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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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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2009

Distillation and Air Stripping Designs for the Lunar Surface

Air stripping and distillation are two different gravity-based methods, which may be applied to the purification of wastewater on the lunar base. These gravity-based solutions to water processing are robust physical separation techniques, which may be advantageous to many other techniques for their simplicity in design and operation. The two techniques can be used in conjunction with each other to obtain high purity water. The components and feed compositions for modeling waste water streams are presented in conjunction with the Aspen property system for traditional stage distillation models and air stripping models. While the individual components for each of the waste streams will vary naturally within certain bounds, an analog model for waste water processing is suggested based on typical concentration ranges for these components. Target purity levels for the for recycled water are determined for each individual component based on NASA s required maximum contaminant levels for potable water Distillation processes are modeled separately and in tandem with air stripping to demonstrate the potential effectiveness and utility of these methods in recycling wastewater on the Moon. Optimum parameters such as reflux ratio, feed stage location, and processing rates are determined with respect to the power consumption of the process. Multistage distillation is evaluated for components in wastewater to determine the minimum number of stages necessary for each of 65 components in humidity condensate and urine wastewater mixed streams. Components of the wastewater streams are ranked by Henry s Law Constant and the suitability of air stripping in the purification of wastewater in terms of component removal is evaluated. Scaling factors for distillation and air stripping columns are presented to account for the difference in the lunar gravitation environment. Commercially available distillation and air stripping units which are considered suitable for Exploration Life Support are presented. The advantages to the various designs are summarized with respect to water purity levels, power consumption, and processing rates.

Boul, Peter J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Air Stripping Designs and Reactive Water Purification Processes for the Lunar Surface

Air stripping designs are considered to reduce the presence of volatile organic compounds in the purified water. Components of the wastewater streams are ranked by Henry's Law Constant and the suitability of air stripping in the purification of wastewater in terms of component removal is evaluated. Distillation processes are modeled in tandem with air stripping to demonstrate the potential effectiveness and utility of these methods in recycling wastewater on the Moon. Scaling factors for distillation and air stripping columns are presented to account for the difference in the lunar gravitation environment. Commercially available distillation and air stripping units which are considered suitable for Exploration Life Support are presented. The advantages to the various designs are summarized with respect to water purity levels, power consumption, and processing rates. An evaluation of reactive distillation and air stripping is presented with regards to the reduction of volatile organic compounds in the contaminated water and air. Among the methods presented, an architecture is presented for the evaluation of the simultaneous oxidation of organics in air and water. These and other designs are presented in light of potential improvements in power consumptions and air and water purities for architectures which include catalytic activity integrated into the water processor. In particular, catalytic oxidation of organics may be useful as a tool to remove contaminants that more traditional distillation and/or air stripping columns may not remove. A review of the current leading edge at the commercial level and at the research frontier in catalytically active materials is presented. Themes and directions from the engineering developments in catalyst design are presented conceptually in light of developments in the nanoscale chemistry of a variety of catalyst materials.

Boul, Peter J.↗
NASA NTRS2017

DARE Mission Design: Low RFI Observations from a Low-Altitude Frozen Lunar Orbit

The Dark Ages Radio Explorer (DARE) seeks to study the cosmic Dark Ages approximately 80 to 420 million years after the Big Bang. Observations require truly quiet radio conditions, shielded from Sun and Earth electromagnetic (EM) emissions, on the far side of the Moon. DAREs science orbit is a frozen orbit with respect to lunar gravitational perturbations. The altitude and orientation of the orbit remain nearly fixed indefinitely, maximizing science time without the need for maintenance. DAREs observation targets avoid the galactic center and enable investigation of the universes first stars and galaxies.

Plice, Laura↗
DOE OSTI2026

Lunar accelerometer network gravitational observatory (LANGO)

