Searching for potential ice-rich mining sites on the Moon with the Lunar Volatiles Scout

Multiple remote observations have indicated the existence of ice deposits in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) near the lunar poles, nurturing hopes of possible future resource exploitation. However, the interpretation of the orbital data remains ambiguous and ground truth data is necessary for validation. The Lunar Volatiles Scout (LVS) is an integrated instrument for regolith sampling, gas extraction, and analysis that enables mobile prospecting for lunar volatiles, such as loosely adsorbed water and subsurface ice up to a depth of 10 cm. This study presents results of breadboarding activities using an integrated prototype of the LVS instrument to investigate soil insertion and to demonstrate gas extraction and analysis in thermal vacuum. The required vertical force for LVS insertion into dry and ice-bearing regolith was determined to be less than 15 N and sample-to-sample cross-contamination was found to be negligible. Thermal-vacuum test results proved the successful extraction of water from a hydrated lunar regolith simulant and detection of species across a mass to charge ratio m/z range of 15–200

The LUVMI Volatile Sampler and Volatile Analysis Package for in Situ ISRU Applications on the Moon and Other Airless Bodies

Recent remote sensing missions have established the presence of water-ice in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) located at the lunar poles, offering the possibility of a source of material for future in situ resource utilisation (ISRU). ISRU offers the opportunity to make use of locally available resources and to potentially reduce the costs associated with transporting materials such as water, hydrogen, and oxygen to the lunar surface. The LUVMI rover is an innovative, low mass, mobile robotic payload designed specifically for operations at the South Pole of the Moon with a range of several kilometers and will perform volatile prospecting for potential lunar resources. This study presents the LUVMI volatiles sampler (VS) and volatiles analyser (VA) that have been developed and validated up to technology readiness level (TRL) 5-6 to address the question of in-situ volatile extraction and characterization

Ge-Se-Sb-N-based OTS scaling perspectives for high-density 1S1R crossbar arrays

International audienceIn this paper, we address the scalability of GeSeSbN based Ovonic Threshold Switch selector for high density crossbar integration. Impact of cell size down to 80nm on selector electrical characteristics, typical switching voltages and currents are deeply investigated on kbit arrays. Experimental results, combined with semi-analytical model, demonstrate a filamentary behavior in the OTS switching operation. OTS endurance failure is investigated. Device breakdown is correlated to a maximum amount of electronic charges flowing through the stack. Cell downscaling improves OTS insulating capabilities without any switching voltage increase, allowing high density crossbar integration and low voltage consumption, with 200Mb bank size estimated for 80nm OTS cell size with similar to 2.3V switching voltage

Insight into the benefits of ESA Education activities: an overview of the next European space-related workforce

Growing efforts are currently being addressed by ESA to support the next-generation of space professionals and researchers. ESA’s Education Office is successfully creating a network of individuals sharing and promoting dedication to space technology on the basis of the values of trust and cooperation. In this framework, students and early-career researchers can rely on experienced tutors and professionals to improve their area of expertise effectively.This paper provides a detailed insight of the utterly positive return on the careers of who had first-hand experience of ESA’s Academy activities, both through training courses and hands-on projects (as REXUS/BEXUS program). The authors have contributed in many different and unexpected ways to the advancement of their fields of study and/or work. Accordingly, the outcome of this paper is a vivid and varied patchwork of people from various professional backgrounds reflecting on their experience and thus depicting the actual situation of the young European generation in the space sector.What links the authors of this paper together is their participation in the five-day didactic training course “Concurrent Engineering Workshop” held in May 2018 at ESA ESEC facility. During the workshop, the students worked as a team to develop a mission architecture for a satellite impacting the Moon surface, surviving and deploying a scientific rover: LIAR mission (Lunar Impactor And Rover). The concurrent design study offered a realistic environment to work within, amidst different scientific backgrounds and expertise, thus leading to a challenging and rewarding learning opportunity. This paper will also discuss the Concurrent Engineering development cycle, by giving an overview of main carried out activities to present the most important lessons learned.During their involvement in ESA’s educational programs,the participants had been given a precious perspective on the tools and strategies behind ESA’s space missions. One year later, the participants are still in contact and committed to fruitful collaboration aimed, among other things, at creating a space start-up. The example highlights that educational support constantly proves to be the key to a successful and prolific future of space sector by encouraging and technically challenging passionate students

1S1R sub-threshold operation in Crossbar arrays for low power BNN inference computing

International audienceWe experimentally validated the sub-threshold reading strategy in OxRAM+OTS crossbar arrays for low precision inference in Binarized Neural Networks. In order to optimize the 1S1R sub-threshold current margin, an experimental and theoretical statistical study on HfO$_2$-based 1S1R stacks with various OTS technologies has been performed. Impact of device features (OxRAM RHRS, OTS non-linearity and OTS threshold current) on 1S1R sub-threshold reading is elucidated. Accuracy and power consumption of a Binarized Neural Network designed in 28nm CMOS have been estimated with Monte Carlo simulations. A gain of 3 orders of magnitude in power consumption is demonstrated in comparison with conventional threshold reading strategy, while preserving the same network accuracy

LUVMI-X: A Versatile Platform for Resource Prospecting on the Moon

Our current knowledge about the Moon's resource potential is limited to remote-sensing measurements and the analysis of Apollo-era samples. Even though there are persistent indications for substantial deposits of water and other volatiles-especially in the lunar polar regions-high-resolution mapping and in-situ measurements are required to assess the technical feasibility and economic viability of exploiting them. The LUVMI-X mission will use a 50-kg rover equipped with complementary instrumentation to prospect illuminated and shadowed areas in the Moon's polar regions through the use of laser spectroscopy, neutron spectroscopy, and direct sampling in combination with mass spectroscopy. It will also analyze the regolith composition and characterize the surface radiation environment