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The water economy of cislunar space

Illustration of an ice extraction concept for collection of water on the Moon. Credits: George Sowers / Colorado School of Mines

Mining the Moon changes everything. In an article in Air and Space, several prominent scientists we’ve been following discuss how in situ resource utilization (ISRU) can close the business case for companies that will build the infrastructure for a cislunar economy.

George Sowers of Colorado School of Mines and lead researcher on a recent study of ice mining in the solar system believes that water is “the oil of space” which can be used for all sorts of propulsion needs as well as supporting life. He believes that “…the economy of space will run off of water.”

Kevin Cannon, who has developed a treasure map for where the ice deposits are located at lunar poles based on satellite data to support ISRU, believes that we need to follow up with actual prospecting hardware to confirm how much water is actually present.

Joel Sercel, CEO of Trans Astronautica Corporation and recent recipient of a Phase II NIAC grant for a Lunar Polar Mining Outpost, has proposed calling a base located at the Moon’s north pole “New Mesopotamia” likening it to the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East on Earth.

Most of the experts agree that fuel depots on the moon are needed for a sustainable economy in cislunar space before we can push off to Mars and beyond.

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Orbite Corporation forms space hospitality business around civilian training

Anoushah Ansari, the first female civilian spaceflight participant. Credits: spaceadventures.com

The Seattle-based start up envisions a Spaceflight Gateway and Astronaut Training Complex for new spaceflight participants and their families. One of the founders, Jason Andrews was quoted in Space News stating “There are now four new human-capable vehicles going into operation this year. The 2020s will be the decade of commercial human spaceflight.”

Virgin Galactic and others will host their own training programs but Orbite will help grease the skids so to speak, by offering first time space travelers physical, psychological and other training to enhance their spaceflight experience.

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Going up? Space elevators getting ready for prime time

Artist’s impression of a space elevator. Credits: Steve Bowers / orionsarm.com

The International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) has just published a position paper on the technology readiness of this alternative to launch vehicles subject to the constraints of the rocket equation. Recent advances in material science of single crystal graphene and other alternatives show potential for fabrication of tethers long enough and with the required strength to enable space elevators by the late 2030s. The authors present a case that the demand for launching enough mass to support ESA’s Moon Village, space based solar power and Elon Musk’s vision for Mars colonies far exceeds projected conventional rocket capabilities. Space elevators could fill this need while being better for the environment.

Diagram of a space elevator system. Credits: ISEC
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Mars 2080: Imagine Documentaries plans film depicting a family’s move to a Mars colony

Artist concept of a city on Mars. Credits: Nick Hvostik

In an exclusive report in Variety, Imagine Documentaries along with Proctor and Gamble are co-financing a futuristic film of a family’s relocation from Earth to the red planet and how they adjust to their new space settlement. The film is based on a concept by Stephen Petranek, author of “How We’ll Live on Mars”. Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Imagine Documentaries co-head Justin Wilkes will produce the film. Variety quotes Wilkes as saying “We’re not calling it science fiction, we’re calling it science factual”. The team will consult with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, among others to “…forecast practical technologies”.

Imagine Entertainment’s founders Brian Grazer and Ron Howard; Imagine Documentary President Justin Wilkes. Photo credits: Imagine Entertainment.
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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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Cathedrals as analogs for planning generation starships

The Nauvoo generation starship from the SF thriller The Expanse. Credits: expanse.wikia.com

Generation starships have been proposed for eventual settlement of the galaxy. How will such a long term project be planned and carried out? What will be the mechanisms for financing the venture. How will stakeholders be organized and managed? Large scale multi-decade (or century) historical building projects such as cathedrals can be studied as an analog for lessons learned to inform future interstellar missions. Andreas M. Hein of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies has explored this topic in a paper recently posted on the arXiv preprint server, with interesting conclusions on modular architecture, minimum viable product and recommendations on long term financial stability.

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Artemis 8 – Dragon to the Moon

Artist depiction of SpaceX Crew Dragon in Lunar Orbit. Credits: Bruce Irving/Flickr

Robert Zubrin advocates for a quick decision by NASA and the National Space Council on a mission using SpaceX hardware to put a Dragon capsule in orbit around the Moon before the end of the year. In a letter to Jim Bridenstine and Scott Pace, he suggests lofting a crew to low Earth orbit in a Crew Dragon using a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. This would be followed up by launching a Falcon Heavy for rendezvous in LEO with its upper stage containing surplus propellant. The Falcon Heavy upper stage could then propel the Dragon to the Moon in an “Apollo 8” type mission ending with a splashdown of Dragon in the ocean.

Only slight modifications would need to be made to the Dragon to carry enough oxygen for a 6 day journey. The capsule is already designed for Earth capture from a Mars trajectory so return from the Moon should not be a problem. Zubrin’s proposal was sent in a memo to the NASA Administrator and the Executive Secretary of the National Space council on June 30, and reprinted in the Space Review July 6. Such a demonstration could inspire the nation and initiate validation of essential cislunar infrastructure toward settlement of the Moon.

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Detection of alien Von Neumann micro probes in the galaxy

You Should Know What The Fermi Paradox is Before Reading The Dark Forest | Tor.com
Artist concept of Von Neumann probes. Credits: tor.com

A common theme in science fiction is the application of John von Neumann’s concept of self replicating machines to colonize the galaxy. Now in a recent paper posted on the arXiv preprint server, Z. Osmanov has analyzed the spread and potential for detection of tiny versions of these robots as they move through our galaxy’s molecular hydrogen clouds harvesting material to reproduce. Calculations show that swarms of the probes would emit energy in the infrared part of the spectrum and might be bright enough for potential detection by the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).

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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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Paragon selected by NASA to develop lunar water collection and purification system

Image Credit: NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center

Paragon Space Development Corporation, a subcontractor for Dynetics which is one of the three companies NASA has selected to begin work on designs for human lunar landers, was just awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant to develop its ISRU Collector of Ice in a Cold Lunar Environment or ICICLE. The system will use a cold trap for collecting and purifying water from ice mining the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles. The purification and collection of lunar water is a critical step in generating in-situ propellant, breathable oxygen, and potable water for space settlements and the cislunar economy.