With ground-based interferometers detecting hundreds of gravitational-wave (GW) events, GW astronomy has continued to blossom. U.S. and European scientists are developing plans to construct third-generation ground-based interferometers. ESA has proceeded through the mission formulation phase of space-based interferometer in a lower-frequency band, 10 –4 –0.1 Hz. Despite all these exciting developments, there is still a missing frequency band, 0.1–10 Hz. This mid-frequency band is rich with interesting astrophysical events. Coalescence and merger of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) will occur in this frequency band. Coalescing stellar-mass BHs will pass through this frequency band days before they reach the frequency band of LIGO and Virgo. Detection of such signals would enable a mid-frequency detector to issue an advance notice to the high-frequency GW detectors, as well as to optical, x-ray and γ-ray telescopes. We propose Lunar Accelerometer Network Gravitational Observatory (LANGO) to detect GWs in this frequency band. In the first phase (LANGO 1), we propose to deploy four ambient-temperature (250 K) accelerometers in the tetrahedral or in a square configuration on the hemisphere facing the Earth. After successful operation at 250 K, LANGO would be upgraded to a cryogenic (4 K) version with over two orders of magnitude increased sensitivity (LANGO 2), with coherent rejection of seismic noise implemented. LANGO is a full-tensor detector, capable of determining the source direction and wave polarization. Each test mass (TM) is suspended as a pendulum with resonance frequency ∼ 0.01 Hz, thus is only weakly coupled to the lunar surface horizontally. LANGO is designed to detect the relative motion of globally separated, nearly free, TMs by using the Moon as a large quiet platform. LANGO 1 and 2 accelerometers aim at sensitivities ⩽ 10 –11 m s –2 Hz –1/2 and ⩽ 10 –13 m s –2 Hz –1/2 in the horizontal axes over the frequency band of 1 mHz–10 Hz, which yield GW sensitivities 1.1 x 10 -21 Hz -1/2 and 3.8 x 10 -24 Hz -1/2 at 1 Hz, respectively. The LANGO accelerometers will be 10 3 –10 5 times more sensitive than Apollo seismometers. With such sensitivity, LANGO will also make great contribution to the advancement of lunar geophysics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1994

Lunar LIGO and gravitational wave astronomy on the Moon

Gravitational wave astronomy continues to be one of the exploration concepts under consideration in NASA's strategy for conducting physics and astrophysics from the lunar surface. As with other proposals for new concepts in science and astronomy from the Moon, this one has a number of very interesting features which need to be developed further in order to assess them adequately. The possibility of robotic deployment of a gravitational wave antenna on the Moon in a triangular configuration and the question of closure on the third interferometer leg are discussed here.

Wilson, Thomas L.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Gravitational Inferences on Lunar Igneous History Beyond Mare Volcanism

The source, distribution, and volume of igneous material on the Moon sheds light into its thermal evolution. Previous work has focused on extrusive mare volcanism, but intrusions and non-mare compositions are equally as important. Constraints on the ratio of magma production to volcanic output (intrusive/extrusive ratio) inform mantle melting rates and the conditions that allowed transport of magma through the crust. Additionally, the lithological diversity of lunar volcanic products sheds light on the timeline of lunar cooling and fracturing of the crust.

K Izquierdo↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Behaviors of Lunar Regolith Simulant Under Varying Gravitational Conditions

Understanding the behavior of regolith in varying gravity conditions is critical for space exploration and future missions. In this work, the gravity-driven hopper flow of lunar regolith simulant in different gravitational accelerations (terrestrial, lunar) is first observed experimentally. Numerical simulations (DEM) are then developed to understand the role which cohesive inter-particle forces play in such gravity-driven flow, using the theoretical framework of granular Bond number. Qualitative comparison between a terrestrial experiment and numerical simulation validated this framework. Following that, we numerically studied the dynamic behavior under varying gravitational conditions (from terrestrial to lunar to asteroid gravitational accelerations). We find that this behavior is extremely sensitive to the interplay of the gravity conditions and the attractive/cohesive forces among particles. The numerical and experimental results show that the complex interaction of these forces can drastically change the dynamics of the material producing effects relevant for variable gravity applications.

Soft Matter↗
NASA NTRS1984

The influence of gravitational body force in meteoritic chondrule and lunar glass formation

The effects of gravitational body force must be considered in the formation of extraterrestrial materials such as meteoritic chondrules and lunar glasses. Solidification experiments conducted in microgravity as well as g values greater than Earth's gravitational force have demonstrated that gravitational force can have profound and sometimes unexpected effects upon the way materials solidify and, therefore, upon their physical and mechanical properties. Solutal, thermal and sedimentation effects differ from those experienced on Earth. Because buoyancy forces are reduced, materials of different densities may remain in close proximity. The spherical morphology of chondrules and many lunar glasses may reflect the tendency for free floating liquids to form spherical droplets in a microgravity environment, a form which minimizes surface energy. Under these conditions, surface energy forces dominate gravity forces. The formation of two common chondrule textures, barred and radiating chondrules, can be explained using observations from glass science.

Budka, P. Z.↗