Earth’s moon is far from a “been there, done this” world, despite Apollo’s dozen short-stay visitors between 1969 and 1972.
Today, our heavenly neighbor could serve as a homeland for a group of scientific and commercial interests, from obtaining oxygen and fuels made on the Moon to installing antennas that scan the sky at search for signs of other technological civilizations. Lunar research can even provide basic clues about the formation of our solar system and the Earth itself.
NASA’s Artemis program to “restart” the moon, or at least human activity there, will begin with the landing of the first woman and first person of color on the moon in a lunar south polar region no earlier than 2025. The goal is to use innovative technologies so that Artemis Moonwalkers can explore more of the lunar surface than ever before and forge their first long-term presence on the Moon.
Related: Where will NASA establish its lunar base?
However, a 21st century human return to this world to conduct sustained or even permanent lunar operations will not be hassle free.
In many ways, NASA’s vision for the future lies trapped between a lunar rock and a hard place, having to first develop the technologies needed to give crews the means for longer, more sustainable operations on the lunar surface.
What does “sustainable” mean?
NASA is preparing its lunar act by first gathering what is needed for human exploration of the Moon through the Artemis program. Later, the agency will try to harness the technologies and skills needed for a sustainable “living off the earth” approach to a lunar base.
Interestingly, the meaning of the term “sustainable” seems to be at stake. For example, the April launch of the 2023-2032 Decennial Survey of U.S. National Academies Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey noted that NASA has used the word for describe only one goal (opens in a new tab) for human lunar exploration under the auspices of Artemis.
Because “sustainable” has not yet been explicitly defined in this context, the report states, a working definition was developed to mean that there are “widely accepted reasons for continuing human lunar exploration that justify investment, the continued commitment and risk beyond a few. ” missions “.
Illustration of NASA astronauts at the lunar south pole performing the first work to establish an Artemis base camp. (Image credit: NASA)
That said, it’s always a good move to seek advice from someone who has actually explored the moon.
According to Jack Schmitt, an Apollo 17 moonwalker, sustainability in terms of a future lunar settlement has less to do with finding useful resources on the lunar surface and more to do with reducing crew costs and launch team. “The geological understanding of lunar resources and the technological foundations for the sustained settlement of the Moon are either in hand or understood,” Schmitt told Space.com.
“The main remaining challenge is to have a reliable heavy load booster in the class of the Saturn V or greater that will put both the economic cost and the management of the achievable risk within the reach of private or national entities, ”Schmitt said.
Related: NASA declares successful test of the Artemis 1 moon rocket, begins to prepare for launch
Technological challenges
To address the key challenges of future lunar settlements to be addressed, a Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (opens in new tab) This fall is hosting the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. It is an ongoing work and an ongoing effort that works in collaboration with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
This APL-led consortium is thoroughly researching ways to chart roads to put humanity back on the moon, but in a sustained manner.
The consortium is made up of teams of people from various institutions, such as technology startups, space contractors and various academic and governmental organizations. This consortium and its subgroups are delving into a set of explicit focus group areas:
- Make use of the Moon’s resources, also known as in situ resource utilization (ISRU)
- Establishment of sustainable energy during the day / night lunar cycles; more specifically, the APL focus group wants to enable “the right power at the right place and at the right time”
- Build machinery and electronics that work in extreme environments, such as super cold regions with permanent shade that can be loaded with removable water ice.
- Performing surface excavation, manufacturing and construction tasks
- Identify critical technological gaps related to robotic access, navigation, and exploration of the lunar surface and subsoil, especially previously inaccessible regions, and evaluate the readiness of systems and components.
- Treat and mitigate lunar dust.
Focus on the future
Ben Bussey is an APL planetary scientist who leads the team that supports NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative. “Our job is a systems integration function,” Bussey told Space.com “What capabilities does NASA need for a sustained human presence on the moon? And how do you make sure these are the most efficient and best technologies?” are they developing? “
Bussey stressed that NASA is working with several American companies to deliver science and technology payloads to the moon’s surface through its Commercial lunar payload services initiative (CLPS).
“It’s all about rapid technological development,” Bussey said. “With the help of CLPS, every lunar opportunity is precious. We are basically an independent assessor on the incorporation of key technologies into the lunar surface. The idea is that we provide neutral advice and guidance to government, and that includes the link to the community “.
NASA’s commercial lunar payload services (CLPS) initiative will send scientific experiments and technological demonstrations, ranging from chemistry to communications, to the moon’s surface under the Artemis program. Shown here is the Peregrine robotic landing, built by the Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic. (Image credit: Astrobiotic)
Taking a futuristic look at an Artemis base camp, Bussey compares it McMurdo Station, the largest complex in Antarctica. McMurdo was established in December 1955 and is the logistics center of the US Antarctic Program managed by the National Science Foundation. Research in various fields is being conducted at and around McMurdo Station, such as astrophysics, geospatial sciences, and atmospheric sciences.
“The infrastructure associated with McMurdo allows for scientific exploration of the entire Antarctic plateau … which would be much less if each individual expedition had to fly all in and out of New Zealand or South America. In the same way, I hope that the lunar base camp allows exploration of the entire moon, “Bussey added.
Test of equipment for the moon
Over the past two years, the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium has grown to reach more than 500 organizations, according to its director, Rachel Klima of APL. “There is a lot of enthusiasm for wanting to build an economy focused on having a sustained presence on the Moon,” Klima said.
The client of the moon is currently the U.S. government, Klima noted. But as NASA’s CLPS initiative grows and other members of the private industry begin to consider going back and forth to the Moon on their own, the customer base should grow, he said.
Klima says the APL is also committed to NASA to support a simulated project of the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative. Lunar samples brought to Earth during the Apollo program have very limited availability for use in test technologies, hardware, and systems.
It’s important to match the appropriate simulated lunar materials to test new technologies here on Earth before sending them to the Moon, Klima says. These include mineral / chemical simulants to evaluate equipment that, for example, can produce oxygen from the moon’s upper regolith, and also mechanical simulants to judge mobility, excavation, and construction ideas. Both the lowest and highest fidelity of the simulated lunar materials are indispensable, he said, for judging the levels of technological readiness of equipment tied to the moon.
Especially when introduced in regolith 3D printing or sintering and extrusion of simulated materials, knowing the melting temperature using well-adjusted and adjusted simulants is very important, Klima noted. Just using any available simulator to study how equipment and processes react on the Moon is not prudent, he said.
“There is a lot of effort to try to understand what technology can be properly tested on Earth in existing facilities or others that could be reasonably developed,” Klima said. In this test queue there are planes capable of simulating the gravity of a sixth of the moon during short stays during parabolic outings, similar to roller coasters, which makes the flight test equipment intended for the use of the moon.
Ice water and sunlight
Kirby Runyon is an APL planetary geologist. He is also a co-facilitator of the on-site resource use focus group, or ISRU. He is eager to get technologies mature enough to test them on the lunar surface.
“The first pioneers in American history used ISRU when they drew water from a stream or built houses out of local wood. That’s ISRU. We’re just looking to make the lunar version of it,” Runyon told Space.com. “and if you want to have a sustained human presence on the moon, it’s hard to imagine how you would do it without an ISRU. They really go hand in hand.”
While he admits that the water ice on the Moon draws a lot of attention, this is not the number one resource at the lunar south pole: it would be sunlight. There are hilltops in this region of the South Pole that are almost continuously bathed in the sun for about 250 days a year, an ideal situation for placing a group of solar panels for power generation. .
Related: NASA presents the launch windows of the mission to the moon Artemis 1 until mid-2023
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