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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.

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NASA NTRS2010

Project M: Scale Model of Lunar Landing Site of Apollo 17

The basis of the project was creating a scale model representation of the Apollo 17 lunar landing site. Vital components included surface slope characteristics, crater sizes and locations, prominent rocks, and lighting conditions. The model was made for Project M support when evaluating approach and terminal descent as well as when planning surface operations with respect to the terrain. The project had five main mi lestones during the length of the project. The first was examining the best method to use to re-create the Apollo 17 landing site and then reviewing research fmdings with Dr. Tim Crain and EO staff which occurred on June 25, 2010 at a meeting. The second step was formulating a construction plan, budget, and schedule and then presenting the plan for authority to proceed which occurred on July 6,2010. The third part was building a prototype to test materials and building processes which were completed by July 13, 2010. Next was assembling the landing site model and presenting a mid-term construction status report on July 29, 2010. The fifth and final milestone was demonstrating the model and presenting an exit pitch which happened on August 4, 2010. The project was very technical: it needed a lot of research about moon topography, lighting conditions and angles of the sun on the moon, Apollo 17, and Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT), before starting the actual building process. This required using Spreadsheets, searching internet sources and conducting personal meetings with project representatives. This information assisted the interns in deciding the scale of the model with respect to cracks, craters and rocks and their relative sizes as the objects mentioned could interfere with any of the Lunar Landers: Apollo, Project M and future Landers. The project concluded with the completion of a three dimensional scale model of the Apollo 17 Lunar landing site. This model assists Project M members because they can now visualize approach phase, terminal descent phase, and surface phase operations on the physical model. The project had an additional requirement that was also satisfied: the granite table the model was placed on must be returnable to its original condition if needed in the future.

O'Brien, Hollie↗
NASA NTRS1982

The lunar regolith - Chemistry, mineralogy, and petrology

The data base on the lunar regolith is surveyed to form a synthesis of the lunar regolith chemistry, mineralogy, and petrology. The data were derived from samples collected by the Apollo missions 11-17 and the Luna 16, 20, and 24 probes. The missions were sent to sample formations and areas which typified the common observed features of the lunar surface. Drive tubes were used to extract samples from beneath the surface in order to study the relationship between the regolith and the bedrock, as well as to identify the processes that formed the regolith, which is regarded as the prime source of raw materials for early lunar industrial activities. Regolith origins are now understood to be destructive processes of comminution and constructional processes of agglutinate formation. Mixing occurs on the local scale, although lateral transport is inefficient on the moon. The usual contents of the fraction of regolith less than 10 microns in diameter are Al2O3, CaO, Na2O, K2O, light REE, and Th.

Papike, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Engineering, construction, and operations in space - III: Space '92; Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference, Denver, CO, May 31-June 4, 1992. Vols. 1 & 2

The present volume on engineering, construction, and operations in space discusses surface structures on the moon and Mars, surface equipment, construction, and transportation on the moon and Mars, in situ materials use and processing, and space energy. Attention is given to such orbital structures as LEO and the space station, space mining and excavation, space materials, space automation and robotics, and space life support systems. Topics addressed include lunar-based astronomy, space systems integration, terrestrial support for space functions, and space education. Also discussed are space plans, policy, and history, space science and engineering, geoengineering and space exploration, and the construction and development of a human habitat on Mars.

Space life support systems↗
NASA NTRS1990

Technology needs of the Exploration Initiative

An overview of the U.S. Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) is presented. The two primary objectives of the initiative are a return to the moon to create a permanent lunar base and a human mission to Mars. Even though mission architectural concepts are not yet defined, previous studies indicate that the SEI will require developments in numerous areas, including advanced engines for space transportation, in-space assembly and construction to support permanent basing of exploration systems in space, and advanced surface operations capabilities including satisfactory levels of power and surface roving vehicles, and technologies to safely support human space operations of long duration. The process of mission definition has begun and it is shown that it is possible to identify a family of fundamental functional building blocks from which all SEI mission architectures will be constructed.

