Development of Lunar Highland REgolith Simulants, NU-LHT-1M,-2M

As part of a collaborative agreement between the U.S, Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) lunar highland simulants are being produced to support engineers and scientists in developing the technologies required to put a base on the moon by 2024. Two simulants have been produced to date: NU-LHT-1M and -2M (NASA/USGS-Lunar Highlands Type-l & 2 Medium-grained). Using starting material chiefly collected from the Stillwater Mine, Nye, MT, blending protocols were developed based on normative mineralogy calculated from average chemistry, for the Apollo 16 regolith. New technologies using a high temperature remotely coupled plasma melter were developed to generate both high quality and agglutinitic glasses that simulate the glassy components of the regolith. Detailed chemical, mineralogical and physical properties analysis of NU-LHT-1M indicate that it is overall a good surrogate for highlands lunar regolith (our new simulant LHT-2M has not be analyzed yet). The primary difference between 1M and 2M was the inclusion of trace mineralogy (phosphates and sulfide). Plans will also be presented on the future direction of the simulant project

NASA Lunar Regolith Simulant Program

Lunar regolith simulant production is absolutely critical to returning man to the Moon. Regolith simulant is used to test hardware exposed to the lunar surface environment, simulate health risks to astronauts, practice in situ resource utilization (ISRU) techniques, and evaluate dust mitigation strategies. Lunar regolith simulant design, production process, and management is a cooperative venture between members of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The MSFC simulant team is a satellite of the Dust group based at Glenn Research Center. The goals of the cooperative group are to (1) reproduce characteristics of lunar regolith using simulants, (2) produce simulants as cheaply as possible, (3) produce simulants in the amount needed, and (4) produce simulants to meet users? schedules

From Lunar Regolith to Fabricated Parts: Technology Developments and the Utilization of Moon Dirt

The U.S. Space Exploration Policy has as a cornerstone the establishment of an outpost on the moon. This lunar outpost wil1 eventually provide the necessary planning, technology development, testbed, and training for manned missions in the future beyond the Moon. As part of the overall activity, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is investigating how the in situ resources can be utilized to improve mission success by reducing up-mass, improving safety, reducing risk, and bringing down costs for the overall mission. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), along with other NASA centers, is supporting this endeavor by exploring how lunar regolith can be mined for uses such as construction, life support, propulsion, power, and fabrication. An infrastructure capable of fabrication and nondestructive evaluation will be needed to support habitat structure development and maintenance, tools and mechanical parts fabrication, as well as repair and replacement of space-mission hardware such as life-support items, vehicle components, and crew systems, This infrastructure will utilize the technologies being developed under the In Situ Fabrication and Repair (ISFR) element, which is working in conjunction with the technologies being developed under the In Situ Resources Utilization (ISRU) element, to live off the land. The ISFR Element supports the Space Exploration Initiative by reducing downtime due to failed components; decreasing risk to crew by recovering quickly from degraded operation of equipment; improving system functionality with advanced geometry capabilities; and enhancing mission safety by reducing assembly part counts of original designs where possible. This paper addresses the need and plan for understanding the properties of the lunar regolith to determine the applicability of using this material in a fabrication process. This effort includes the development of high fidelity simulants that will be used in fabrication processes on the ground to drive down risk and increase the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) prior to implementing this capability on the moon. Also discussed in this paper is the on-going research using Electron Beam Melting (EBM) technology as a possible solution to manufacturing parts and spares on the Moon's surface

Automated inspection of nuclear fuel pellets

The evolutionary development of the automated fuel pellet inspection system has involved several man years of effort and the testing of five different engineering prototypes. Experience gained from the process testing of this latest generation of the automated fuel pellet gaging system will be used to design and build a production unit which is completely automated and can be maintained remotely

