AnInternationalStrategicApproachonIn-SituResource

Utilization(ISRU)

JohnGruener,NASAJohnsonSpaceCenterNASACommunityWorkshopontheGlobalExplorationRoadmap

NASAAmesResearchCenter30November2017

ISRU:GlobalExplorationRoadmap

u MajorThemes:• WhileIn-SituResourceUtilization(ISRU)hasbeenproposedfordecadesasawaytolimitthecostandcomplexityoflong-termhumanpresencebeyondlowearthorbit,thisconceptofoperationisstillunproveninspace- ISRUcomponentsandsystemstestedonEarth(labs,environmentchambers,analogues)- ISECGagenciesseeISRUasanimportantcomponentoflong-term,sustainableexploration

• Wateristhemostimportantspaceresourcetopursue- Presentatthelunarpoles,asteroids,andontheMarssurface- Greatestpotentialforreducingcost/riskandimprovingsustainabilityofexploration

• TheMoonisagoodplacetostartISRUdemonstrations- ProximitytoEarth- Abundantanddiverseresources,includingwaterice- Commercialopportunities

• InitiallybuildstrategicknowledgearoundthreeISRUfunctions:- RoboticactivitycouldbesupportedbycrewattheGateway/surface

ResourceProspecting

ResourceProcessing

Demonstrations

ResourceAcquisition

Demonstrations

TheUseofSpaceResources– AShortHistory

u 1951– ArthurC.Clarke• “Thefirstlunarexplorerswillprobablybemainlyinterestedinthemineralresourcesof

theirnewworld,andupontheseitsfuturewillverylargelydepend.”

u 1985– LunarBasesandSpaceActivitiesofthe21st Century• Followedupbysecondconferencein1988• NASASP-509,SpaceResourcesreleasedin1991

u 1986thru2009– seriesofUSPresidentialappointedNASAadvisorystudiesadvocatingutilizinglocalplanetaryresources

u 1990– MarsDirectbyRobertZubrin• NASADRMs1to5(1991-2009)includeISRUpropellantforMarsascent

u ISRUCurrentlyDiscussedinManyForums• AmericanSocietyCivilEngineers,AmericaInstituteofAeronauticsandAstronautics• SpaceResourceRoundtable,Planetary&TerrestrialMiningScienceSymposium

u GlobalExplorationRoadmap• 2010– GlobalPointofDepartureincludesoxygenfromlunarregolith• 2011– ISRUlistedasakeysupportingobjective• 2013- Onepagedescriptionoftheuseoflocalresources• 2018- ThebeginningofinternationalframeworkforISRUandlunarpolarvolatiles

TheUseofSpaceResources– ACurrentPerspective

u Characterizingandeventuallyusingspaceresourcesisconsideredaimportantcomponentforlong-term,sustainablehumanexploration

u Despiteover65yearsofdiscussion,therehavebeenZEROdemonstrationsofISRUinspace

u UntilresourceavailabilityisassuredandISRUcapabilitieshavebeendemonstrated,spaceagenciesarehesitanttorelyonspaceresourcesandISRUforanymissioncriticalfunction

u SpaceAgenciesareplanningandinitiatingmissionsthatbegintobetterunderstandspaceresourcesanddemonstratekeyISRUtechnologiesandcapabilities• Initialfocusison:

- Lunarpolarvolatiles(i.e.,Luna27,ResourceProspector,Chandrayaan-2,SELENE-R)

- WateronMars(i.e.,Mars2020,ExoMars 2020)andasteroids- Marsatmosphereprocessing(i.e.,Mars2020)

Luna27

ResourceProspector

International Lunar Robotic Exploration Mission Timeline

2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 2027 2029

Participationw/Luna27

Chandrayaan 2

Chandrayaan 2(Nearside,+rover)

Chang’E-5(Nearside,Sample

Return)

Luna26Ressurs-1

Luna27Ressurs-1SouthPole

ResourceProspector(+rover)

Polar andnon-polarlandingandsamplereturnmissionconceptsunderstudy

Chang’E-4(Farside,+rover)

SLIM

=OrbitingMissions =PolarLandedMissions,(>85°lat)

=Non-polarLandedMissions,(≤85°lat)

Luna28GruntSampleReturn(After2025)

KPLO

SELENE-R(+rover)

Participationw/HERACLES

Participationw/HERACLES

Luna25Glob

(nearside)

