ESA: Building a Lunar Base with 3D Printing

For ESA's 3D-printed lunar base concept, Foster+Partners devised a weight-bearing ‘catenary’ dome design with a cellular structured wall to shield against micrometeoroids and space radiation, incorporating a pressurised inflatable to shelter astronauts [ESA/Foster+Partners].

Setting up a lunar base could be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to build it from local materials. Industrial partners including renowned architects Foster + Partners have joined with ESA to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil.

“Terrestrial 3D printing technology has produced entire structures,” said Laurent Pambaguian, heading the project for ESA.

“Our industrial team investigated if it could similarly be employed to build a lunar habitat.”

Foster + Partners devised a weight-bearing ‘catenary’ dome design with a cellular structured wall to shield against micrometeoroids and space radiation, incorporating a pressurised inflatable to shelter astronauts.

The UK’s Monolite supplied the D-Shape printer for ESA's 3D-printed lunar base study, with a mobile printing array of nozzles on a 6 meter frame to spray a binding solution onto a sand-like building material. 3D ‘printouts’ are built up layer by layer – the company more typically uses its printer to create sculptures and is working on artificial coral reefs to help preserve beaches from energetic sea waves. First the simulated lunar material with magnesium oxide – turning it into ‘paper’ to print with. Then for structural ‘ink’ a binding salt is applied which converts material to a stone-like solid [ESA/Monolite].

A hollow closed-cell structure – reminiscent of bird bones – provides a good combination of strength and weight.

The base’s design was guided in turn by the properties of 3D-printed lunar soil, with a 1.5 tonne building block produced as a demonstration.

“3D printing offers a potential means of facilitating lunar settlement with reduced logistics from Earth,” added Scott Hovland of ESA’s human spaceflight team.

Sculpture produced by Monolite using 3D printing [ESA/Monolite].

“The new possibilities this work opens up can then be considered by international space agencies as part of the current development of a common exploration strategy.”

“As a practice, we are used to designing for extreme climates on Earth and exploiting the environmental benefits of using local, sustainable materials,” remarked Xavier De Kestelier of Foster + Partners Specialist Modelling Group. “Our lunar habitation follows a similar logic.”

The UK’s Monolite supplied the D-Shape printer, with a mobile printing array of nozzles on a 6 m frame to spray a binding solution onto a sand-like building material.

This 1.5 metric tonne building block was produced as a demonstration of 3D printing techniques using lunar soil. The design is based on a hollow closed-cell structure – reminiscent of bird bones – to give a good combination of strength and weight [ESA].

3D ‘printouts’ are built up layer by layer – the company more typically uses its printer to create sculptures and is working on artificial coral reefs to help preserve beaches from energetic sea waves.

“First, we needed to mix the simulated lunar material with magnesium oxide. This turns it into ‘paper’ we can print with,” explained Monolite founder Enrico Dini.

“Then for our structural ‘ink’ we apply a binding salt which converts material to a stone-like solid.

“Our current printer builds at a rate of around 2 m per hour, while our next-generation design should attain 3.5 m per hour, completing an entire building in a week.”

Italian space research firm Alta SpA worked with Pisa-based engineering university Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna on adapting 3D printing techniques to a Moon mission and ensuring process quality control. The effect of working in a vacuum was also assessed.

“The process is based on applying liquids but, of course, unprotected liquids boil away in vacuum,” said Giovanni Cesaretti of Alta.

“So we inserted the 3D printer nozzle beneath the regolith layer. We found small 2 mm-scale droplets stay trapped by capillary forces in the soil, meaning the printing process can indeed work in vacuum.”

Simulated lunar regolith is produced for scientific testing by specialist companies, typically sold by the kilogram. But the team required many tonnes for their work.

“As another useful outcome, we discovered a European source of simulated lunar regolith,” added Enrico.

“Basaltic rock from one volcano in central Italy turns out to bear a 99.8% resemblance to lunar soil.”

“This project took place through ESA’s General Studies Programme, used to look into new topics,” Laurent commented.

“We have confirmed the basic concept, and assembled a capable team for follow-on work.”

Factors such as controlling lunar dust – hazardous to breathe in – and thermal factors will require further study.

3D printing works best at room temperature but over much of the Moon temperatures vary enormously across days and nights lasting two weeks each. For potential settlement, the lunar poles offer the most moderate temperature range.

Setting up a future lunar base could be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to build it from local materials. Industrial partners including renowned architects Foster+Partners have joined with ESA to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil.

The base is first unfolded from a tubular module that can be easily transported by space rocket. An inflatable dome then extends from one end of this cylinder to provide a support structure for construction. Layers of regolith are then built up over the dome by a robot-operated 3D printer (right) to create a protective shell [ESA/Foster+Partners].

Toxicity of lunar dust

Gene Cernan, soon after the completion of the third and last EVA of Apollo 17, also the final EVA of the Apollo program. His moon suit carries a heavy accumulation of lunar dust, as does his skin. Three years earlier mission planners had been worried about astronauts, along with their spacecraft, sinking into the accumulation of dust on the surface. After Apollo, and decades later, mitigating the clinging affect of dust on equipment and human life remains a problem evading easy solution [Schmitt/AS17-145-22224].

Dag Linnarsson, et al.
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm/ESA

Abstract - The formation, composition and physical properties of lunar dust are incompletely characterized with regard to human health. While the physical and chemical determinants of dust toxicity for materials such as asbestos, quartz, volcanic ashes and urban particulate matter have been the focus of substantial research efforts, lunar dust properties, and therefore lunar dust toxicity may differ substantially. In this contribution, past and ongoing work on dust toxicity is reviewed, and major knowledge gaps that prevent an accurate assessment of lunar dust toxicity are identified. Finally, a range of studies using ground-based, low-gravity, and in situ measurements is recommended to address the identified knowledge gaps. Because none of the curated lunar samples exist in a pristine state that preserves the surface reactive chemical aspects thought to be present on the lunar surface, studies using this material carry with them considerable uncertainty in terms of fidelity. As a consequence, in situ data on lunar dust properties will be required to provide ground truth for ground-based studies quantifying the toxicity of dust exposure and the associated health risks during future manned lunar missions.

