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The feasability of interstellar worldships

Artist’s impression of a fleet of worldships on an interstellar voyage. Credits: Michel LaMontage / Initiative for Interstellar Studies

In the August 2020 Issue of Principium, Richard Soilleux summarizes current research on the feasibility of interstellar voyages via multi-generation worldships. The starting point is assumed to be free flying orbital settlements as envisioned by Gerard K. O’Neill that will eventually be tooling around the solar system way before a trip to the stars would be possible. The baseline for the analysis was an orbital space settlement called Avalon, the result of a complex study by the British Interplanetary Society called the BIS Space Project which took a fresh look at O’Neill’s smallest habitat Island 1, a settlement that would house 10,000 inhabitants.

Artist’s impression of the Avalon orbital settlement. Credits: Mark Hempsell / Initiative for Interstellar Studies

Much of the technology needed for an interplanetary ship like Avalon could be leveraged for an interstellar craft, but there are several challenges for permanent occupation over many generations as would be needed for a trip to the stars. For example, the ships would obviously have to be much more robust and reliable. Design lifetimes of 1000 years, as what is estimated to be needed, would require rigorous maintenance and repair schedules. Major periodic replacement of damaged or worn components and obsolete parts would also be required.

Soilleux’s analysis breaks down the key features of the settlement in terms of technology readiness and extrapolates to the interstellar case. One key element of the design is the environmental control and life support system (ECLSS). Avalon’s ECLSS does not need to be fully closed when voyages are limited to within the solar system as there are plenty of resources to replace nutrients and materials that cannot be recycled. Interstellar voyages are another matter all together and the study found that the recycling rate needs to be better than 90% for at least 36% of a material to remain useable after 100 years. This ratio would have to be significantly higher for an interstellar journey, the duration of which could be an order of magnitude longer. Soilleux concludes that “Recycling must therefore be managed carefully, and a detailed inventory maintained of all materials and nutrients wherever they are in the system.”

ECLSS technology is clearly one of the gating items for space settlement in the solar system and for journeys beyond. More information and research can be found in the Life Support Section.

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Architectural design of living space within TESSERAE self-assembling space station

Artist’s rendering of the TESSERAE concept, showing self-assembling multi-module space station in orbit around Mars. Credits: TU Dortmund Fraunhofer Institute in collaboration with MIT Media Lab via AIAA

In a paper presented at the AIAA SciTech 2019 Forum, Ariel Ekblaw and Joseph Paradiso of the MIT Media Lab described a concept for a self assembling space station called TESSERAE, which stands for Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable, Adaptive Environments. The innovative design constructs buckminsterfullerene (“bucky ball”) modules from polyhedral tile sets that utilize a smart sensor network to detect bonds and actuate electromagnets to facilitate autonomous assembly. The resulting structure approximates a spherical shape thereby minimizing surface area (and launch cost) for a given livable space.

In collaboration with MIT Media Lab and as a visiting student, Anastasia Prosina, now the cofounder and CEO of the space architecture company Stellar Amenities, had 3 weeks to design the interior of the habitat to make the most efficient use of livable volume taking into account human factors and minimization of weight for a crew of 8 over a 3 month mission. The results of her work is showcased in the Stellar Amenities portfolio on the firm’s website. Of particular note is how the design borrowed from Japanese architectural concepts such as “Metabolism”, a post-war movement that blended ideas from architectural megastructures with those of organic biological growth. Using Human-Centered Design and a combination of skills in architecture, aerospace and art, the company creates functional yet pleasing environments for space habitats where mass and volume need to be minimized. There is even a meditation corridor for serene self reflection in space.

Layout showing the location of the Habitation Core within a TESSERAE module. Credits: Stellar Amenities
Meditation corridor within the TESSERAE habitat. Credits: Stellar Amenities

Update 24 April, 2022: Axiom Space’s Ax-1 mission to the ISS tested prototypes of the TESSERAE tiles in space. From the Axiom Space press release: “The prototypes launching on the Ax-1 mission include an extensive suite of sensing and electro-permanent magnets that monitor diagnostics – provide insight into the quality of bonds between tiles – and drive conformations. This scaled demonstration will build on previous microgravity evaluations of the TESSERAE experiment to explore a new frontier for in-orbit construction of satellites and future space habitats.”

