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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 NTRS2008

Lunar Water Resource Demonstration

In cooperation with the Canadian Space Agency, the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology, Inc., the Carnegie-Mellon University, JPL, and NEPTEC, NASA has undertaken the In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) project called RESOLVE. This project is a ground demonstration of a system that would be sent to explore permanently shadowed polar lunar craters, drill into the regolith, determine what volatiles are present, and quantify them in addition to recovering oxygen by hydrogen reduction. The Lunar Prospector has determined these craters contain enhanced hydrogen concentrations averaging about 0.1%. If the hydrogen is in the form of water, the water concentration would be around 1%, which would translate into billions of tons of water on the Moon, a tremendous resource. The Lunar Water Resource Demonstration (LWRD) is a part of RESOLVE designed to capture lunar water and hydrogen and quantify them as a backup to gas chromatography analysis. This presentation will briefly review the design of LWRD and some of the results of testing the subsystem. RESOLVE is to be integrated with the Scarab rover from CMIJ and the whole system demonstrated on Mauna Kea on Hawaii in November 2008. The implications of lunar water for Mars exploration are two-fold: 1) RESOLVE and LWRD could be used in a similar fashion on Mars to locate and quantify water resources, and 2) electrolysis of lunar water could provide large amounts of liquid oxygen in LEO, leading to lower costs for travel to Mars, in addition to being very useful at lunar outposts.

Muscatello, Anthony C.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Apollo scientific experiments data handbook

A brief description of each of the Apollo scientific experiments was described, together with its operational history, the data content and formats, and the availability of the data. The lunar surface experiments described are the passive seismic, active seismic, lunar surface magnetometer, solar wind spectrometer, suprathermal ion detector, heat flow, charged particle, cold cathode gage, lunar geology, laser ranging retroreflector, cosmic ray detector, lunar portable magnetometer, traverse gravimeter, soil mechanics, far UV camera (lunar surface), lunar ejecta and meteorites, surface electrical properties, lunar atmospheric composition, lunar surface gravimeter, lunar seismic profiling, neutron flux, and dust detector. The orbital experiments described are the gamma-ray spectrometer, X-ray fluorescence, alpha-particle spectrometer, S-band transponder, mass spectrometer, far UV spectrometer, bistatic radar, IR scanning radiometer, particle shadows, magnetometer, lunar sounder, and laser altimeter. A brief listing of the mapping products available and information on the sample program were also included.

Eichelman, W. F.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards Erecting Straighter Lightweight Towers on the Moon Using Deployable Guy Wires

This paper reports our static stability test findings for a simple guy wire system to correct the natural lateral deflections of an 8.5m tall, compact deployable composite tower intended to support exploration of lunar permanently shadowed regions by nearby robotic assets. Deployable composite booms with microgravity flight heritage are currently being investigated at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)’s Space Resources Workshop for their potential to be vertically deployed in the lunar gravity field, in support of NASA’s Artemis campaign. These applications include vertical solar arrays and the provision of elevated lines-of-sight to science or engineering payloads on landers and rovers, in support of nearby or distant crewed or robotic assets exploring scientifically interesting and hard to reach areas. Useful elevated payloads include radio repeaters, remote sensing and imaging, navigation and power beaming systems. However, while these lightweight booms have an excellent height to mass ratio, they typically exhibit slight axial curvature upon deployment resulting in appreciable lateral dead-load deflection of the tip mass relative to the tower base. This static deflection increases with tower height and tip mass, not only constraining the value delivered by the tower but also endangering its integrity. To develop a competitive, lightweight deployable composite boom tower, a capability to correct static deflections during and after deployment may be required. This paper presents a pathfinder deployable guy wire stability system for the MIT / LaRC self-erecting composite boom lunar tower that provides real time measurements, maintains tension passively, and can serve as a reconfigurable platform to test new guy wire components, configurations and control algorithms. Using a validated, calibrated photogrammetry system, the natural lateral deflection of the boom tip relative to the boom base at different deployed heights in Earth’s gravity field was recorded. With real-time tension measurements it was found that guy wires can significantly reduce the tip deflection of a deployable composite boom under dead load. Specifically, we found that (1) control capability is greatest where it is needed most, i.e. for the lever arm closest to being opposite the direction of deflection, and (2) for a tower height of at least 8.5 m and arm length of at least 60 cm, a solution of differential tension in all three arms exists and, in principle, provides sufficient control capability to correct or significantly reduce boom deflections. We also found that natural deflections occur almost entirely out-of-plane of the seams of the boom cross-section, which was expected, and that the natural boom tip lateral deflection under dead load upon deployment was ~5% of boom deployed length, unexpectedly exceeding the manufacturing acceptance specification of 1%.Ongoing and future collaborative work between LaRC and MIT includes the further investigation of the unexpected lateral deflection, testing of alternative guy wire system designs at higher tensions and higher deployed heights, as well as trade studies of costs and benefits of an optimized integrated guywire system compared to other types of static stability solutions.

lunar towers↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Exploring de Gerlache Crater

The campaign of Artemis missions will result in the first crewed missions to the surface of the Moon in the 21stCentury. As outlined by the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) United States Lunar Exploration Roadmap (US-LER), human missions to the Moon will result in significant advances across a wide variety of scientific and engineering disciplines[1]contributing significantly to scientific discovery, economic prosperity, and world security. A significant focus is exploring lunar Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs). PSRs can contain volatiles, including water ice, which makes them high priority for scientific investigation and economic activity.