Introduction - The current renewed interest in human exploration of the Moon is driven not only by an urge to expand the human presence to other celestial bodies, but also by genuine scientific interest. Many aspects of the origin and evolution of the Earth and the other bodies in our solar system remain unclear. The Moon is thought to hold important information about the time when our own planet was formed, and humans remain capable of much more intelligent and adaptive exploration of the Moon than even the most sophisticated robotic and remote-controlled devices (e.g., Crawford et al., 2012). Identification and retrieval of representative or exotic mineral specimens, and drilling deep into the lunar subsurface are examples of tasks for which astronauts are superior to machines. The most compelling argument for human exploration is the unique ability of humans to identify and quickly assess the unexpected, enabling real time adjustment of a pre-planned exploration strategy.

Although humans have landed on and returned from the Moon during the Apollo era, it is still a formidable challenge to secure the health and safety of astronauts during Moon missions. Challenges for future missions include long-term low- or microgravity, radiation exposure, and the maintenance of a number of life support systems during a much longer period than was the case during the Apollo flights (e.g., Cain, 2010, 2011).

One of the biggest challenges may be related to the presence of dust on the lunar surface. The ubiquity of fine dust particles on the surface of the Moon plays an important and often dual role in many aspects of human lunar exploration. On the one hand, identifying the mineralogical and chemical composition of the dust fraction of lunar soils can provide in situ geological context for both robotic and human landing sites. In addition, lunar dust may be an ideal starting material for a range of future in situ resource utilization activities on the Moon (e.g., Taylor et al., 2005), and dust is an important component of the lunar exosphere (Horanyi and Stern, 2011).

On the other hand, dust can adversely affect the performance of scientific and life-support instruments on the lunar surface. Fine dust was spread over all parts of the Apollo astronauts space suits, ending up in the habitat (Figure 1a), resulting in astronaut exposure times of several days. The Apollo astronauts reported undesirable effects affecting the skin, eyes and airways that could be related to exposure to the dust that had adhered to their space suits during their extravehicular activities, and was subsequently brought into their spacecraft (Figure 1b).

Figure 2. Steps of cell and tissue interaction with nano and micron-sized particles in the lung. When attained the alveolar space the particle may react with endogenous molecules (step 1). The particle may then be cleared out of the lung either through the mucociliary escalator (step 2) or through alveolar macrophage (AM) clearance (step 3). If reactive, AM activation will follow with release of several factors and recruitment of other immune cells (AM and polymorphonucleate cells, PMN), eventual cell death and establishment of permanent cycles of ingestion (step 4). This process produces chronic inflammation (step 5). Combined with the direct action of the particle (step 6) this will cause damage to the target cells (epithelial, endothelial). If the particle is nano-sized, it may easily escape from the lung to the pleura and to systemic circulation (step 7).

Figure 3. The role of particle and cell derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cell damage, oxidative stress and diseases.

Dust exposure and inhalation could have a range of toxic effects on human lunar explorers, especially if longer exposure times become the norm during future manned exploration missions. There is therefore a need to assess the risks to health. The physical and chemical determinants of dust toxicity for terrestrial materials such as asbestos, quartz, volcanic ashes and urban particulate matter have been studied in great detail, and lunar dust simulant (synthesized from terrestrial volcanic material) has been found to exhibit toxic effects (Lam et al., 2002; Latch et al., 2008; Loftus et al., 2010). Unique features of actual lunar dust (described in more detail in section 3), resulting from its formation by (micro)meteoroid impacts and its extended radiation exposure in the absence of oxygen and humidity, could lead to toxic effects significantly exceeding those of simulants made from Earth materials. At present, the formation, composition and physical properties of lunar dust remain incompletely characterized with regard to human health.

In a micro-/hypo-gravity environment the risk of inhalation of dust is increased due to reduced gravity-induced sedimentation. Inhaled particles tend to deposit more peripherally and thus may be retained in the lungs for longer periods in reduced gravity as will be the case in a future lunar habitat (Darquenne and Prisk, 2008; Peterson et al., 2008). Inhalation of particles of varying size may affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems in deleterious ways leading to airway inflammation and increased respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity (Frampton et al., 2006; Sundblad et al., 2002).

In this contribution, we review our knowledge of the physical chemistry determinants of dust toxicity, of the composition and size of lunar dust, and all aspects related to its toxicity. We identify a number of knowledge gaps that need to be filled to constrain the required extent of mitigation activities protecting astronauts from the potentially toxic effects of lunar dust during and after a stay on the Moon. We also recommend a range of future studies using ground-based, low-gravity, and in situ measurements on the lunar surface to better constrain lunar dust toxicity.

arXiv:1206.6328 (v.1)
62 pg. (PDF)

University of Arizona off-world garden ready for tour

Tyler Jensen, left, and Thomas Hillebrand are putting together the teaching module of the University of Arizona's Lunar Greenhouse, which is headed to San Diego and Chicago to raise awareness about the greenhouse and hydroponic gardening. A prototype greenhouse is at the right [Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star].

Mark Armao

The Arizona Daily Star

A greenhouse designed for extraterrestrial use is taking a more terrestrial trip this summer.

Someday, the University of Arizona's Lunar Greenhouse will provide a life-support system for astronauts on prospective missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. But before it gets to the moon, the Lunar Greenhouse is hitting the road.

Designed by a team at the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center, the greenhouse is being exhibited at the San Diego County Fair, followed by a stopover at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

"This is for rocket technology, but it's not rocket science," said Lane Patterson, lab manager and researcher for the project.

The goal is to show vegetables can not only be grown in space, but can also supply astronauts with oxygen and clean water, he said.

A prototype has been operating at UA's Campus Agriculture Center since 2010. Inside, vegetables climb the walls of the 18-foot-long cylinder with aluminum ribs covered by a durable plastic skin. Picture a really big slinky with plants inside.

The structure collapses into a 4-foot-long disk for spaceflight. Upon landing, the greenhouse would expand like an accordion and begin to operate.

The greenhouse grows plants hydroponically, which means without soil. Seeds take root in a nutrient-rich solution contained in a flexible plastic tube.