TESSERAE in the ISS cupola — photo taken during the Axiom-1 mission. Credits: Ax-1 crew/ISS

Dr. Ekblaw provides and update on the Ax-1 mission at about 3 minutes into this Axiom Space Video.

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Tired of messy lunar dust? Take an electron beam shower

Lunar dust caked on an astronaut’s space suit. Credits: NASA

Researchers at the University of Colorado at Bolder have discovered a promising method for cleaning lunar dust off of space suits and other surfaces likely to be contaminated on the Moon. The solution could be zapping the nasty grit with an electron beam.

Lunar dust sticks to just about everything because it acquires an electrostatic charge from the solar wind. By directing an electron beam at the surface contaminated with dust particles, an excess negative charge will build up resulting in the grains repelling each other and leaping off the surface where the beam is applied. Taking an electron beam shower may be how lunar settlers clean off before coming inside after walks on the Moon.

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Lunar Cruiser: JAXA and Toyota name their rover

JAXA/Toyota Lunar Cruiser. Credits: Toyota

In a recent press release, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota announced that they will name their crewed pressurized rover “Lunar Cruiser”. There have been some updates since we initially covered this topic. For instance, work this year progressed on simulations modeling power and heat dissipation while driving and the use of virtual reality to determine the layout of equipment in the vehicles’ cabin. In addition there have been discussions among over 100 partners in various industries of a “future lunar surface-based society” in an effort to “…gather the knowledge, experience and technological capabilities of enterprises from across a variety of industries in their attempt to realize their dream of sustaining continuous activities on the surface of the moon…”

Hopefully “Team Japan”, as the consortium is called, will take into consideration mitigation of the risks caused by lunar dust in the design and use studies of the Lunar Cruiser, as discussed in my presentation at the Moon Society’s Lunar Development Conference. At some point we hope to see the Lunar Cruiser navigating the network of roads that will hopefully be constructed as proposed by the Space Development Network. It may look like this:

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The business of asteroid mining

APS-1, an asteroid prospecting satellite conducting a spectral survey of 5000 Near Earth Asteroids (NEA). Credits: Asteroid Mining Corporation.

The Asteroid Mining Corporation wants to open the resources of the solar system toward a brighter interplanetary future. AMC claims that it does not need to mine an asteroid to be commercially successful, at least initially. The small start up proposes a practical transitional approach based on incremental successes to pay the bills while capitalizing on technological innovations to achieve the ultimate goal of mining an asteroid.

They plan to start with a remote sensing mission called Asteroid Prospecting Satellite (APS-1) to survey Near Earth Asteroids (NEA) to identify which are the most viable candidates for mining. AMC will then sell this data to customers interested in their own mining operations.

The next mission would be an Asteroid Exploration Probe (AEP-1) capable of visiting multiple targets and including a small landing probe to survey the mineralogical, metallurgical and molecular constituents of the most promising high platinum bearing Asteroids identified by APS-1, and test mining equipment.

AEP-1, an asteroid exploration probe visiting a promising NEA to confirm mineral content and test mining equipment. Credits: AMC.

The ultimate goal of AMC’s effort is the worlds first asteroid mining mission called Asteroid Mining Probe (AMP-1) designed to extract 20 tons of platinum. The AMP-1 spacecraft would be marketed to other customers around the world and would help establish the infrastructure for an extraterrestrial economy.

AMP-1, Earth’s first commercial asteroid mining mission. Credits: AMC
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EBIOS: toward closed-loop life support for space settlement

Artist rendering of EBIOS Experimental BIOregenerative Station. Credits: Interstellar Lab

Interstellar Lab has a mission to help build a future full of life on earth and beyond. To get started, the company plans modular villages on Earth designed as sealed facilities with environmental control and life support systems. EBIOS space-inspired communities will combine architecture, engineering, product design along with international collaboration in environmental science, agriculture, biochemistry, psychology and other disciplines. Each EBIOS will be a hospitality science center open to the public as well as scientists to facilitate awareness and needed research for self-sustaining space settlements. The company is developing methods and simulation software for integrated food production, water and waste systems to support human life in any environment.