Moon↗
NASA NTRS2024

Lunar Flashlight Science Ground and Flight Measurements and Operations Using a Multi-band Laser Reflectometer

The Lunar Flashlight cubesat mission was designed and flown to collect new data on the abundance and distribution of water ice frost in lunar permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) using active laser spectroscopy. Key advantages of active spectroscopy are that it can collect surface reflectance data in locations and conditions where passive spectroscopy cannot operate, specifically nightside locations where no indirect lighting is available, and in the deepest parts of PSRs where indirect lighting may be too faint for passive spectroscopy. Lunar Flashlight launched in 2022 but because of a propulsion system failure, did not make it to the Moon to conduct its science investigation. However, Lunar Flashlight proved to be an extremely successful technology demonstration mission, meeting or exceeding all its technology-focused mission goals, including demonstrating its instrument functionality. This paper describes the extensive ground and test campaigns to characterize the Lunar Flashlight laser reflectometer instrument and its planned utility for science observations, along with recommendations for future instrument design, development, verification, and use.

Moon↗
NASA NTRS2014

Extreme Access & Lunar Ice Mining in Permanently Shadowed Craters Project

Results from the recent LCROSS mission in 2010, indicate that H2O ice and other useful volatiles such as CO, He, and N are present in the permanently shadowed craters at the poles of the moon. However, the extreme topography and steep slopes of the crater walls make access a significant challenge. In addition temperatures have been measured at 40K (-233 C) so quick access and exit is desirable before the mining robot cold soaks. The Global Exploration Roadmap lists extreme access as a necessary technology for Lunar Exploration.

Technology Portfolio System↗
NASA NTRS2016

Lunar Flashlight: Illuminating the Lunar South Pole

Recent reflectance data from LRO instruments suggest water ice and other volatiles may be present on the surface in lunar permanentlyshadowed regions, though the detection is not yet definitive. Understanding the composition, quantity, distribution, and form of water and other volatiles associated with lunar permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) is identified as a NASA Strategic Knowledge Gap (SKG) for Human Exploration. These polar volatile deposits are also scientifically interesting, having the potential to reveal important information about the delivery of water to the Earth- Moon system.

South Pole↗
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 NTRSDate not supplied

Design Development of a Stable, Lightweight, Tall and Self-Deploying Lunar Tower

Deployable composite booms with spaceflight heritage are being investigated at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Space Resources Workshop for their potential to be vertically deployed in the lunar gravity field, in support of the NASA Artemis campaign. This paper reports new design development results—after the original presentation at the NASA 2020 BIG Idea Challenge—for a 16.5-meter-tall, compact, self-deploying composite tower intended to support the exploration of lunar permanently shadowed regions by nearby robotic assets or humans. Possible applications include vertical solar arrays and the provision of elevated lines-of-sight to science or engineering payloads, in support of nearby targets operating in areas of interest that may be hard to reach. Useful elevated payloads include radio repeaters, remote sensing and imaging, navigation and power beaming systems. However, while these lightweight rollable booms have an excellent height to mass ratio, they typically exhibit axial curvature upon deployment resulting in appreciable lateral dead-load deflection of the tip mass relative to the tower base. This static deflection increases with tower height and tip mass, not only constraining the value delivered by the tower but also endangering its integrity. To develop a competitive, lightweight deployable composite boom tower, a capability to correct static deflections during and after deployment will be required. In this paper, a deployable guy wire stability system will be presented for the MIT / LaRC self-erecting composite boom lunar tower that provides real time measurements, maintains tension both actively (during deployment) and passively (post-deployment), and can serve as a reconfigurable platform to test and trade alternative stability system configurations, such as with added spreaders inspired by sailing boat masts. Using a calibrated photogrammetry system, the natural lateral deflection of the boom tip relative to the boom base at different deployed heights was recorded for different configurations. With real-time force measurements it was found that tensioned guy wires can significantly reduce the static tip deflection of a deployable composite boom under dead load and can dampen a dynamic oscillation in under a minute. It was also found that control authority is greatest where it is needed most, i.e., for the lever arm closest to being opposite the direction of deflection. For a tower height of at least 11 m and spreader length of at least 60 cm, a solution of differential tension in all three arms exists and, in principle, provides sufficient control authority to correct or significantly reduce boom tip deflections. Notably, natural deflections occur almost entirely normal to the seams of the boom cross-section, but the natural boom tip lateral deflection under dead load upon deployment was approximately 5% of boom deployed length, exceeding the manufacturing acceptance specification of 1%. Ongoing and future work includes the further investigation towards mitigating manufacture-caused lateral deflection, trading of alternative guy wire system designs, as well as the design development of a second-generation tower incorporating a more capable boom design with the learnings from the proof-of-concept system presented here.