"We're working mostly with vegetables that NASA has interest in; that's leafy green vegetables -lettuces and spinaches and small green herbs like basil," said Gene Giacomelli, director of the program and a plant sciences and engineering professor. The team also is interested in vining plants like tomatoes and root crops like sweet potatoes.

Food isn't the only benefit.

"Each one of them (plants) can provide the water and the oxygen for one astronaut every day," Giacomelli said.

It works like this: The plants absorb carbon dioxide, which astronauts breathe out. And then release oxygen, which astronauts breathe in. In addition to revitalizing the air, the Lunar Greenhouse would recycle water. Eventually, the system would provide clean water by cycling distilled urine through the plants, and collecting the water vapor the plants give off. The intent is to conserve resources and reduce waste.

The lack of atmosphere on the moon presents other challenges, as well. The Lunar Greenhouse would have to be buried under a layer of lunar soil to protect it from micrometeorites and solar radiation. This means artificial lighting is a crucial factor for the project. Proposed lighting options include using energy-efficient LEDs, and piping sunlight into the greenhouse via fiber optic cables, Giacomelli said.

Webcams and sensors in the greenhouse would allow operators on Earth to monitor and manipulate the conditions inside the Lunar Greenhouse.

Giacomelli said the technology has plenty of applications on Earth.

"If a greenhouse is just being installed in Northern Africa, for example, where they've never had a greenhouse before. We do not have to be there to help them grow," he said. "We can stay in Tucson and give them advice from the web camera from the data on the computer and help them grow the crop."

The project is funded through NASA's Ralph Steckler Space Grant Colonization Research and Technology Development Opportunity.

The team has positioned a webcam in the lab that anyone can view online. Team members have addressed entire classrooms though the webcam - from local third-graders to Australian graduate students. "Rather than taking the classroom to the lab, we're taking the lab to the classroom," said Patterson.

What's heading to San Diego and Chicago is a teaching module similar to the Lunar Greenhouse to raise awareness about the project and how to garden hydroponically, Giacomelli said.

As for the Lunar Greenhouse and its prospective trip to space, no specific benchmarks have been set. Funding for the Lunar Greenhouse comes from a special foundation, so recent budget cuts at NASA have not directly affected the project.

Patterson is confident in the system's capabilities, and where the outreach program is headed.

"It's about keeping you alive," he said. "Period."

Details of the scheduled exhibits, HERE.
View the UA's Lunar Greenhouse Online

Why settle the Moon?

G. Jeffrey Taylor
Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology
University of Hawaii - Honolulu

The space program needs a viable long-term goal. I suggest that the central goal should be to learn to live and work in space by living and working in space. A sustained presence on the Moon, with a vibrant infrastructure in cis-lunar space, is an essential part of that goal. Achieving this goal requires extensive use of lunar resources, active roles by both government and the private sector, and a social contract that the venture is worthwhile and worth funding. But why do it? Here are some reasons for pursuing this goal.

Challenge ourselves. We need grand goals that bring out the best in us. As President John F. Kennedy said about the Apollo program, we go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Settling the Moon, learning to live and work in space, and eventually going to Mars and beyond is certainly hard, much harder than was going to the Moon during Apollo. It will test our educational system, research laboratories, and industries, making all more effective and innovative than they are now.

New perspectives on our world, our problems, and ourselves. Space exploration has already provided us with new perspectives on Earth and our place in the universe. The first full Earth pictures taken by Apollo astronauts during their Moon journeys showed us that we live on an isolated, fragile, and beautiful island in space. Seeing the pale blue dot, as Carl Sagan called it, made everyone realize that we ought to take care of it, which helped fuel the environmental movement during the 1970s and beyond. Lunar settlements far from home may give us new perspectives on addressing other pressing problems, such as energy, health care, and poverty. Perhaps most important, it expands our view of our place in the universe. We are part of something larger than ourselves, our towns, our nations, and even our world.

Inspire all of us to become part of something larger. Many of us have claimed that the Apollo program inspired a generation of students. Maybe. But a sustained human presence will not provide the thrill of a short Apollo mission. What is the equivalent of Apollo 8, its crew reading from Genesis on Christmas Eve, 1968, or of Apollo 11 making the first landing? Instead, the inspiration will come from the new opportunities in commerce, science, arts, and humanities. Students from K through college will see opportunities for them to contribute to culture and knowledge. The new perspectives our human perch on the Moon provides may inspire the creative people in our society to aim high, to see the world differently, to think outside the box.

National pride and prestige. We have a growing number of space-faring nations. Believe it or not, the leaders of those nations are not driven to understand the details of magma ocean crystallization or searching for life in the cold deserts of Mars. They want to show the world that their nations can accomplish great feats.

Establish global partnerships. A good way for nations to work together is to collaborate on ambitious projects of mutual benefit. This is the other side of nationalism. It is pleasant to think about a coordinated effort involving many nations to establish a permanent, international settlement on the Moon, a settlement where differences were set aside for the common good, where governments, NGOs, companies, universities, and other entities from many nations worked together to learn how to live and work in space for the benefit of the citizens of planet Earth. This long shot is not a driving reason for space settlement.

Create the capability to travel to Mars and other destinations. The only way to develop the technical capability to travel anywhere in the solar system at affordable cost is to have a robust infrastructure in cislunar space that supports commerce. We need routine access to space, not one-off stunts funded entirely by a government or even an alliance of governments.

It’s what humans do. Humans explore. If we did not, we would not find humans living in every nook and cranny of the world. Space is still a wide-open frontier, awaiting adventurous humans who want to become part of something bigger than themselves.

How to begin: Making travel throughout cis-lunar space and lunar settlement affordable requires the use of lunar resources. In turn, this requires a thorough knowledge of how to handle materials on the Moon to extract useful materials, and an understanding of how to protect humans and agricultural products from radiation and other space hazards. Addressing the questions can begin immediately with a series of robotic missions. Commercial ventures can join in this by providing payloads on government-funded landed missions. A rich set of robotic missions can be envisioned while we wait for a cost-effective transportation system to be developed.

