Overview of Past Lunar In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Development by NASA

The presentation gives an overview of past NASA work on lunar in situ resource utilization during the Constellation Program from 2005 to 2010 with some updates since then. The presentation is based on charts created from past and recent presentations

Space Resources and Mining: Current Objectives, Plans, and Missions

Why are Space Resources and Their Use Important? There are many reasons why people and nations want to explore space, and there are many different ways in which space can be explored. A critical interface linking both the why and the how of space exploration is the identification, extraction, and use of resources in space. In both NASAs Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration released in October of 2015 and the Global Exploration Roadmap released in August 2013, the ability to find, quantify, extract, process, and use space resources was identified as a critical objective by NASA and over 14 other space agencies for achieving affordable and sustainable human exploration beyond Earths orbit, encouraging and creating new commercial entities and markets based on space activities, and increasing the terrestrial economy and quality-of-life benefits for all humankind. Robotic and especially human space exploration up to this point in time can be considered to be Earth reliant in that everything needed to support and enable the mission is launched from Earth. The past Apollo missions to the Moon and the International Space Station currently in orbit above the Earth all rely on hardware, habitats, power, transportation, and life support consumables sent from Earth to keep the crew alive and working. As the distance from Earth increases, the cost of transportation and the risks due to failures and logistics disruptions also increases. By using resources found at the site of exploration to make mission critical consumables (such as propellants, fuel cell reactants and life support commodities), spare parts, and infrastructure needed to support surface activities (such as landing pads, roads, habitats/shelters, and power/thermal systems) commonly referred to as In Situ Resource Utilization, a significant amount of launch mass and cost can be saved and risk reduced. The ability to do these things also changes how exploration is performed from Earth Reliant to NASAs goal of Earth Independent exploration. After the US Apollo program was over, people began to recognize that it had been an inspiration for a generation of young students to go into Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields, and that the US industry and economy had significantly grown and lived off these students and the technological advances made to achieve these missions for decades. Space exploration should no longer be focused solely on scientific advancement or national pride, but for economic growth and population standard of living advancement. Considering the economic value of human exploration and how it could expand the economy of the US was brought to full light in a speech by John Marburger, the director of US Office of Science and Technology Policy under George W Bush at the Goddard Symposium in 2006. In his speech he highlighted that the ultimate goal was not to just Explore space but to Use space for the benefit of mankind. He further stated that the use of off-planet resources, in this case from the Moon, should be a critical architectural consideration for human space exploration to make it more affordable and sustainable. This could be achieved in two ways. The first is to start by encouraging and commercializing the extraction and production of transportation and life support related products from space resources, which could than lead to other resource uses once an affordable transportation architecture is established. The second is to encourage the spin-in of terrestrial technologies into space applications and spin-off of space technologies into terrestrial applications to increase the efficiency and profitability of terrestrial industries

Potential Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiments and Mission Scenarios

The extraction and use of resources on the Moon, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), can potentially reduce the cost and risk of human lunar exploration while also increasing science achieved. By not having to bring all of the shielding and mission consumables from Earth and being able to make products on the Moon, missions may require less mass to accomplish the same objectives, carry more science equipment, go to more sites of exploration, and/or provide options to recover from failures not possible with delivery of spares and consumables from Earth alone. While lunar ISRU has significant potential for mass, cost, and risk reduction for human lunar missions, it has never been demonstrated before in space. To demonstrate that ISRU can meet mission needs and to increase confidence in incorporating ISRU capabilities into mission architectures, terrestrial laboratory and analog field testing along with robotic precursor missions are required. A stepwise approach with international collaboration is recommended. This paper will outline the role of ISRU in future lunar missions, and define the approach and possible experiments to increase confidence in ISRU applications for future human lunar exploratio

Space Resource Utilization: Technologies and Potential Synergism with Terrestrial Mining

