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NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Technology and Development Project OverviewSince the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) was released in 2004, NASA, in conjunction with international space agencies, industry, and academia, has continued to define and refine plans for sustained and affordable robotic and human exploration of the Moon and beyond. With the goal of establishing a lunar Outpost on the Moon to extend human presence, pursue scientific activities, use the Moon to prepare for future human missions to Mars, and expand Earth s economic sphere, a change in how space exploration is performed is required. One area that opens up the possibility for the first time of breaking our reliance on Earth supplied consumables and learn to live off the land is In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). ISRU, which involves the extraction and processing of space resources into useful products, can have a substantial impact on mission and architecture concepts. In particular, the ability to make propellants, life support consumables, and fuel cell reagents can significantly reduce the cost, mass, and risk of sustained human activities beyond Earth. However, ISRU is an unproven capability for human lunar exploration and can not be put in the critical path of lunar Outpost success until it has been proven. Therefore, ISRU development and deployment needs to take incremental steps toward the desired end state. To ensure ISRU capabilities are available for pre-Outpost and Outpost deployment by 2020, and mission and architecture planners are confident that ISRU can meet initial and long term mission requirements, the ISRU Project is developing technologies and systems in three critical areas: (1) Regolith Excavation, Handling and Material Transportation; (2) Oxygen Extraction from Regolith; and (3) Volatile Extraction and Resource Prospecting, and in four development stages: (I) Demonstrate feasibility; (II) Evolve system w/ improved technologies; (III) Develop one or more systems to TRL 6 before start of flight development; and (IV) Flight development for Outpost. To minimize cost and ensure that ISRU technologies, systems, and functions are integrated properly into the Outpost, technology development efforts are being coordinated with other development areas such as Surface Mobility, Surface Power, Life Support, EVA, and Propulsion. Lastly, laboratory and field system-level tests and demonstrations will be performed as often as possible to demonstrate improvements in: Capabilities (ex. digging deeper); Performance (ex. lower power); and Duration (ex. more autonomy or more robustness). This presentation will provide the status of work performed to date within the NASA ISRU project with respect to technology and system development and field demonstration activities, as well as the current strategy to implement ISRU in future robotic and human lunar exploration missions.
Document ID
20080010672
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Sanders, Gerald B.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Lason, William E.
(NASA Kennedy Space Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)
Sacksteder, Kurt R.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Mclemore, Carole
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Johnson, Kenneth
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
February 10, 2008
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Meeting Information
Meeting: Space Technology Applications International Forum
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Country: United States
Start Date: February 10, 2008
End Date: February 14, 2008
Sponsors: New Mexico Univ.
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 083229.04.18.01.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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