The 2009 Annual Conference of the
Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG)
is underway in Houston

'Trash can-sized' nuclear reactors to power lunar habitat

Marshall's one of a kind test facility enabled engineers to simulate the nuclear power process of heat transfer from a reactor to a power converter. Boise Pearson (Left), Team Lead for Fission Surface Power Test Facility and Mike Houts Project Manager for nuclear systems at Marshall review test results on the Stirling engine. Kurt Polzin, research scientist is shown in background. [E. Given -NASA-Marshall]

Janet Anderson
NASA Marshall SFC

Huntsville - NASA has made a series of critical strides toward the development of new nuclear reactors the size of a trash can that could power a human outpost on the moon or Mars.

Three recent tests at different NASA centers and a national lab have successfully demonstrated key technologies required for compact fission-based nuclear power plants for human settlements on other worlds.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville offers a one-of-a-kind test facility which, without using nuclear materials, enables engineers to simulate the nuclear power process of heat transfer from a reactor to a power converter.

"The recent tests bear out that Fission surface power system could be an important source of energy for exploration on the moon and Mars," said Mike Houts, project manager for nuclear systems at Marshall. "This power system could provide an abundant source of reliable, cost-effective energy and may be used anywhere on the lunar surface."

For this particular test series, the Marshall reactor simulator was linked to a Stirling engine, developed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The Stirling engine, named for 19th-century industrialist and inventor Robert Stirling, converts heat into electricity.

The Marshall reactor simulator included a specialized pump, provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, and a coolant loop filled with a mixture of sodium and potassium. The coolant loop provided heat to the Stirling engine at conditions very similar to an actual fission-based surface power system. The joint testing helped resolve potential integration issues and provided information and experience needed to reduce technology risks associated with this system concept.

The testing of the Stirling engine with the Marshall reactor simulator may well be a key factor in demonstrating the readiness of fission surface power technology, and could provide NASA with an efficient and robust system to produce power in the harsh environment on the moon and Mars.

NASA's current plan for human space exploration is to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 on expeditions that could lead to a permanent outpost for exploring the lunar surface and testing technologies that could aid a manned mission to Mars.

The space agency has been studying the feasibility of using nuclear fission power generators to support future moon bases. Engineers performed tests in recent weeks as part of a joint effort by NASA and the Department of Energy.

Nuclear fission power plants work by splitting the nuclei of atoms in a sustainable, controllable reaction that releases heat, which can then be funneled through a power converter to transfer that energy into usable electricity.

"A small fission-based nuclear reactor coupled with a Stirling engine could provide up to 40 kilowatts of usable energy, enough to support a moon base or Mars outpost," said Houts. That's about the same amount of power needed to supply eight houses on Earth, NASA officials have said. The test series was conducted as part of the fission-based surface power project, within NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program, which is tasked with developing advanced technologies that will enable NASA to conduct future human exploration missions, while reducing mission risk and cost.

The next step for NASA's fission power project is to combine its radiator, engine and alternator successes into a single non-nuclear power plant demonstration. That test is slated to begin in 2012, NASA officials said.

For more information about NASA’s Exploration program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2009/09-009.html
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/news/pressrel/2008/08-042addm.html
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/news/pressrel/2009/09-036_fission.html

NASA mining the Moon

An artist's conception of a robotic ice miner [NASA/John Frassanito and Associates]

Jeremy Hsu
FoxNEWS / Space.com

NASA has long planned to mine water on the moon to supply human colonies and future space exploration. Now the discovery of small amounts of water across much of the lunar surface has shifted that vision into fast-forward, with the U.S. space agency pursuing several promising technologies.

A hydrogen reduction plant and lunar rover prospectors have already passed field tests on Hawaii's volcanic soil, and more radical microwave technology has shown that it may be used to extract underground water ice. Water mined by these methods could not only keep astronauts supplied with a drink, but may also provide oxygen and fuel for lunar missions.

"You can make back costs fairly quickly compared to the launch costs of just throwing tanks of water and oxygen at the moon," said Gerald Sanders, manager of NASA's In-Situ Resource Utilization Project. He pointed to a cost-analysis study conducted by the NASA Ames Research Center in California that suggested such extraction technologies could pay for themselves within a year.

Read the feature story HERE.

Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) System Engineering Workshop

Laurie Peterson

NASA JSC

This slide presentation begins with a recap on a previous lecture on the ECLSS subsystems, and the various types (i.e., Non-regenerative vs Regenerative, open loop vs closed loop, and physical-chemical vs bioregenerative)

It also recaps the Equivalent system mass (ESM) metric.

The presentation continues with a review of the ECLSS of the various NASA manned space exploration programs from Mercury, to the current planned Altair lunar landing, and Lunar base operations. There is also a team project to establish the ESM of two conceptualized missions.

Download the 22 pg. pdf. presentation HERE.

Lunar Gardening

Prototype space greenhouse. (Paragon Space Development Corp.)

Astrobiology, Based on a Universetoday.com release by Nancy Atkinson

"Imagine a bright flower on a green plant in a little dome-shaped growth chamber, sitting on the landscape of the moon, with the Earth rising up behind," said Taber MacCallum, CEO of Paragon Space Development Corporation. "I think it’s a great vision." That vision of the first moon flower will likely become a reality, perhaps by 2014. Paragon has teamed up with Google Lunar X-PRIZE contender Odyssey Moon to deliver a biological greenhouse to the lunar surface. "We've grown plants in space before, but this will be the first time we'll attempt to grow a plant on another world," MacCallum told Universe Today. "It's not just a great vision, but interesting science, too."

Odyssey Moon is one of the teams vying for the $30M Google Lunar X-PRIZE, a competition for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon, travel 500 meters and transmit video, images and data back to the Earth. One image may be the striking vision the MacCallum described.

Paragon has been involved with biology in space for several years. They developed the payload that bred the first animals through their life cycle on board the Mir space station, and also were part of the early commercial biology experiments on the ISS. The company is now working with NASA to develop the thermal control and life support systems for the new Orion and Altair spacecraft which will bring humans back to the Moon.

But growing a plant on the moon, well, that's just plain cool, says MacCallum.

Read the full article HERE.