Space Resources and Their Uses: The idea of using resources in space to support human exploration and settlement or for economic development and profit beyond the surface of Earth has been proposed and discussed for decades. Work on developing a method to extract oxygen from lunar regolith started even before humans set foot on the Moon for the first time. The use of space resources, commonly referred to as In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), involves the processes and operations to harness and utilize resources in space (both natural and discarded) to create products for subsequent use. Potential space resources include water, solar wind implanted volatiles (hydrogen, helium, carbon, nitrogen, etc.), vast quantities of metals and minerals in extraterrestrial soils, atmospheric constituents, unlimited solar energy, regions of permanent light and darkness, the vacuum and zero-gravity of space itself, trash and waste from human crew activities, and discarded hardware that has completed its primary purpose. ISRU covers a wide variety of concepts, technical disciplines, technologies, and processes. When considering all aspects of ISRU, there are 5 main areas that are relevant to human space exploration and the commercialization of space: 1. Resource Characterization and Mapping, 2. In Situ Consumables Production, 3. Civil Engineering and Construction, 4. In Situ Energy Production and Storage, and 5. In Situ Manufacturing

Space Resource Utilization: Near-Term Missions and Long-Term Plans for Human Exploration

A primary goal of all major space faring nations is to explore space: from the Earth with telescopes, with robotic probes and space telescopes, and with humans. For the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), this pursuit is captured in three important strategic goals: 1. Ascertain the content, origin, and evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere, 2. Extend and sustain human activities across the solar system (especially the surface of Mars), and 3. Create innovative new space technologies for exploration, science, and economic future. While specific missions and destinations are still being discussed as to what comes first, it is imperative for NASA that it foster the development and implementation of new technologies and approaches that make space exploration affordable and sustainable. Critical to achieving affordable and sustainable human exploration beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) is the development of technologies and systems to identify, extract, and use resources in space instead of bringing everything from Earth. To reduce the development and implementation costs for space resource utilization, often called In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), it is imperative to work with terrestrial mining companies to spin-in/spin-off technologies and capabilities, and space mining companies to expand our economy beyond Earth orbit. In the last two years, NASA has focused on developing and implementing a sustainable human space exploration program with the ultimate goal of exploring the surface of Mars with humans. The plan involves developing technology and capability building blocks critical for sustained exploration starting with the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew spacecraft and utilizing the International Space Station as a springboard into the solar system. The evolvable plan develops and expands human exploration in phases starting with missions that are reliant on Earth, to performing ever more challenging and longer duration missions in cis-lunar space and beyond, to eventually being independent from Earth. The goal is no longer just to reach a destination, but to enable people to work, learn, operate, and live safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time, ultimately in ways that are more sustainable and even indefinite

The In-Situ Resource Utilization Project Under the New Exploration Enterprise

The In Situ Resource Utilization Project under the Exploration Technology Development Program has been investing in technologies to produce Oxygen from the regolith of the moon for the last few years. Much of this work was demonstrated in a lunar analog field demonstration in February of 2010. This paper will provide an overview of the key technologies demonstrated at the field demonstration will be discussed a long with the changes expected in the ISRU project as a result of the new vision for Space Exploration proposed by the President and enacted by the Congress in the NASA Authorization Act of2010

Progress Made in Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization Under NASA's Exploration Technology and Development Program

Incorporation of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and the production of mission critical consumables for 9 propulsion, power, and life support into mission architectures can greatly reduce the mass, cost, and risk of missions 10 leading to a sustainable and affordable approach to human exploration beyond Earth. ISRU and its products can 11 also greatly affect how other exploration systems are developed, including determining which technologies are 12 important or enabling. While the concept of lunar ISRU has existed for over 40 years, the technologies and systems 13 had not progressed much past simple laboratory proof-of-concept tests. With the release of the Vision for Space 14 Exploration in 2004 with the goal of harnessing the Moon.s resources, NASA initiated the ISRU Project in the 15 Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) to develop the technologies and systems needed to meet 16 this goal. In the five years of work in the ISRU Project, significant advancements and accomplishments occurred in 17 several important areas of lunar ISRU. Also, two analog field tests held in Hawaii in 2008 and 2010 demonstrated 18 all the steps in ISRU capabilities required along with the integration of ISRU products and hardware with 19 propulsion, power, and cryogenic storage systems. This paper will review the scope of the ISRU Project in the 20 ETDP, ISRU incorporation and development strategies utilized by the ISRU Project, and ISRU development and 21 test accomplishments over the five years of funded project activity

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Capability Roadmap Progress Review