Aldrich, Arnold↗
NASA NTRS1984

Voyager disk resolved photometry of the Saturnian satellites

The scattering properties of the icy satellites of Saturn are studied. Scans of intensity along the photometric equator near opposition are analyzed, and disk-resolved measurements of intensity are fitted to simple photometric functions. Histograms of the albedo distribution across the satellite disks are constructed, and the geometric albedos are determined as a function of wavelength. It is found that, at low phase angles, Rhea and Dione closely follow lunar behavior with almost no limb darkening. Mimas, Tethys, and especially Enceladus show significant limb darkening at low phase angles, which suggest multiple scattering is important for their surfaces. No satellite's surface can be described by Lambert's law. The darker satellites are redder, and the darker areas of each satellite are redder. A longitudinal dark stripe which represents a 15 percent decrease in albedo is situated near the center of the trailing side of Tethys. Mimas and Enceladus both have remarkably flat spectral reflectances into the ultraviolet.

Buratti, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Systems Engineering and Reusable Avionics

One concept for future space flights is to construct building blocks for a wide variety of avionics systems. Once a unit has served its original purpose, it can be removed from the original vehicle and reused in a similar or dissimilar function, depending on the function blocks the unit contains. For example: Once a lunar lander has reached the moon's surface, an engine controller for the Lunar Decent Module would be removed and used for a lunar rover motor control unit or for a Environmental Control Unit for a Lunar Habitat. This senior design project included the investigation of a wide range of functions of space vehicles and possible uses. Specifically, this includes: (1) Determining and specifying the basic functioning blocks of space vehicles. (2) Building and demonstrating a concept model. (3) Showing high reliability is maintained. The specific implementation of this senior design project included a large project team made up of Systems, Electrical, Computer, and Mechanical Engineers/Technologists. The efforts were made up of several sub-groups that each worked on a part of the entire project. The large size and complexity made this project one of the more difficult to manage and advise. Typical projects only have 3-4 students, but this project had 10 students from five different disciplines. This paper describes the difference of this large project compared to typical projects, and the challenges encountered. It also describes how the systems engineering approach was successfully implemented so that the students were able to meet nearly all of the project requirements.

Conrad, James M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Revised Thorium Abundances for Lunar Red Spots

Lunar red spots are features on the nearside of the Moon that are characterized by high albedo and by a strong absorption in the ultraviolet. These red spots include the Gruithuisen domes, the Mairan domes, Hansteen Alpha, the southern portion of Montes Riphaeus, Darney Chi and Tau, Helmet, and an area near the Lassell crater. It has been suggested that many of the red spots are extrusive, nonmare, volcanic features that could be composed of an evolved lithlogy enriched in thorium. In fact, Hawke et al. used morphological characteristics to show that Hansteen Alpha is a nonmare volcanic construct. However, because the apparent Th abundances (6 - 7 ppm) were lower than that expected for evolved rock types, Hawke et al. concluded that Hansteen Alpha was composed of an unknown rock type. Subsequent studies by Lawrence et al. used improved knowledge of the Th spatial distribution for small area features on the lunar surface to revisit the interpretation of Th abundances at the Hansteen Alpha red spot. As part of their study, Lawrence et al. used a forward modeling technique to show that the Th abundance at Hansteen Alpha is not 6 ppm, but is more likely closer to 25 ppm, a value consistent with evolved lithologies. This positive correlation between the morphology and composition of Hansteen Alpha provides support for the presence of evolved lithologies on the lunar surface. It is possible, however, that Hansteen Alpha represents an isolated occurrence of non-mare volcanism. That is why we have chosen to use the forward modeling technique of Lawrence et al. to investigate the Th abundances at other lunar red spots, starting with the Gruithuisen domes. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Hagerty, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Quasi-Monolithic Structures for Spaceflight Using Hydroxide-Catalysis Bonding

Future space-based missions will take measurements of the universe with unprecedented results. To do this, these missions will require materials and bonding techniques with ever-increasing stability in order to make their measurements. As an example, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will detect and observe gravitational waves in the 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz frequency range with strain sensitivities on the order of 10(exp -21) at its most sensitive frequency. To make these measurements, critical components such as the optical bench or telescope support structure, will need to have path-length stabilities of better than 1 pm/(square root)Hz. The baseline construction method for the LISA optical bench is to affix fused silica optical components to a Zerodur baseplate using hydroxide-catalysis bonding (HCB). HCB is a recently developed technique that allows the bonding of glasses, some metals, and silicon carbide with significant strength and stability with a bond thickness of less than a few micrometers. In addition, a wide range of surface profiles can be bonded using only a small amount of hydroxide solution. These characteristics make HCB ideal for adhering optical components in complex optical systems. In addition to being used to construct the LISA optical bench, the HCB technique shows great promise for constructing other structures such as hollow retroreflectors to be used for lunar laser ranging, or a visible nulling coronograph to be used for exo-planet detection. Here we present construction techniques that could be used to make an optical bench, hollow retroreflector, nulling coronograph, or other quasi-monolithic structures using HCB. In addition, we present dimensional stability results of an optical bench that was made using HCB, as well as HCB strength measurements.