Bio-ISRU: living off the lunar land

Concept of a bio-tech cycle for extraction of rocket fuel, oxygen and food production at a lunar outpost. David McCay, the principal author of the presentation in Korea cited below also co-authored the work cited above. (The Development and Perspectives of Bio-ISRU, Brown, et.al., LEAG-ICEUM-SRR (2008) #4048)

NASA Scientists at Johnson Space Center, working on ways to live off the land on the Moon, are going beyond using solar or nuclear power alone to produce air, food and rocket fuel from lunar materials. They are suggesting importing litholytic cyanobacteria to the Moon, to be grown in a closed system and used together with biotechnology to accomplish in situ resource utilization, (ISRU).

"Litholytic" literally means "rock-eating," micro-organisms that would free oxygen, hydrogen and recycle carbon, among other things, as a metabolic biproduct. Highly-reactive oxygen, of course, is what animates animal life on Earth, and it exist here primarily because it is a waste product of plant life.

Cyanobacteria are among the most primitive life forms, deriving energy from photosynthesis, directly from sunlight. They are adapted as both simple plant and animals (and perhaps in-between) to nearly every environment on Earth; deep underground, under crushing ocean depths, in the driest deserts and even twenty kilometers overhead in the stratosphere.

Dr. David McCay of Johnson Space Center, with many colleagues, has focused on ISRU from the beginning, when national policy set upon returning to the Moon to stay. Learning to live off the land there is among the most critical of technological elements in need of development before extended human activity on the Moon. Every ounce of material produced on site, to put it bluntly, is hundreds of thousands of dollars less in material that needs to be lofted out of Earth's relatively strong "Gravity Well."

In October 2008, McCay co-authored a presentation on the concept of "Bio-ISRU" at a Joint Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), the International Conference on Exploration and Utilization of the Moon (ICEUM) and the Space Resources Roundtable (SRR).

In October, McCay, together with Igor Broun of Jacobs Technology's Sverdrup Group, will make a similar presentation to the 60th International Astronautical Congress in Daejeon.

BIO-ISRU: A New Approach for Producing Oxygen
and Recycling Carbon on the Moon

In-situ production of consumables (mainly oxygen) using local resources (In-Situ Resource Utilization-ISRU) will significantly facilitate current plans for human exploration and settlement of the solar system, starting with the Moon.

With few exceptions, nearly all technology development to date has employed an approach based on inorganic chemistry. None of these technologies include concepts for integrating the ISRU system with a bioregenerative life support system and a food production system. It is known however that bacteria are able to dissolve different rocks, including lunar regolith simulants.

As the regolith minerals and glasses dissolve, their bound oxygen and implanted carbon and hydrogen become available for utilization at a lunar outpost. The cyanobacteria can extract many needed elements directly from the dissolved regolith.

Our concept for the development of a biotechnological loop for in-situ resources extraction, propellant and food production at the lunar outpost is based on the cultivation of litholytic cyanobacteria with lunar regolith in a geobioreactor.

Sunlight provides most of the energy needed for growth of the bacteria colony within the geobioreactor. As a result of pilot studies, we are developing a concept for a semi-closed integrated system that uses a bioreactor containing cyanobacteria for extracting useful elements from the regolith. This bioreactor can revitalize air by utilization of excess CO2 and production of O2.

Some components of cyanobacterial biomass can be used directly as nutritional supplements.

Such a system could be the foundation of a self-sustaining extraterrestrial outpost. The most critical conclusion is that a semi-closed life support system tied to an ISRU biofacility might be more efficient for support of an extraterrestrial outpost than closed environmental systems.

Such a synthesis of technological capability could decrease the demand for energy, uplift mass and overall cost of future exploration.

A Lunar Nuclear Reactor

Generating power: A power-conversion unit consisting of two Stirling engines, sitting opposite each other, is set up for testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Pumped liquid metal is used to transfer heat from the reactor to the engines, where it is converted to electricity. (Credit: NASA )

Brittany Sauser
Technology Review (MIT)

Researchers at NASA and the Department of Energy recently tested key technologies for developing a nuclear fission reactor that could power a human outpost on the moon or Mars. The tests prove that the agencies could build a "safe, reliable, and efficient" system by 2020, the year NASA plans to return humans to the moon.

Nuclear power is being considered for lunar and Mars missions because, unlike alternatives such as solar power, it can provide constant energy, a necessity for human life-support systems, recharging rovers, and mining for resources. Solar power systems would also require the use of energy storage devices like batteries or fuel cells, adding unwanted mass to the system. Solar power is further limited because the moon is dark for up to 14 days at a time and has deep craters that can obscure the sun. Mars is farther away from the sun than either the Earth or the moon, so less solar power can be harvested there.

The new nuclear power system is part of a NASA project started in 2006, called Fission Surface Power, that is examining small reactors designed for use on other planets.

Read the feature article HERE.

All our eggs in one basket

Among the six abyssal lunar south pole craters picked as finalists for the impact of LCROSS, October 9, is Shoemaker, only just recently named in honor of Eugene Shoemaker, the legendary lunar and planetary scientist who, among other things, led the United States' Surveyor robotic lander program on behalf of NASA JPL.

With the equally legendary planetary scientist and writer David Levy and wife Carolyn, Gene Shoemaker co-discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on March 24, 1993.

They resolved the shattered comets fragments and quickly traced back them back to what must have been a close encounter with Jupiter in July 1992.

Originally a larger, single comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9 had passed within Jupiter's Roche Limit, where the tremendous gravity-well of Jupiter acted unequally on the primordal icy body, wrenching it apart. Within days it became clear at least nine "calves" of that original comet were destined to slam into Jupiter's southern hemisphere, in mid July 1994.

When the time arrived, Carolyn and Gene Shoemaker, with Dr. Levy and, by way of webcam, Arthur C. Clarke, live from Sri Lanka, on the opposite side of the globe, waited in a NASA-TV studio, live, as virtually all of humankind's telescopes, including Hubble, turned to watch, and no one was disappointed.

Between July 16 and July 22, 1994 the cometary fragments bombarded Jupiter at nearly the same southern latitude and the vaporizing impacts were visible though their points of impact were just beyond view, on the pre-dawn side of the Jovian disk.

