions in recent years. Modeling and experimental testing have been conducted at NASA Kennedy Space Center to study and advance pneumatic planetary regolith delivery systems in support of NASA's ISRU project. The goal of this work is to use the model to predict solid-gas flow patterns in reduced gravity environments for ISRU inlet gas line allowing the eductor inlet gas flow to vary and depend on the flow pattern developed at the eductor as inferred by the experimental observations.

Santiago-Maldonado, Edgardo↗

NASA NTRS2004

Combustion and Reacting Systems for Exploration

Contents include the foloving: 1. Spacecraft Fire Prevention, Detection, and Suppression. 2. Advanced Life Support. Air/water revitalization, waste management. 3. In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). Fuel/consumables from regolith/atmosphere. 4. Extra vehicular Activity. Air revitalization, power systems (MEMS scale combustors). 5. In-situ Fabrication and Repair.Of these we have the lead responsibility in Fire Safety.

Urban, David L.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Voxel Advanced Digital-Manufacturing for Earth and Regolith in Space Project

A voxel is a discrete three-dimensional (3D) element of material that is used to construct a larger 3D object. It is the 3D equivalent of a pixel. This project will conceptualize and study various approaches in order to develop a proof of concept 3D printing device that utilizes regolith as the material of the voxels. The goal is to develop a digital printer head capable of placing discrete self-aligning voxels in additive layers in order to fabricate small parts that can be given structural integrity through a post-printing sintering or other binding process. The quicker speeds possible with the voxel 3D printing approach along with the utilization of regolith material as the substrate will advance the use of this technology to applications for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), which is key to reducing logistics from Earth to Space, thus making long-duration human exploration missions to other celestial bodies more possible.

Technology Portfolio System↗

NASA NTRS2001

Collaboration Between NASA Centers of Excellence on Autonomous System Software Development

Software for space systems flight operations has its roots in the early days of the space program when computer systems were incapable of supporting highly complex and flexible control logic. Control systems relied on fast data acquisition and supervisory control from a roomful of systems engineers on the ground. Even though computer hardware and software has become many orders of magnitude more capable, space systems have largely adhered to this original paradigm In an effort to break this mold, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has invested in the development of model-based diagnosis and control applications for ten years having broad experience in both ground and spacecraft systems and software. KSC has now partnered with Ames Research Center (ARC), NASA's Center of Excellence in Information Technology, to create a new paradigm for the control of dynamic space systems. ARC has developed model-based diagnosis and intelligent planning software that enables spacecraft to handle most routine problems automatically and allocate resources in a flexible way to realize mission objectives. ARC demonstrated the utility of onboard diagnosis and planning with an experiment aboard Deep Space I in 1999. This paper highlights the software control system collaboration between KSC and ARC. KSC has developed a Mars In-situ Resource Utilization testbed based on the Reverse Water Gas Shift (RWGS) reaction. This plant, built in KSC's Applied Chemistry Laboratory, is capable of producing the large amount of Oxygen that would be needed to support a Human Mars Mission. KSC and ARC are cooperating to develop an autonomous, fault-tolerant control system for RWGS to meet the need for autonomy on deep space missions. The paper will also describe how the new system software paradigm will be applied to Vehicle Health Monitoring, tested on the new X vehicles and integrated into future launch processing systems.

Goodrich, Charles H.↗

NASA NTRS2000

ISRU: An Overview of NASA'S Current Development Activities and Long-Term Goals

The concept of "living off the land" by utilizing the indigenous resources of the Moon, Mars, or other potential sites of robotic and human exploration has been termed In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). It is fundamental to any program of extended human presence and operation on other extraterrestrial bodies that we learn how to utilize the indigenous resources. The chief benefits of ISRU are that it can reduce the mass, cost, and risk of robotic and human exploration while providing capabilities that enable the commercial development of space. In January 1997, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space Processing Technical Committee released a position paper entitled, "Need for A NASA Indigenous Space Resource Utilization (ISRU) Program". Besides outlining some of the potential advantages of incorporating ISRU into Lunar and Mars human mission plans and providing an overview of technologies and processes of interest, the position paper concluded with a list of seven recommendations to NASA. This paper will examine the seven recommendations proposed and provide an overview of NASA's current ISRU development activities and possible long term goals with respect to these recommendations.