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Propellant production on Mars

Schematic of a Mars settlement methane production system for a single SpaceX Starship over a period of two years. Electrolysis and hydrogen storage are off the shelf. Sabatier reactor needs to be developed. Credits: Michel Lamontagne / marspedia.org

Early missions to Mars such as Robert Zubrin’s Mars Direct architecture will require propellant production for the trip home. Methane can be produced in situ on the red planet’s surface through the basic chemical reaction CO2 + 4H2 → CH4 + 2H2O. A French chemist named Paul Sabatier discovered back in 1897 that this reaction could be facilitated by a nickel catalyst in the presence of hydrogen and carbon dioxide at elevated temperatures. Since water ice is present on Mars, hydrogen could be produced though electrolysis of water. Combining these two reactions into a methane production system, Michel Lamontagne has provided a schematic of the whole process on marspedia.org. By design, the SpaceX Starship uses methane for fuel. The company may want to prioritize development of a flight-ready Sabatier reactor for this system to enable the transportation infrastructure needed for supplying a settlement until it can become self sufficient.

Artist rendering of a SpaceX Starship lifting off near a Mars settlement. Credits: SpaceX / Flickr

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Lunar Farming

Layout of a potential subsurface lunar farm. Credits: International Space University and University of South Australia

A report called Lunar Agriculture, Farming for the Future was published this year by an international team of 27 students participating in the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program 2020 at the International Space University held at the University of South Australia. The report outlines the design of an early stage lunar farm housed in either partially or fully subsurface enclosures to mitigate risks from radiation, micrometeorite bombardment and extreme temperature swings. The settlement would be located near one of the Moon’s poles to take advantage of nearly constant exposure to sunlight and access to lunar ice.

The stated mission of the project was:

“To recommend and outline a vision for sustainable lunar agriculture that can suport the nutritional requirements of humans and allow them to thrive.”

The choice of crops were selected based on nutritional value as well as physiological and psychological needs. They included a variety of plants such as tomatoes, carrots, garden cress, sweet potatoes, soybeans, peanuts, rice, and oyster mushrooms. The team also included cloudberry cell cultures and insects (crickets) for protein on the menu.

Management of the settlement was envisioned to be governed by an international authority that would hew to the Outer Space Treaty.

Just for fun, compare this report to the article “Farming on the Moon” published 29 years ago in Volume 2 No. 3 of Space Colonization Progress available in the Vintage Section.

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Lunar regolith beneficiation: a review of the latest research

Artist impression of a moon base. Credits: ESA

In the July Issue of Planetary and Space Science there is a summary of research on beneficiation, the process used for separation of minerals from waste in lunar regolith to prepare feedstock for chemical reactions to produce oxygen. One of the most commonly studied processes is hydrogen reduction of ilmenite (FeTiO3), a mineral abundant in the lunar maria. This type of research is critical to prepare for situ resource utilization (ISRU) needed for lunar settlements.

Benefication processes use differences in physical properties (e.g., density, electromagnetic characteristics) to manipulate materials, most commonly (especially on Earth) with water to facilitate separation. This is not practical in space environments where large scale water use will be more challenging then on Earth. On the Moon, dry techniques such as magnetic or electrostatic process are better suited to this application. The authors describe the physics behind the beneficiation process for ISRU in the lunar environment and survey the research performed thus far on these methods with interesting recommendations for further studies.

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Life in space

Artists rendering of the LIFE™ Habitat. Credits: Sierra Nevada Corporation

In a press release on August 10, Sierra Nevada Corporation announced it is continuing to advance it’s Large Inflatable Fabric Environment (LIFE) habitat under Phase 3 of NASA’s Next Step-2 public-private partnership to further commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities.

The company’s CEO, Fatih Ozmen, said “Our habitat design is so unlike any other that it truly demonstrates SNC’s technology ingenuity and innovation. We are excited to continue our support of human exploration in low-Earth orbit, for the Artemis lunar missions, and eventually missions to Mars, making space accessible and affordable.”