Sustainable Human Presence on the Moon using In Situ Resources

New capabilities, technologies and infrastructure must be developed to enable a sustained human presence on the moon and beyond. The key to having this permanent presence is the utilization of in situ resources. To this end, NASA is investigating how in situ resources can be utilized to improve mission success by reducing up-mass, improving safety, reducing risk, and bringing down costs for the overall mission. To ensure that this capability is available when needed, technology development is required now. NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is supporting this endeavor, along with other NASA centers, by exploring how lunar regolith can be mined for uses such as construction, life support, propulsion, power, and fabrication. Efforts at MSFC include development of lunar regolith simulant for hardware testing and development, extraction of oxygen and other materials from the lunar regolith, production of parts and tools on the moon from local materials or from provisioned feedstocks, and capabilities to show that produced parts are "ready for use". This paper discusses the lunar regolith, how the regolith is being replicated in the development of simulants and possible uses of the regolith

Negotiating sacred roles:a sociological exploration of priests who are mothers

In 1992, in a historic move, the Church of England voted to allow women's ordination to priesthood and in 1994 the first women priests started to be ordained. Despite much research interest, the experiences of priests who are mothers to dependent children have been minimally investigated. Based on in-depth interviews with seventeen mothers ordained in the Church, this paper will focus on how the sacred-profane boundary is managed. Priests who are mothers have a particular insight into the Church hierarchy as they symbolically straddle the competing discourses of sacred and profane. However, instead of reifying these binaries, the experiences of these women show how such dualisms are challenged and managed in everyday life. Indeed, in terms of experience, ritual, ministry and preaching, priests who are mothers are resisting, recasting and renegotiating sacred terrain in subtle and nuanced ways. Mothers thus not only negotiate the practical and sacramental demands placed on priests, but also illuminate how the sacred domain is regulated and constructed

Transanal total mesorectal excision: a pure NOTES approach for selected patients

Background: The concept of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) has stimulated the development of various “incisionless” procedures. One of the most popular is the transanal approach for rectal lesions. The aims of this study were to report how we standardized NOTES technique for transanal mesorectal excision without abdominal assistance, discuss the difficulties and surgical outcomes of this technique and report its feasibility in a small group of selected patients. Methods: Three consecutive female patients underwent transanal NOTES rectal resection without transabdominal laparoscopic assistance for rectal lesions. Functional results were assessed with the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life scale and the Wexner score. Results: The technical steps are described in details and complemented with a video. All procedures were completed without transabdominal laparoscopic help. The mesorectal plane was entirely dissected without any disruption, and distal and circumferential margins were tumor-free. No major complications were observed. Functional results show a significant impairment after surgery with improvement at 6 months to levels near those of the preoperative period. Conclusions: The performance and publication of NOTES procedures are subject to much discussion. Despite the small number of patients, this procedure appears feasible and can be accomplished maintaining fecal continence and respecting oncologic principles

Tumor-induced STAT3 activation in monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells enhances stemness and mesenchymal properties in human pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer (PC) mobilizes myeloid cells from the bone marrow to the tumor where they promote tumor growth and proliferation. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a population of tumor cells that are responsible for tumor initiation. Aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 activity in PC identifies CSCs, and its activity has been correlated with poor overall prognosis in human PC. Myeloid cells have been shown to impact tumor stemness, but the impact of immunosuppressive tumor-infiltrating granulocytic and monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (Mo-MDSC) on ALDH1(Bright) CSCs and epithelial to mesenchymal transition is not well understood. In this study, we demonstrate that Mo-MDSC (CD11b(+)/Gr1(+)/Ly6G(−)/Ly6C(hi)) significantly increase the frequency of ALDH1(Bright) CSCs in a mouse model of PC. Additionally, there was significant upregulation of genes associated with epithelial to mesenchymal transition. We also found that human PC converts CD14(+) peripheral blood monocytes into Mo-MDSC (CD14(+)/HLA-DR(low/−)) in vitro, and this transformation is dependent on the activation of the STAT3 pathway. In turn, these Mo-MDSC increase the frequency of ALDH1(Bright) CSCs and promote mesenchymal features of tumor cells. Finally, blockade of STAT3 activation reversed the increase in ALDH1(Bright) CSCs. These data suggest that the PC tumor microenvironment transforms monocytes to Mo-MDSC by STAT3 activation, and these cells increase the frequency of ALDH1(Bright) CSCs. Therefore, targeting STAT3 activation may be an effective therapeutic strategy in targeting CSCs in PC. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00262-014-1527-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users