Sanders, Gerald B.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Pathways Intern Report

During my time at NASA, I worked with the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Organization (GMRO), better known as Swamp Works. The goal of the lab is to find ways to utilize resources found after the astronaut or robot has landed on another planet or asteroid. This concept is known as in-situ resource utilization and it is critical to long term missions such as those to Mars. During my time here I worked on the Asteroid and Lava Tube Free Flyer project (ALTFF). A lava tube, such as the one shown in figure 1, is a long tear drop shaped cavern that is produced when molten lava tunnels through the surrounding rock creating large unground pathways. Before mining for resources on Mars or on asteroids, a sampling mission must be done to scout out useful resource deposits. ALTFF's goal is to provide a low cost, autonomous scout robot that can sample the surface and return to the mother ship or lander for further processing of the samples. The vehicle will be looking for water ice in the regolith that can be processed into either potable water, hydrogen and oxygen fuel, or a binder material for 3D printing. By using a low cost craft to sample, there is much less risk to the more expensive mother ship or lander. While my main task was the construction of a simulation environment to test control code in and the construction of the asteroid free flyer prototype, there were other tasks that I performed relating to the ALTFF project.

Pathways↗

NASA NTRS2018

Ionic Liquid Facilitated Recovery of Metals and Oxygen from Regolith

Regolith, being largely composed of metal oxides, has the potential to be an excellent in situ source of metals, such as iron, nickel and aluminum, as well as oxygen. There is, however, no current technology that is suited for the in space separation of metal oxides into their constituent elements. Terrestrial methods require large volumes/masses of hazardous reagents. Alternative methods, such as molten oxide electrolysis, have been investigated, but these processes generally require high temperatures to operate. Such a requirement imposes significant material compatibility restraints, necessitates high energy inputs, and may pose a threat to the health and safety of the crew. This paper discusses a novel process that uses ionic liquids (ILs) to recover high purity metals and oxygen from regolith and meteorite materials. ILs are organic salts that are molten at or near room temperature, and can have a number of attractive properties including wide liquidus ranges and high thermal and electrochemical stability. The structure of an IL can be readily modified to tune these properties, allowing the synthesis of task specific ILs. Together, these attributes give ILs great utility in a number of space related areas, such environmental control and life support, in space repair and manufacture, and in situ resource utilization.

Karr, Laurel J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’S Current Efforts and Applications of NDE to Improve Space Flight Safety

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues to push the boundary of manned flight. Current mission profiles include flights to the moon and mars. Many of these missions require advance manufacturing and planned off planet resource utilization. As NASA continues to develop highly advance materials and manufacturing techniques to meet these mission profiles, inspection of these increasingly complex parts has had to evolve as well. Additive manufacturing is coming to the forefront as a primary manufacturing technique but offers unique challenges when inspection and certification are required. NASA has been working diligently to be a leader in developing and utilizing inspection techniques capable of inspecting these highly advanced parts. Additionally additive manufacturing techniques can also be used to build parts in space and provides a vehicle for in-situ resource utilization for off world missions. As NASA and its commercial crew partners move forward inspection techniques will need to continue to advance to ensure safe manned space flight. In this talk NASA will highlight many of the advanced nondestructive evaluation efforts going on across the agency. As well as highlights for points of infusion for helping NASA meet it’s future missions.

NDE↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA's Office Safety Mission Assurance Efforts to Improve Non-destructive Evaluation Methods for Additive Manufacturing and In-Space Inspection

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues to push the boundary of manned flight. Current mission profiles include flights to the Moon and Mars. Many of these missions require advance manufacturing and planned off planet resource utilization. As NASA continues to develop highly advance materials and manufacturing techniques to meet these mission profiles, inspection of these increasingly complex parts has had to evolve as well. Additive manufacturing is coming to the forefront as a primary manufacturing technique but offers unique challenges when inspection and certification are required. NASA has been working diligently to be a leader in developing and utilizing inspection techniques capable of inspecting these highly advanced parts. Additionally additive manufacturing techniques can also be used to build parts in space and provides a vehicle for in-situ resource utilization for off world missions. As NASA and its commercial crew partners move forward, inspection techniques will need to continue to advance to ensure safe manned space flight. In this talk NASA will highlight many of the advanced nondestructive evaluation efforts going on across the agency, as well as providing highlights for points of infusion for helping NASA meet its future mission goals.

NDE↗