A collaborative effort by a team of experts from industry, government, and academia has developed an economically viable model for a sustainable lunar propellant production infrastructure to support lunar settlement and cis-lunar operations. The team’s findings were published in the March issue of REACH (link below). To reduce costs and weight, the proposal replaces conventional mining equipment for excavating, hauling, and processing with lightweight heating enclosures to extract water by sublimation out of the regolith for subsequent electrolysis into hydrogen an oxygen. The study established feasibility and a path to commercialization. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352309318300099#aep-article-footnote-id1
New deep space exploration start-up First Mode exits stealth status, is profitable after only one year of operations
The fledgling company has a well connected multi-disciplinary team to solve engineering problems on Earth and in deep space. https://firstmode.com/blog/press-release-first-mode-exits-stealth-status
Pristine Apollo 17 lunar core sample to be finally analyzed after 47 years
To help inform lunar exploration plans set to begin in the next few years by robotic probes and then when humans return to the Moon in the 2020s, a long dormant core sample collected by astronauts in 1972 may reveal secrets of how the Taurus-Littrow Valley formed and the distribution of volatiles in the soil. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00963-8?bcmt=1
Latest news on NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge
The top three competitors split $100K prize for generating virtual designs with modeling software. The contest will end with a head-to-head subscale structure print May 1-4, 2019, with an award of $800K:
Moon Diver – robotic exploration of lunar lava tubes
At the 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference earlier this month, a paper was presented describing a mission concept for a two-wheeled tethered robotic rover to explore lava tubes on the Moon. In addition to the scientific value of these windows into the lunar crust, lava tubes are ready-made natural structures that provide radiation protection, shielding from micrometeorites, and a shelter from the extreme temperature swings of the lunar surface. Perfect for lunar settlements!
Toyota and JAXA team up on pressurized lunar rover
The car maker has plans for leveraging their fuel cell technology to use hydrogen sourced on the Moon to power a vehicle capable of transporting two occupants in pressurized comfort:
https://www.inverse.com/article/54043-toyota-moon-rover-car-jaxa
Settlement of Titan
Amanda Kooser of CNET reports on a NASA’s engineer’s vision of flying in a nitrogen sky and swimming in methane lakes on Titan:
https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-engineer-looks-to-saturn-moon-titan-for-human-colony/
For Spacefaring Women: Medically Induced Amenorrhea
Until engineering solutions for artificial gravity in space habitats are validated, women who want to spend long periods of time in the microgravity environment of space will want options for suppressing menstruation and preventing conception . This article lays out an array of alternatives:
Advances in Space Based Solar Power
Caltech researchers have come up with an innovative lightweight tile assembly that combines collection of solar energy, conversion to microwaves and transmission of the power via an antenna. The modular design can be combined into an array enabling transmission of power where it is needed in space. Combining these three functionalities into scalable modular units is a significant development toward realization of space based solar power.
Check out the AIAA paper here: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~sslab/PUBLICATIONS/Gdoutos%20et%20al%202018.pdf
Want some Cosmic Knowledge?
National Medal of Science winner Sandra Faber serves it up free in Santa Clara March 19 5:30-7:30 PM PDT :
Cosmic Knowledge and the Future of the Human Race
One of the benefits of being married to a UC Santa Cruz Alum is advanced notice of free Kraw Lectures: https://specialevents.ucsc.edu/kraw-lecture/
Update: here is the lecture on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bZbft-AjBs&feature=youtu.be