One by one, expanding halos, each the size of Earth, rotated into view as the planet turned, winding around into the sunlight as newer impacts continued with a brilliance that lit eclipsed faces of Jupiter's shadowed moons beyond.

That all this "legend" coincided in serendipity, legendary men, women and their instruments, demonstrated a stark fact beyond much in the way of doubt.

Such a display probably did not just happen, like a tree falling in the forest, because, there were ears to hear, or because, for the first time in human history, a passive audience just happened to be looking that way. Such happenings, as Earth's Moon testifies loudly to any who might listen, have to be very common.

There may have been a peak in the shuffling of that single percent of this star system's mass that is not presently part of the Sun, even a Grand Bombardment, 3.9 billion years ago, that very slowly reduced in frequency and in the size of impactors, but the bombardment is still underway.

If there was lingering doubt, fifteen years later, in July 2009, the aftermath of a "Shoemaker-Levy" class cometary impact, a resulting scar-like halo like those seen in 1994, showed up once again, but this time without any advance notice.

As the Daily Galaxy picked up on the story, the Lunar Pioneers are reminded of two compelling reasons to learn the lessons of the Moon, the secrets of the history of the Solar System, writ both large and small on its surface.

We ought not put all Mankind's eggs in one basket.

And while we're reading that "fine print" of the Moon's story, which is also the story of Earth, we had better allow our relatively large natural satellite to teach us hard lessons of survival in the most hostile of environments, the same part of the Universe where the Earth is. After news of this latest impact on Jupiter hit, many were asking that silly question again, "can it happen here?"

No doubt of it. The answer remains the same as it was in 1994. It's not "if," but "when?"

(Another) Pacific Ocean-Sized impact on Jupiter highlight's Hawking's Asteroid Theory

"In further evidence that space itself is an action movie (or at least that God watches Michael Bay movies), an explosion the size of the Pacific ocean has scarred Jupiter. Yes, the entire ocean. The explosion occurred on July 19 when an asteroid slammed into the planet, and although Jupiter has no solid ground the gas can still get thick enough for things like "impacts" and "KABOOM" to happen. - Daily Galaxy, July 24"

Read the feature story HERE.

ESA demonstrates lunar life support system

Spanish Minister for Science and Innovation Cristina Garmendia, inaugurates the European Space Agency's "Melissa" autonomous life support system, for the Moon and "beyond" - University Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB)

A pilot plant inaugurated yesterday in Barcelona, Spain, is testing regenerative life support system technologies that could one day recycle waste products and supply essential food, water and oxygen to humans living on the surface of the Moon or Mars.

MELiSSA, short for Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative, is an artificial ecosystem to recover food, water and oxygen from waste (faeces and urine), carbon dioxide and minerals. The laboratory will help in the development of technology for a future regenerative life support system for long-duration human space exploration missions, for example to a lunar base or to Mars.

The second generation MELiSSA pilot plant is located within the School of Engineering at the University Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB), Spain. The MELiSSA project is partially funded by ESA through the Directorate of Human Spaceflight and the Directorate of Technical and Quality Management. The facility was inaugurated yesterday by the Spanish Minister for Science and Innovation Cristina Garmendia, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and UAB Rector Ana Ripoll.

"The MELiSSA plant provides a world class research facility combining the expertise of many European countries, as well as Canada," said Dordain. "The validation of MELiSSA's highly regenerative life support processes is a mandatory step towards future long-duration human space exploration missions."

The pilot plant at UAB demonstrates the associated technologies with a 'crew' of 40 rats – together their oxygen consumption is equivalent to one person. This demonstration will last for more than two years – this length of time is considered representative of human space exploration missions. The rats will be kept under close veterinary supervision throughout.

MELiSSA goes further than other recycling systems used on Mir or the International Space Station that purify water and recycle urine and exhaled carbon dioxide, but do not attempt to recycle organic waste for food production.

Based on the principle of an aquatic ecosystem, the facility consists of five interconnected compartments. In three of them, waste is progressively broken down by fermentation processes. In the fourth compartment, algae or plants are grown to produce food, oxygen and water. The fifth compartment is where the crew lives – rats in the case of this experiment and on real missions – the astronauts.

Read the ESA report HERE.

Moon Java - Lunar Brew

Notional Fission Surface Power system

Have you ever wondered how you'd make your morning cup of java if you lived on another planet, or perhaps the moon? That steaming beverage would be a must on a cold lunar morning.

But with rare sunlight, no coal or wood to burn, and no flowing water for hydro-electrical power, how would you make that cup of coffee, much less cook breakfast, heat your abode, and power the life support equipment and tools you needed to live and work up there?

NASA, planning for a future lunar outpost, has been asking those same questions lately.

There's more than one way to generate power on the moon. Fission Surface Power is one of the options NASA is considering. If this method is chosen, an engine invented in the early 1800s by Scottish brothers Robert and James Stirling could help make it work.

The Stirlings were so proud of their creation that they made it their namesake – and with good reason. Over the years the Stirling engine -- the reliable, efficient "little engine that could" -- has earned a sterling reputation here on Earth, and it may one day prove its worth on the moon.

"Inhabitants of a lunar outpost will need a safe and effective way to generate light and heat and electricity," says Mike Houts of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. "The tried and true Stirling engine fits the bill. It's not only reliable and efficient, but also versatile and clean."

NASA is partnering with the Department of Energy to develop Fission Surface Power technology to produce heat and feed it into a Stirling engine, which, in turn, would convert heat energy into electricity for use by moon explorers.

It's not certain that this kind of power system will be adopted by NASA, but it does have some very appealing qualities. Houts explains: "A key advantage to this power system is that it wouldn't need sunlight to operate. An FSP system could be used to provide power any time, any place, on the surface of moon or Mars. It could be used at the poles and away from the poles, it could weather a cold lunar night, and it would do well in places like deep craters that are always shaded. Not even a swirling, sunlight obscuring, Martian dust storm could stop it."

NASA's engine would only need to produce 40 kW or less power – just enough for a lunar outpost.

