{"project":{"acronym":"","projectId":32727,"title":"Asteroid Icy Regolith Excavation and Volatile Capture","primaryTaxonomyNodes":[{"taxonomyNodeId":10722,"taxonomyRootId":8816,"parentNodeId":10721,"level":3,"code":"TX07.1.1","title":"Destination Reconnaissance and Resource Assessment","definition":"Destination reconnaissance and resource assessment technologies characterize, sample, and map the surface environment to quantify the locations and abundances of material and energy resources accessible from the surface. Orbital remote sensing or deployed surface devices and instruments are used to probe, sample, and analyze possible dynamic atmospheric and surface/subsurface material composition and physical/chemical properties. This mapping includes the combination of environmental, terrain, geological, and resource information to estimate accessibility and plan extraction operations.","exampleTechnologies":"Instruments and devices to: detect, locate, and quantify specific surface and subsurface chemical species (such as water or other high-value elements or minerals); determine properties of the destination atmosphere including composition, dynamic behavior, and other environmental factors related to utilization of atmospheric resources; measure geotechnical (mechanical) properties of the destination surface and subsurface for assessments of resource accessibility; assess or measure interactions between the surface environment and exploration capabilities (e.g. rocket plumes) that may affect resource accessibility; and models and simulate to extend discrete-site resource sampling into a broader mapping of accessible resources","hasChildren":false,"hasInteriorContent":true}],"startTrl":3,"currentTrl":3,"endTrl":5,"benefits":"
This project fundamentally changes NASA’s ability to understand the soil mechanics and the forces required to drill, sample, and excavate icy regolith in a relevant environment.
NASA’s Return on Investment: NASA’s technology development for icy planetary surface missions cannot be completed without this new capability. The results will enable the acceleration of technological know-how and science related to planetary icy regolith and will result in state-of-the-art capabilities for NASA and outside customers.
Non-NASA benefits – (commercial applications, etc.)
The rapid emergence of commercial ventures aimed at exploiting space resources creates potential users of the new capabilities and the related technologies.
The technology will benefit the future commercial space mining community with designing efficient regolith excavators and drilling technologies for use on asteroids and other planetary bodies.
","description":"Icy regolith simulants will be produced in a relevant vacuum environment using various minerals, including hydrated minerals, that are found in C-type meteorites and in other types of planetary regolith. This will allow us to characterize the mechanical strength of the icy regolith as a function of ice content using penetration, excavation, and sample capture devices. The results of this study will benefit engineers in designing efficient regolith excavators and ISRU processing systems for future exploration missions to asteroids and other planetary bodies.
This study will help to inform engineers designing regolith excavators and ISRU processing systems for future exploration missions to asteroids and other planetary bodies. Icy regolith simulants will be produced in a relevant vacuum environment using various minerals, including hydrated minerals, that are found in C-type meteorites and in other types of planetary regolith. This will allow us to characterize the mechanical strength of the icy regolith as a function of ice content using penetration, excavation, and sample capture devices.
The project utilizes technologies developed under a FY14 project to excavate and measure the mechanical properties of icy regolith under relevant atmospheric conditions . The earlier project tested icy regolith using a 1/8 scale test setup and also developed a full-scale test system for regolith excavation, sample capture and soil mechanics studies. Technical challenges include preparing icy regolith at cryogenic temperatures inside a vacuum chamber, and controlling the environmental conditions, i.e., low temperature and high-vacuum pressure.
Key project objectives:
Use the novel methods developed under an earlier project that produced mixtures of ice and lunar (or Martian) regolith simulant under low pressure in an existing laboratory vacuum chamber at KSC. In this project, we will use other planetary regolith simulants including BP-1 and especially asteroid simulants that will be developed in collaboration with the University of Central Florida's Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) which is a member of NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI).
Use the Regolith Excavation and Soil Mechanics Test System developed under the previous project to measure penetration and excavation forces on a full scale system, and to test a sample capture device.
","startYear":2015,"startMonth":6,"endYear":2016,"endMonth":5,"statusDescription":"Completed","principalInvestigators":[{"contactId":197318,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"James","lastName":"Mantovani","fullName":"James G Mantovani","fullNameInverted":"Mantovani, James G","middleInitial":"G","primaryEmail":"james.g.mantovani@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programManagers":[{"contactId":37541,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Barbara","lastName":"Brown","fullName":"Barbara L Brown","fullNameInverted":"Brown, Barbara L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"barbara.l.brown@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"projectManagers":[{"contactId":349998,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Nancy","lastName":"Zeitlin","fullName":"Nancy P Zeitlin","fullNameInverted":"Zeitlin, Nancy P","middleInitial":"P","primaryEmail":"jedi.master.adama@gmail.com","publicEmail":false,"nacontact":false}],"coInvestigators":[{"contactId":187521,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Ivan","lastName":"Townsend","fullName":"Ivan I Townsend","fullNameInverted":"Townsend, Ivan I","middleInitial":"I","primaryEmail":"van.townsend@connectkit.com","publicEmail":false,"nacontact":false},{"contactId":3343,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Adam","lastName":"Swanger","fullName":"Adam M Swanger","fullNameInverted":"Swanger, Adam M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"adam.m.swanger@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"website":"","libraryItems":[{"files":[],"id":22086,"title":"KSC-13933","libraryItemTypeId":762,"projectId":32727,"primary":false,"publishedDateString":"","contentType":{"lkuCodeId":762,"code":"LINK","description":"Link","lkuCodeTypeId":341,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"LIBRARY_ITEM_TYPE","description":"Library Item Type"}}},{"files":[],"id":22087,"title":"KSC-13934","libraryItemTypeId":762,"projectId":32727,"primary":false,"publishedDateString":"","contentType":{"lkuCodeId":762,"code":"LINK","description":"Link","lkuCodeTypeId":341,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"LIBRARY_ITEM_TYPE","description":"Library Item Type"}}}],"transitions":[],"responsibleMd":{"acronym":"MSD","canUserEdit":false,"city":"","external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4910,"organizationName":"Mission Support Directorate","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"program":{"acronym":"KSC IRAD","active":true,"description":"The Center Chief Technologist at Kennedy Space Center sponsors one or more internal solicitations throughout each year depending on available funds. These NASA internal solicitations use a blend of Independent Research and Development (IRAD), Center Innovation Fund (CIF) and/or Core Technical Capabilities (CTC) Special Studies funds to stimulate and encourage technology development, creativity, and innovation.
The objective is to address the technology needs and gaps of the Agency, as well as the nation. For these reasons, IRAD funds distributed to Kennedy Space Center support emerging technologies and creative initiatives that leverage the Center’s talent pool and unique capabilities. The program consists of relatively short term projects (typically a year or less in duration) which are awarded internally through a competitive proposal process at the discretion of the Center Chief Technologist. Basic criteria for the program have been outlined by NASA Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) with fair latitude at the discretion of each Center Chief Technologist.
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