Preston, Alix↗
NASA NTRS2016

Evolution of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory to the Astromaterial Sample Curation Facility: Technical Tensions Between Containment and Cleanliness, Between Particulate and Organic Cleanliness

The Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) was planned and constructed in the 1960s to support the Apollo program in the context of landing on the Moon and safely returning humans. The enduring science return from that effort is a result of careful curation of planetary materials. Technical decisions for the first facility included sample handling environment (vacuum vs inert gas), and instruments for making basic sample assessment, but the most difficult decision, and most visible, was stringent biosafety vs ultra-clean sample handling. Biosafety required handling of samples in negative pressure gloveboxes and rooms for containment and use of sterilizing protocols and animal/plant models for hazard assessment. Ultra-clean sample handling worked best in positive pressure nitrogen environment gloveboxes in positive pressure rooms, using cleanable tools of tightly controlled composition. The requirements for these two objectives were so different, that the solution was to design and build a new facility for specific purpose of preserving the scientific integrity of the samples. The resulting Lunar Curatorial Facility was designed and constructed, from 1972-1979, with advice and oversight by a very active committee comprised of lunar sample scientists. The high precision analyses required for planetary science are enabled by stringent contamination control of trace elements in the materials and protocols of construction (e.g., trace element screening for paint and flooring materials) and the equipment used in sample handling and storage. As other astromaterials, especially small particles and atoms, were added to the collections curated, the technical tension between particulate cleanliness and organic cleanliness was addressed in more detail. Techniques for minimizing particulate contamination in sample handling environments use high efficiency air filtering techniques typically requiring organic sealants which offgas. Protocols for reducing adventitious carbon on sample handling surfaces often generate particles. Further work is needed to achieve both minimal particulate and adventitious carbon contamination. This paper will discuss these facility topics and others in the historical context of nearly 50 years' curation experience for lunar rocks and regolith, meteorites, cosmic dust, comet particles, solar wind atoms, and asteroid particles at Johnson Space Center.

Allton, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Whole planet cooling and the radiogenic heat source contents of the earth and moon

Thermal evolution models based on subsolidus whole mantle convection which indicate that the surface heat flows of the earth and the moon do not necessarily provide good measures of the total amounts of radioactives in these bodies have been constructed. These models assume an initially hot state, but with a wide variety of choices for the parameters characterizing the rheology and convective vigor. All models are constrained to be consistent with present-day surface heat fluxes, and many of the terrestrial models are consistent with the mantle viscosities indicated by postglacial rebound. In the lunar models, heat generation is typically only 70-80% of the surface heat flow, even with allowance for the strong near-surface enhancement of radioactives. Despite the simplicity of these models, the persistence of a significant difference between heat generation and heat output indicates that this difference is real and should be incorporated in geochemical modeling of planets.

Schubert, G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Lunar mission aerobrake performance study

Nine lunar mission scenarios were developed to show the transfer vehicle performance benefits of aerobraking into low Earth orbit (LEO) upon Earth return as opposed to an all-propulsive maneuver. The initial mass in LEO (IMLEO) of the lunar transfer vehicle is considered the measure of vehicle performance. Four types of mission profiles in conjunction with two vehicle concepts were used to construct the scenarios. These nine scenarios were designed to represent a broad range of possible lunar missions so that a general knowledge base of aerobraking and lunar transfer vehicle performance levels could be obtained. Also discussed are the mass sensitivities of each transfer vehicle to changes in the selected design parameters: Isp, crew module mass, payload to surface, and aerobrake mass fraction. A parametric study was performed on two of the mission scenarios to help quantify the performance benefits by adding a set of drop tanks to the vehicle. The parametric study also provides partial derivatives which show the sensitivities of IMLEO to the four design parameters listed. A ranking is given based on vehicle performance.

Mulqueen, J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Solar energy emplacement developer

A preliminary design was developed for a Lunar Power System (LPS) composed of photovoltaic arrays and microwave reflectors fabricated from lunar materials. The LPS will collect solar energy on the surface of the Moon, transform it into microwave energy, and beam it back to Earth where it will be converted into usable energy. The Solar Energy Emplacement Developer (SEED) proposed will use a similar sort of solar energy collection and dispersement to power the systems that will construct the LPS.