"This power level is high by space standards but extremely low by Earthly standards," says Houts. "It's about 1/20,000th of what a typical Earthly reactor puts out. We'd only need a tiny reactor on the moon – the fueled portion would be only about 10 inches wide by 1½ feet long."

It would provide more power with less mass than other power systems. The whole assembly, radiator on top of Stirling engine on top of reactor, could be stowed in a fraction of the lunar lander.

Before developing the final system, Houts and his team are testing with non-nuclear power for proof of concept.

"We're conducting tests in a thermal vacuum to learn about operating and controlling the system on the moon," says Houts. "We're using resistance heaters to simulate nuclear heat. Electrical resistance produces heat."

After the test system proves the viability of the concept, the team could be directed to build the "real thing," drawing heavily on US and international terrestrial reactor experience.

"It would be built from stainless steel and fueled by uranium dioxide. This combination has been used in terrestrial reactors throughout the world, so scientists and engineers are well-versed in its operation."

The unit would not be active at launch, but would be "turned on" once in place on the lunar surface, where it would be surrounded by shielding to prevent any hazard from the radiation emitted.

"It would be very safe," says Houts. "And the beauty of the system is that it would be practically self-regulating."

Here's how it would work: Inside the reactor is a bundle of small tubes filled with uranium. Outside the reactor are control drums -- one side of each drum reflects neutrons and the other side absorbs them, providing a way to control the rate that neutrons escaping the reactor core are reflected back in. To start up the unit, the absorbent side of each control drum is turned out, away from the reactor core, so the reflective material faces in and sends escaping neutrons back in to the core. The resulting increase in available neutrons enables a self-sustaining chain reaction, which produces heat.

A coolant (sodium potassium mixture)* flows through the passage-ways between the tubes, picks up the thermal heat produced by the reacting uranium, and transfers the heat to the Stirling engine. The Stirling engine then does its magic** to generate electricity. Meanwhile the coolant, which has "downloaded" some of its cargo (heat) to the Stirling engine, circulates back through the reactor core, where it picks up heat and is ready to repeat the entire cycle.

The system would use only a miniscule amount of fuel -- 1 kg of uranium every 15 years – and still have enough reactivity to run for decades.

"We give it a life expectancy of 8 years, though, because something else would falter before the fuel would run out."

After shutdown, radiation emitted by the system would decrease rapidly. A replacement system could easily be installed at the same site.

After all, coffee may be in high demand up there!

More Information HERE.

Small reasons for Armstrong Lunar Outpost

NASA's Lunar Rover dazzles students

HOUSTON (KTRK) - By Kevin Quinn - Students at a Houston-area elementary school had a visitor that could soon be out of this world.

NASA's Lunar Rover stopped by St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal School in Nassau Bay Wednesday to bring the students' studies to life. The pressurized vehicle has a cabin that astronauts could theoretically live in for up to two weeks at a time while conducting research on the moon's surface.

"We really think hard about things being redundant, so that if something breaks another system can take over," NASA's Lucien Junkin told the students.

The rover was a big hit among the kids who especially liked the spacesuit mounted on the vehicle. Designed to let astronauts slip into it quickly, the suit would stop crews from having to endure hours of pressurization first.

"I think this is really cool how NASA can build something like this," said student Ian Graham.

Video Clip & Story HERE.

LRO as vital precursor to survival on the Moon

After holding our breath for the better part of the past four decades, the original Lunar Pioneer Research Group anxiously awaits the successful launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, our appetite's whetted by the work of LOIRP and the methodical work of NASA and countless scientists preparing for "extended human activity on the Moon."

As we've endorsed on more than one occasion, the Lunar Precursor Robotics Program is properly deemed essential if what we know about the place of importance the Moon must have in Human destiny will ever to become more widely known. On this issue, at least, we are in full agreement with the National Academy's Space Studies Board.

Those who feel as we do, that a commitment to lunar exploration holds a central role in the ultimate survival of civilization, would do well to take the little time needed to download and read the seminal report issued by the Academy, The Scientific Context for the Exploration of the Moon (2007).

Understanding the progress, advances and delays NASA is making in long-term planning and development (a difficult undertaking for any federal agency necessarily dependent on Congress) seems divided between those who have read this report and those who have not.

In the short-term, from inside the high-pressure stream of snippets issuing 24/7 from PhysOrg.com is a brief report on LRO and its place in the long-term goal of doing the kind of important science in a wide variety of fields on the Moon that 5,000 individuals regularly carry out in the almost equally inhospitable Antarctica.

That PhysOrg.com snippet can be read HERE.

Space studies meet health needs on Earth

Researchers are studying how dust inhaled in the low gravity of the lunar surface acts in the lungs. Chantal Darquenne, PhD, associate professor of medicine, left, and Mark Olfert, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, both at the University of California, San Diego, measure the aerosol deposits in the lungs of Janelle Fine, a UCSD associate development engineer. [Photo courtesy of University of California, San Diego]

American Medical News

amednews.com

Research on astronauts may lead to advances in treating bone loss, asthma and cancer.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff.

Washington -- Researchers are making connections between the health risks of dust on the moon and asthma on Earth; between the sleep problems of astronauts and those of shift workers; and between emergency medical care in space and in war zones.

Several researchers funded by the Houston-based National Space Biomedical Research Institute came to Capitol Hill March 25 to demonstrate solutions they have devised for health problems that might develop during space exploration but could apply to life on earth as well.

NSBRI works in partnership with NASA to sponsor research at universities across the country -- an enterprise supported by policy of the American Medical Association, which encourages medical research that results in potential health care benefits in manned space flights as well as in overall medicine and patient care.

For instance, G. Kim Prisk, PhD, DSc, professor of medicine, physiology and radiology at the University of California, San Diego, brought to the briefing a container of simulated lunar dust resembling black talcum powder, modeling the substance central to his efforts to increase understanding of the lung's inner functioning.

Read the article HERE.

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds

Just what will be the effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds?

Europe may be "shrinking" on nearly every cultural front, faced as it is by challenges new and ancient, but, in case no one noticed, you might want to look in your rearview mirror.