Participationw/HERACLES

LunarFlashlightLunarIceCubeLunaH-MapSkyfire (flyby)

EQUULEUS(EML2)

OMOTENASHI(impactor)

ISRUDemo

LunarPathfinder

As of November 2017

=LandingRegionTBD

LunarPolarEnvironment

u Lowlunarobliquity(1° 32’)• Geometrystableforthelast~2billionyears• Grazingsunlightandextendedshadowsatthepoles• Terminatoralwaysnearby

u Areasofquasi-permanentlight• Localtopographichighsstandabovethelocalhorizon• Low,constantsurfacetemperatures(~220K± 10K)• Highsolarfluxonverticalsurfaces• Serveaslocationsforsolarpowergeneration

u Areasofpermanentdarkness• Localdepressionswithonlyscatteredlightorstarlight• Nodirectsolarillumination• Verylowtemperatures(~30-50K)• Serveas‘coldtraps’forvolatiles,includingwaterice

u ViewfromEarth• Sunlitareas– approx.twoweeksofvisibilityfollowedbytwo

weeksobscured• Shadowedareas– permanentlyobscured

Southpole

LunarPolarLightingStudies

u HistoricalPerspective• In1837,GermanastronomersBeerandMadler originatedtheideaof

somelunarpolarmountainpeaksreceiving“eternalsunshine”,latersupportedbyFrenchastronomerFlammarionin1879

• TheideaofpermanentlyshadowedcraterswasdiscussedbyUreyinThePlanets,TheirOriginandDevelopment(1952)

• ThepossibilityoficeexistingonthefloorsofpolarshadowedcraterssuggestedbyWatsonetal.,J.Geophys.Res.66,3033(1961)

u SpacecraftObservations• ImageryfromClementinewasfirstusedtounderstandthelunarpolar

lightingconditions- Bussey etal.,Geophy.Res.Let.26,1187(1999)• SimilarstudieshavebeenconductedusingimageryfromSMART-1,

SELENE-1,andLRO• LunarOrbiterLaserAltimeter(LOLA)andLunarReconnaissanceOrbiter

Camera(LROC)ontheLROspacecraftallowednewmodeledanalysesoflightingconditions– i.e.,Mazarico etal.,Icarus 211,1066(2011)

• Thearenopeaksof‘eternallight’,howevertherearenumerouslocationsthatareilluminated>75%ofthetimeatthesurface,someareilluminated>85%ofthetime

• Solararraysreaching10mabovethesurfacewouldreceiveevengreaterillumination,upto93%ofthetime

• Multiplelocationsworkingtogethercanprovide100%illumination,butthesearegenerallyseparatedby10sofkm

12

4

20

19

710

18

8

13

11

1

2

15

14

3

21

22

17

16

9

23

6 5

site average illumination longitude latitude altitude

1 87.94 222.69 -89.45 1.958

1 84.54 223.25 -89.45 1.955

1 83.86 222.08 -89.45 1.956

2 86.65 203.20 -89.79 1.733

2 85.54 202.38 -89.78 1.732

2 82.63 204.08 -89.80 1.728

3 85.57 123.11 -88.80 1.643

4 82.29 37.59 -85.54 6.111

5 82.28 2.44 -86.01 5.130

6 82.21 357.82 -85.96 4.991

7 82.03 31.76 -85.42 6.442

8 80.23 292.02 -88.68 1.800

9 80.07 243.27 -85.74 2.841

9 78.29 243.85 -85.83 2.675

10 78.41 29.37 -85.48 6.174

11 78.05 246.27 -89.32 1.682

12 77.57 39.41 -84.67 7.001

13 77.38 263.81 -89.01 1.546

14 77.15 193.79 -87.99 1.276

15 76.99 54.21 -89.79 1.433

16 76.79 245.01 -85.43 3.226

17 76.58 243.29 -85.09 3.751

18 76.51 292.54 -88.46 1.574

19 75.89 38.35 -84.84 6.880

20 74.65 37.11 -85.28 6.738

21 73.11 131.88 -88.87 1.435

21 71.62 132.18 -88.86 1.433

22 72.49 147.77 -87.98 0.936

23 72.29 337.15 -86.37 2.790

23 72.15 324.44 -83.68 5.532

(from E. Mazarico)

*NOTE: 87.94% at surface level, at 10 m above surface it increases to ~95%

LRO/LOLAResultsAverageIllumination:LunarSouthPoleRegion

LunarPolarWaterIce

u RadarExperiments• Clementinebi-staticradarexperiment;Chrandrayaan-1Mini-SAR

instrument;LROMini-RFinstrument• Spudis etal.,Sol.Sys.Res.32,17(1998);Spudis etal.,J.Geophys.Res.

