Posted on

Mitigation of the risks and challenges of lunar dust

Astronaut Gene Cernan covered in Lunar dust after an EVA during the Apollo 17 mission. Credits: NASA

Catch my presentation at the Moon Society’s Lunar Development Conference that took place on July 19 and 20 in which I describe the hazards posed by lunar dust and several solutions needed for space settlement. This is definitely on the critical path for large scale operations on the moon.

There were a couple of technical glitches in the presentation, one of which was playing a simplistic animation of deploying a dust-free landing pad beneath an initial lunar lander using telerobots. You can view the animation here. Hat tip to Doug Plata and the Space Development Network for the source material used in the presentation. Many of the conference presentations are available on the Moon Society’s YouTube Channel.

Posted on

U.S. Department of Energy seeks contractors to design nuclear reactors for the Moon

Credits: Idaho National Laboratory

Battelle Energy Alliance, which manages and operates the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory, just announced a Request for Information (RFI) on a fission surface power (FSP) source. The Laboratory, in collaboration with the DOE and NASA is seeking innovative technologies and approaches for preliminary designs of a FSP to test and validate operation on the Moon.

According to the RFT: “A reliable, durable energy source is a crucial element to enable the long-duration exploration of space and allow sustainable human presence in the harsh space environment.”

The operational goal is to: “Develop the FSP system with capability of operating autonomously, with the capability of autonomous or commanded on/off cycles. Develop the FSP system to be capable of surviving a single credible failure without reducing electric power capacity by more than 50%. This design objective flows from essential power needs on the Moon or Mars following a component failure. BEA [Battelle Energy Alliance] also encourages respondents to develop the FSP system for a minimum operational life of not less than 10 years at full electric power output.”

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Print your own Dynetics Human Landing System model at home

Dynetics, one of three companies awarded a contract by NASA to develop a Human Landing System (HLS) for the Artemis Program, has just come out with a 3D printing file accompanied by a booklet of step-by-step instructions for hobbyists to make their own scale model of the company’s HLS. This is great way to inspire young people to get into STEM fields and hopefully get involved in space exploration and settlement.

Image of Dynetics’ 3D Printing Instructions and completed HLS Model. Image Credits: Dynetics
Posted on

Let there be Lunar Flashlight

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a CubeSat that will utilize near-infrared lasers and an onboard spectrometer to prospect for ice in the permanently shadowed craters at the Moon’s south pole. The suitcase size spacecraft will inform future Artemis missions on where to begin in-situ resource utilization of this valuable commodity for space settlement

This artist’s concept shows the Lunar Flashlight spacecraft, a six-unit CubeSat designed to search for ice on the Moon’s surface using special lasers. The spacecraft will use its near-infrared lasers to shine light into shaded polar regions on the Moon, while an onboard reflectometer will measure surface reflection and composition. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Posted on

MAXIM – Maximum Impact Moon Mission

The University of Southern California’s Department of Astronautical Engineering has just published the final report of Dr. Madhu Thangavelu’s, course ASTE 527 Space Concepts Studio, the theme of which features the MAXIM architecture proposed for NASA’s Artemis program for return of humans to the moon. Be sure and watch the recorded presentation of the report which features the classic video “Wanderers” with commentary written and narrated by Carl Sagan. The class is held each fall and has an archive of each year’s reports, an excellent repository of creative concepts for space development.