Mortensen, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2012

Methane Lunar Surface Thermal Control Test

NASA is considering propulsion system concepts for future missions including human return to the lunar surface. Studies have identified cryogenic methane (LCH4) and oxygen (LO2) as a desirable propellant combination for the lunar surface ascent propulsion system, and they point to a surface stay requirement of 180 days. To meet this requirement, a test article was prepared with state-of-the-art insulation and tested in simulated lunar mission environments at NASA GRC. The primary goals were to validate design and models of the key thermal control technologies to store unvented methane for long durations, with a low-density high-performing Multi-layer Insulation (MLI) system to protect the propellant tanks from the environmental heat of low Earth orbit (LEO), Earth to Moon transit, lunar surface, and with the LCH4 initially densified. The data and accompanying analysis shows this storage design would have fallen well short of the unvented 180 day storage requirement, due to the MLI density being much higher than intended, its substructure collapse, and blanket separation during depressurization. Despite the performance issue, insight into analytical models and MLI construction was gained. Such modeling is important for the effective design of flight vehicle concepts, such as in-space cryogenic depots or in-space cryogenic propulsion stages.

Plachta, David W.↗
NASA NTRS2023

Constructing a Raman Spectroscopy System

The project aims to understand how Raman spectroscopy works by constructing a system based on existing concepts of the technique and utilizing NASA’s available tools and software to analyze the collected data. Once the data is successfully interpreted and proven, other improvements to the assembled system will then be explored. Part of the paper goes through several phases of construction of the system and improvements made. Nevertheless, the data obtained and the results were unsatisfactory as they need to be further analyzed for accuracy. The ultimate ambition was to be able to assist NASA with its objective of implementing a remote and compact Raman spectroscopy system on a rover for future planetary surface characterization such as Mars and lunar surfaces via a Raman spectroscopy system that the agency’s Senior Engineer, Dr. M. Nurul Abedin, has been working on since the early 2000s [2,3,4].

Jake Nguyen↗
NASA NTRS1997

Mars Surface Mission Workshop

A workshop was held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute on September 4-5, 1997, to address the surface elements of the Mars Reference Mission now being reviewed by NASA. The workshop considered the current reference mission and addressed the types of activities that would be expected for science and resource exploration and facilities operations. A set of activities was defined that can be used to construct "vignettes" of the surface mission. These vignettes can form the basis for describing the importance of the surface mission, for illustrating aspects of the surface mission, and for allowing others to extend and revise these initial ideas. The topic is rich with opportunities for additional conceptualization. It is recommended that NASA consider supporting university design teams to conduct further analysis of the possibilities.

Duke, M. B.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Logistics Transfer Methods – Offloading SPLCs from CLPS

Presentation is accompanied by "Lunar Logistics Frequently Asked Questions" document. This document contains an evolving set of assumptions and ideas pertaining to the provision, delivery, transportation and accommodation of logistics for the lunar surface operations at Artemis Base Camp. It does not represent requirements, but a starting point from which partners can iterate. Given that the systems and the location for Artemis Base Camp are still being determined, the attached document represents a snapshot in time of ideas and some bounding constraints with respect to logistics operations. Partners are free to challenge operational constructs and assumptions to achieve better solutions. The concepts and assumptions in this document serve as a starting point for innovation to help identify factors that need to be considered for logistics operations and system design. It will be updated periodically as more information is developed and refined, and eventually serve as a basis for documenting ground rules and assumptions, leading eventually to requirements in the future.

Douglas A Craig↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Microwave Sintering for Lunar Base Construction

Presentation to the Materials Science and Technology Conference 2023 on microwave sintering for the construction of a lunar base. Content includes an overview of NASA's goals, lunar materials, lunar construction, development and testing of the microwave sintered materials, and a summary of the work to date.

Microwave sintering↗
NASA NTRS1973

Surface electrical properties experiment study phase, volume 1

The evolution of a conceptual design of the flight hardware for the surface electrical properties experiment (SEP), the definition of requests for proposals, the analysis of proposals submitted by prospective flight hardware subcontractors, and recommendations for the flight configuration to be implemented are discussed. Initial efforts were made to assess the electromagnetic environment of the SEP experiment. An EMI receiver and tri-loop antenna were constructed and tests of opportunity were performed with a lunar roving vehicle (LRV). Initial analyses were made of data from these tests with support from this contract, analyses which were continued in depth under the hardware contract.

Meyer, J. W.↗