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Pottery made from (simulated) Martian clay

Ceramics sintered using a MGS slurry system employing classic pottery (potter’s wheel), slip casting, material extrusion (robocasting/direct ink writing), 3D printing (layerwise slurry deposition with binder jetting) and as a reference dry pressing. Credits: David Karl et al.*

Development of the methods for in situ resource utilization on Mars requires validation ahead of time. Making durable and useful ceramics is one such material processing technique that would be valuable. In a paper just posted on the arXiv preprint server to be published in the journal Open Ceramics, David Karl at the Technische Universitaet Berlin and others* present findings on a study of such methods using Mars global simulants (MGS) as a proxy for clay on the Red Planet. These simulants, provided by Kevin Cannon’s Center for Asteroid and Lunar Surface Science (CLASS) Exolith Lab at the University of Central Florida, deliver superior strength when compared to other ISRU materials, as mentioned in a recent Tweet by Cannon.

The paper also documents the results of a sophisticated additive manufacturing technique called layerwise slurry deposition (LSD) using the MGS. As mentioned in the paper’s Introduction, “To highlight the importance of clay as a medium for human civilizations and thought (along with illustrating the usefulness of the unfired/fired concept, as cuneiform tablets are found in unfired as well as fired state), cuneiform tablets from 3D scans were reproduced as inspirational artifacts, illustrating the excellent LSD printing resolution”.

(Top left) Flowchart of MGS slurry production (described in detail in [5]), (top right) schematic of 2 the layerwise slurry deposition and (bottom) processing path for cuneiform tablets from 3D scans of 3 original cuneiform tablets made during the Ur III period (ca. 2100-2000 BC), produced as technological 4 demonstrators for LSD and inspirational artifacts for Mars colonization. Credits: David Karl et al.*

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* D. Karl, F. Kamutzki, P. Lima, A. Gili, T. Duminy, A. Zocca, J. Günster,A. Gurlo, Sintering of ceramics for clay in situ resource utilization on Mars, Open Ceramics, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceram.2020.100008.

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Human missions to Mercury and Saturn augmented by in situ resource utilization

A nuclear thermal rocket concept. Credits: NASA/Wired

In a paper presented at the 8th Symposium on Space Resource Utilization (2016), Bryan Palaszewski analyzes multiple mission architectures for human voyages to the inner and outer solar system. The planet Mercury has permanently shadowed craters at its poles which likely contain frozen water enabling ice mining for rocket propellant and oxygen for breathable air to sustain settlements. The outer planets and their moons are reservoirs of significant amounts of useful gases such as hydrogen, helium 3, methane, ethane, and ammonia which can be utilized as in-situ resources. Through nuclear propulsion and living off the land with ISRU, travel times can be reduced and payloads increased for both robotic and human missions. With a positive vision for eventual space settlement, Palaszewski concludes the paper with “These technological innovations will enable Krafft Ehricke’s vision of a polyglobal civilization“.

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The logistics of dining off Earth

Artist concept of dining in space. Credits: Disney/Eater

In a recent Twitter thread Kevin Cannon shares his thoughts on the logistics of feeding an expanding population as humans settle other worlds. His “food quality” model compares different food preparation venues in an effort to highlight the challenges of feeding folks in in remote locations such as space settlements (and no, there likely won’t be food trucks in space).

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Rough index of “food quality”. Credits: Kevin Cannon / Twitter

The obvious goal is sustainable, high frequency food replenishment utilizing in situ resource utilization (ISRU). Cannon recently published a paper in which he modeled the calorie needs and land requirements for a martian settlement that reaches a population of one million people becoming self-sufficient within a hundred years. A wealth of research relevant to space settlement can be found at his website kevin.cannon.rocks.

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Beyond Earth Institute publishes policy recommendations to accelerate space settlement

Illustration of an early space settlement. Credits: Beyond Earth Institute, Inc.

The newly formed nonprofit just issued their June 2020 BE Report outlining what steps need to be taken by government and industry in the areas of export controls, best practices and multilateral agreements to foster a future where millions of people will be living and working in space, while in compliance with the Outer Space Treaty.

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Space settlement through private enterprise

Artist rendition of Starship exploring Saturn. Image credit SpaceX/Flickr

In an interview by Stuart Clark in BBC Science Focus Magazine, Vice President for North American operations for the International Space University Gary Martin answers questions on how private enterprise is changing space exploration. Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, through their own initiatives and public/private partnerships are opening up the final frontier, paving the way for space settlement.

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SpaceX will need suppliers for Mars settlement

In a thread on Twitter, Kevin Cannon suggests that suppliers for services that SpaceX will need to settle Mars such as sanitation, medical supplies, entertainment, finance and others, get started sooner rather then later laying out their plans if they want to be selected to help settle a new world.

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Image credit: Kevin Cannon
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UFO: Investing in the space economy

Procure Space (Ticker symbol UFO) is a little known Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) available to average investors that is the only such vehicle focusing mainly on the space industry. Created by ProcureAM, LLC the ETF trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The objective of the fund is to track the S-Network Space Index which is designed to measure the performance of companies engaged in space-related industries. In the future, additional companies engaged in other space-related industries may emerge and be added to the index. These industries could include space colonization and infrastructure, among others.

Procure Space ETF (UFO) portfolio breakdown by industry sector and country. Graphic credit: ProcureAM
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Space nuclear power looking bright

Both fission and fusion nuclear power systems are in development for use in space in the near future. Kilopower, NASA’s fission nuclear reactor we reported on last March has now been renamed the Nuclear Fission Power Project. An update appeared recently in Chemical & Engineering News.

Artist’s concept of NASA’s planned fission power system on the lunar surface. Credits: NASA

On the fusion front, a compact generator is under development by Magneto-Inertial Fusion Technologies, Inc. (MIFTI) a subsidiary of US Nuclear Corporation. In a recent press release the company claims that its staged Z-Pinch reactor may come on line within 5 years, which could potentially be providing power to lunar settlements by the end of this decade. The system may even have enough power to propel hypervelocity space ships shortening trips to Mars.

Schematic of staged Z-Pinch fusion system. Credits: MIFTI

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Happy Anniversary Falcon 9!

Eric Berger chronicles the ten year history of SpaceX’s flagship launch vehicle. The versatile, reusable workhorse has been the proving ground for the technology that will make Elon Musk’s vision of low cost interplanetary space travel a reality in the near future.

Falcon 9 historic launch of NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken aboard Crew Dragon. Image courtesy of SpaceX
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Making Mars soil fertile

A just released study published in the journal Plants documented the results of experiments to find the best ratio of compost to Martial soil simulant to effectively grow nutritious butter lettuce with the least amount of water while optimizing crop performance. Such findings will enable in situ resource utilization and reduce the mass of supplies needed to be transported to Mars to support farming in human settlements.