The Ariane V booster, gone from white elephant to expensive success, is mute mockery of NASA budgetary battles over Constellation and the loud talk about Ares. Considering that ESA will roll out and launch the second of a planned eight multi-payload missions from Kourou this weekend, perhaps the United States should take another look at the Atlas hybrids and equally proven Deltas. Does the United States really need another booster?

ESA is a long way from equally skunking NASA's basic research, and the news that marigolds thrive in mock moon regolith, when properly treated with soil-borne bacteria, seems a small achievement in basic experimentation. The ATV Jules Verne is not a glamorous vehicle, and NASA is correct to find a cheaper way to accomplish the Progress duty supplying the International Space Station - but it can't be denied that the European Space Agency appears to be doing a significant part of things NASA is merely planning for.

Being able to create an ecosystem on the Moon is big news, just as the bare-bones budgeted Prospector hearing the faint signature of hydrogen in the back-scatter from impacts of Cosmic Rays at the lunar poles has shaped far more expensive LCROSS/LRO lunar mission, later this year. Human living on the moon will, after all, will be wanting both to eat and drink, as well as breathe. This is a big deal, even if it seems a small thing.

Just a word to the wise. Do not despise the time of small beginnings. This is a competitive environment, not just a ridiculous "Zero-Sum" competition for taxpayer dollars or the challenge of space itself. The Ariane V launch this weekend will be carrying a Lockheed-Martin (read: "American-made") ComSat built for the poorest nation on Earth, Vietnam.

What's wrong with this picture?

University of Maine: More on Lunar Inflatable Habitats

Research into inflatable lunar living 'bubbles' is underway

Dylan Riley

A University of Maine researcher and his team are studying ways to make inflatable structures rigid and durable, which could help make a lunar habitat for astronauts.

Vince Caccese, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is studying ways to rigidify inflatable structures and protect them from harsh environments in order to make materials that are strong and innovative in design. These materials could someday help NASA create a lunar habitat for its planned return to the moon in 2020.

"Our main thrust is on maybe coming up with an innovative concept or two that might help [NASA], and mostly education [of students]," Caccese said.

Among the problems involved in living on the moon is designing a building that can withstand the minus 243 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures, micrometeorite impacts, moonquakes, cosmic rays and solar radiation.

Caccese, along with help from professors in mechanical and civil engineering and students, is testing ways to eliminate shearing strain, which is inherent in inflatable structures, by making parts of them rigid. The method Caccese uses is similar to a composite resin-fiber coating that can be used to strengthen a material when a catalyst-such as heat-is applied. Caccese said the exact method he and his team are testing is slightly different.

Another aspect of the research was optimization and analysis of the structures designed, which Senthil Vel, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is working on, in conjunction with Caccese.

Vel uses computerized genetic algorithms, which select different structures from a "population," and then lets them evolve into better and better forms, and allow him to find the best way to optimize the design of a building. One algorithm can go through thousands of generations before it meets its desired solution.

"We use a certain process of selection based on fitness-basically a survival of the fitness philosophy-and fitness is defined as how well the structure performs. It's more or less mimicking nature," Vel said.

Vel said load-carrying capacity, reduced mass and a high stiffness are some of the main objectives in designing a lunar habitat.

Ali Abedi, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, also works with Caccese, by designing wireless vibration sensors that can be used to monitor a lunar habitat's reaction to micrometeorite impacts and other hazards. The space shuttle uses similar sensors in its impact detectors, but they require miles of wires to operate, making them expensive and heavy. Wireless vibration detectors, like the ones Abedi studies, eliminate wires, but problems arise from signal interference between them and similar technology.

"If we can successfully network all these different sensors, we can basically eliminate all those wires," Abedi said.

Abedi says that the sensors must be able to withstand contrasting hazards such as the intense heat of a space shuttle's engines, as well as the cold moon environment. Abedi's research also focuses on making sensors for detecting other environmental and mechanical factors, such as temperature, radiation, air quality and gas.

Caccese said he keeps in touch with NASA, which expressed interest in the research, but which has its own teams of engineers designing the lunar habitat. NASA has contracted with Bigelow Aerospace Corporation and ILC Dover to build its lunar habitat.

Caccese's research is funded through money from the Maine Space Grant Consortium.

Caccese worked at the Johnson Space Center two years ago, helping to design an impact detection system for the leading edge of space shuttle wings, which was used successfully on post-Columbia missions.

Of a Garden on the Moon, Part 1

Ken Murphy
Out of the Cradle
Archives
One of the key questions for early Lunar selenologists was whether or not the regolith of the Moon could support life. The results were pretty conclusively no, as most of the elements that we consider important for life such as carbon and nitrogen are scarce to be found. This would seem to make the Moon a pretty rotten place to try to grow plants, but there’s a strong likelihood that the Moon could turn out to be a fantastic place to grow the plants of Earth.

Early settlers are going to be looking to go deep underground on the Moon, with lots of rock above them to protect them from the vacuum and radiation. This does not mean that Moon dwellers will end up as troglodytes, as modern technology has given us many tools to work with that can help us create a subselenian paradise on the Moon.

While early plans for a Moonbase typically settled for an near-equatorial location to help keep the orbital mechanics easy and resupply cheap, newer ways of looking at how we return to the Moon, such as using an Earth-Moon L-1 platform as a staging location, are giving increasing consideration to polar locations. The difficulty of access is offset by what appears to be large supplies of hydrogen (in some form, currently unknown but hoped to be water) in the everdark craters at the North and South poles. There appears to be more at the North pole, but the more rugged terrain of the South pole, perched on the rim of the Aitken Basin, offers more interesting opportunities.

Read more HERE.

Run, Don’t Walk, To Your Nearest Moon Base

Written by Nancy Atkinson

UNIVERSE TODAY

Running is more efficient than walking for humans wearing spacesuits on the moon, according to a new study. A laboratory simulation of moonwalking found that pressurized spacesuits act as springs for our legs, and on the moon this effect is most pronounced during activity where the knee is bending at a greater angle, such as running. These findings may help NASA develop more efficient and comfortable spacesuits for future moon explorers, while also assisting research in prostheses for amputees. And who knows, maybe it could even promote the first lunar marathon run.

Read more from the indispensible UT HERE.