Planets 118,1(2013)• Circularpolarizationratio(CPR)andcoherentbackscatteroppositioneffect

(CBOE)frompolarlocationsontheMoonsuggestthepresenceofwaterice

u NeutronSpectroscopy• NeutronspectrometersflownonbothLunarProspectorandLunar

ReconnaissanceOrbiter(LRO)• Feldmanetal.,Science 281,1496(1998);Mitrofanov etal.,Science 330,

483(2010)• Detected“excess”hydrogen(~2-3xglobalaverage)associatedwithlarge

polarregions,particularlypermanentlyshadowedregions• Enhancedhydrogenoverpolesconsistentwith~1-2%watericeor

increasedamountofretainedsolarwind• State,ornature,ofhydrogennotdetermined

u LunarCraterObservationandSensingSatellite(LCROSS)• ImpactedpermanentlyshadowedfloorofCabeus craternearsouthpole• Provideddirect evidenceofwatervaporinejecta plume• Colaprete etal.,Science 330,463(2010)• Averageconcentrationofwatericeintheregolithisestimatedtobe5.6±

2.9%bymass• Resultssuggestthereisspatialheterogeneityofwatericeatscales<10km

Redcurve=watervapor/icemodelfitYellowregions=waterabsorptionbands

LCROSSPolarVolatileAbundances

NOTE:fromColaprete etal.2010,DetectionofWaterintheLCROSSEjecta Plume,SCIENCE,Vol.330,22Oct.2010

u http://lunarvolatiles.nasa.gov

u InformationRepository• Thecaseforpolarvolatiles• Strategicissues• Knowledge/capabilitygaps• Agencyactivities• Calendar

u VirtualWorkshops• HostedbyNASASSERVI• Archivedaudio/video• Archivedpresentations(.pdf)• Findings

u Library• Scientificdata• Engineeringtests• Architecture/missionconcepts• Linkstojournals/meetings

ISECGLunarPolarVolatilesWebsite

ISRU:OverallScope

u ISRUoverallscopeincludesbroadarrayoffunctions:

InternationalNear-termFocusforSpaceResourcesandISRU

u ISRUoverallscopeincludesbroadarrayoffunctions:

GER ISRU approach to initially focus on these three functions

UnderstandingtheISRUPotential:TheInitialSteps

u ResourceProspecting• Objectives

- Groundtruththatresourcesarepresentandaccessible- Establishingthegradeandtonnageoftheresource‘ore’

• ISECGagenciesfocusinginitialeffortson;- lunarpolarvolatiles- SubsurfacewatericeonMars(ExoMars 2020WISDOM)- Hydratedminerals/watericeonnear-Earthasteroids

u ResourceAcquisitionDemonstrations• Physicallyacquiringidentifiedresources

- Subsurfacedrills(Luna27,ResourceProspector)• Demonstratingcriticaltechnologiesforlargerscaleoperations

- Marsatmosphere(MOXIE– Mars2020)

u ResourceProcessingDemonstrations• Objective:Turningrawmaterialsintousefulproducts• Waterproductionfromice-bearingregolithandhydratedminerals• Oxygenproductionfromregolith• OxygenandfuelproductionfromMarsatmosphere

ISRU:CommercialOpportunities

u Theproductionofmaterialgoodsandenergyfromnaturalresources,isroutinelydoneonEarthbycommercialenterprisesandentrepreneurs.

u AnimportantroleofspaceagenciesistodevelopnewISRUtechnologiestodrivedowntherisksassociatedwithusingspaceresources

u Iftheuseofspaceresourcesisproventobenotonlypossible,buteconomicallyadvantageous,itisenvisionedthatcommercialcompanieswillplayalargerroleinexecutingISRUcapabilitiesandneeds.

u Potentialcommercialopportunities• LunardeliveryofISRUpayloadsanddemonstrations• Utilityservices(i.e.,electricity,communications)• Productionofrocketpropellantsandlifesupportconsumables• Technologyspin-inandspin-offtoterrestrialindustryandapplicationsforminingand

renewableenergy