deployable composite boom↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Apollo 15 and 16 Particles and Fields Subsatellites, 1969-1975

A historical account of how the Particles and Field Subsatellites came to be carried on the Apollo 15 and 16 lunar missions written by one of the principal investigators of the project Kinsey Anderson. Topics covered include: A discussion of general scientific issues surrounding the mission, A summary of research being carried out in the mid to late 1960s regarding lunar particle shadows and magnetotail electric fields, and The development of the subsatellites and their successful releases on the Apollo 15 and 16 missions.

Anderson, Kinsey A.↗
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↗
NASA NTRS2016

Regolith Volatile Recovery at Simulated Lunar Environments

Lunar Polar Volatiles: Permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles contain water, 5 wt according to LCROSS. Interest in water for ISRU applications. Desire to ground truth water using surface prospecting e.g. Resource Prospector and RESOLVE. How to access subsurface water resources and accurately measure quantity. Excavation operations and exposure to lunar environment may affect the results. Volatile capture tests: A series a ground based dirty thermal vacuum tests are being conducted to better understand the subsurface sampling operations. Sample removal and transfer. Volatiles loss during sampling operations. Concept of operations, Instrumentation. This presentation is a progress report on volatiles capture results from these tests with lunar polar drill prototype hardware.

thermal vacuum tests↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Worldwide Celebration: International Observe the Moon Night

International Observe the Moon Night is a worldwide public engagement program that has been held annually since 2010. Every autumn, we ask people to observe the Moon in whatever way makes sense to them (via binoculars, telescopes, unaided eye, images, artwork, songs, stories, etc.). The event occurs when the Moon is in or near a first-quarter phase, which provides excellent viewing opportunities along the terminator (the line between night and day), as long shadows place lunar features into great relief. Hundreds of thousands of individuals all around the globe participate in the event as a collective whole, learning about lunar science and exploration, taking part in celestial observations, and honoring cultural and personal connections to the Moon. People participate in a variety of ways, including hosting or attending virtual or in-person events and observing the Moon from home. Participants also have the opportunity to connect with other lunar observers around the world through our Facebook page (facebook.com/observethemoon/), our Flickr group for images (flickr.com/groups/observethemoon2021/), and through the hashtag #ObserveTheMoon across social media platforms.

S L Tiedeken↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Impacts of Heating Actuators in Extremely Cold Space Environments

Conventional, grease-lubricated actuators for space mechanisms can achieve long life but must be heated above about 213 K, or -60 °C, to function in extremely cold environments. This paper first overviews a new NASA project that is developing two rotational actuators that can achieve long life without the need for supplemental heating. Then, the impacts of heating conventional, grease-lubricated actuators are studied for operation in a lunar permanently shadowed region. To facilitate the assessment, a novel total efficiency metric is introduced that relates the average power output to the average total power input (i.e., the power to heat plus the power to actuate/rotate). The assessment employs a thermal analysis of the energy required to heat an actuator from a survival temperature of 30 K to 213 K as well as the power required to subsequently maintain 213 K while in an operational state. Two concepts of actuator operation are considered that separately highlight the impacts of warmup heating energy and maintenance heater power. It is shown that in practical situations, the perceived efficiency of an actuator with 100% conventional operating efficiency can reach 10% or lower, particularly when the actuator has a high emissivity and is operated at lower duty cycles for durations less than 10 hours. Other impacts are presented along with a method of mitigating the impacts in some applications.

Extreme Environments↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Impacts of Heating Actuators in Extremely Cold Space Environments

Conventional, grease-lubricated actuators for space mechanisms can achieve long life but must be heated above about 213 K, or -60 °C, to function in extremely cold environments. This paper first overviews a new NASA project that is developing two rotational actuators that can achieve long life without the need for supplemental heating. Then, the impacts of heating conventional, grease-lubricated actuators are studied for operation in a lunar permanently shadowed region. To facilitate the assessment, a novel total efficiency metric is introduced that relates the average power output to the average total power input (i.e., the power to heat plus the power to actuate/rotate). The assessment employs a thermal analysis of the energy required to heat an actuator from a survival temperature of 30 K to 213 K as well as the power required to subsequently maintain 213 K while in an operational state. Two concepts of actuator operation are considered that separately highlight the impacts of warmup heating energy and maintenance heater power. It is shown that in practical situations, the perceived efficiency of an actuator with 100% conventional operating efficiency can reach 10% or lower, particularly when the actuator has a high emissivity and is operated at lower duty cycles for durations less than 10 hours. Other impacts are presented along with a method of mitigating the impacts in some applications.

space actuator↗