A progress review on In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) capability is presented. The topics include: 1) In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Capability Roadmap: Level 1; 2) ISRU Emphasized Architecture Overview; 3) ISRU Capability Elements: Level 2 and below; and 4) ISRU Capability Roadmap Wrap-up

Integration of In-Situ Resource Utilization Into Lunar/Mars Exploration Through Field Analogs

The NASA project to develop In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies, in partnership with commercial and international collaborators, has achieved full system demonstrations of oxygen production using native regolith simulants. These demonstrations included robotic extraction of material from the terrain, sealed encapsulation of material in a pressurized reactor; chemical extraction of oxygen from the material in the form of water, and the electrolysis of water into oxygen and hydrogen for storage and reuse. These successes have provided growing confidence in the prospects of ISRU oxygen production as a credible source for critical mission consumables in preparation for and during crewed missions to the moon and other destinations. Other ISRU processes, especially relevant to early lunar exploration scenarios, have also been shown to be practical, including the extraction of subsurface volatiles, especially water, and the thermal processing of surface materials for civil engineering uses and for thermal energy storage. This paper describes these recent achievements and current NASA ISRU development and demonstration activity. The ability to extract and process resources at the site of exploration into useful products such as propellants, life support and power system consumables; and radiation and rocket exhaust plume debris shielding, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization or ISRU, has the potential to significantly reduce the launch mass, risk, and cost of robotic and human exploration of space. The incorporation of ISRU into missions can also significantly influence technology selection and system development in other areas such as power, life support, and propulsion. For example. the ability to extract or produce large amounts of oxygen and/or water in-situ could minimize the need to completely close life support air and water processing system cycles, change thermal and radiation protection of habitats, and influence propellant selection for ascent vehicles and surface propulsive hoppers. While concepts and even laboratory work on evaluating and developing ISRU techniques such as oxygen extraction from lunar regolith have been going on since before the Apollo 11 Moon landing, no ISRU system has ever flown in space, and only recently have ISRU technologies been developed at a scale and at a system level that is relevant to actual robotic and human mission applications. Because ISRU hardware and systems have never been demonstrated or utilized before on robotic or human missions, architecture and mission planners and surface system hardware developers are hesitant to rely on ISRU products and services that are critical to mission and system implementation success. To build confidence in ISRU systems for future missions and assess how ISRU systems can best influence and integrate with other surface system elements, NASA, with international partners, are performing analog field tests to understand how to take advantage of ISRU capabilities and benefits with the minimum of risk associated with introducing this game-changing approach to exploration. This paper will describe and review the results of four analog field tests (Moses Lake in 6/08, Mauna Kea in 11/08. Flagstaff in 9/09; and Mauna Kea in 1/10) that have begun the process of integrating ISRU into robotic and human exploration systems and missions, and propose future ISRU-related analog field test activities that can be performed in collaboration with international space agencies

NASA's In-Situ Resource Utilization Project: Current Accomplishments and Exciting Future Plans

The utilization of Space resources has been identified in publications for over 40 years for its potential as a "game changing" technology for the human exploration of Space. It is called "game changing" because of the mass leverage possible when local resources at the exploration destination arc used to reduce or even eliminate resources that are brought from the Earth. NASA, under the Exploration Technology Development Program has made significant investments in the development of Space resource utilization technologies as a part of the In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) project. Over the last four years, the ISRU project has taken what was essentially an academic topic with lots of experimentation but little engineering and produced near-full-scale systems that have been demonstrated. In 2008 & again in early 2010, systems that could produce oxygen from lunar soils (or their terrestrial analogs) were tested at a lunar analog site on a volcano in Hawaii. These demonstrations included collaborations with International Partners that made significant contributions to the tests. The proposed federal budget for Fiscal Year 2011 encourages the continued development and demonstration of ISRU. However it goes beyond what the project is currently doing and directs that the scope of the project be expanded to cover destinations throughout the inner solar system with the potential for night demonstrations. This paper will briefly cover the past accomplishments of the ISRU project then move to a di scussion of the plans for the project's future as NASA moves to explore a new paradigm for Space Exploration that includes orbital fuel depots and even refueling on other planetary bodies in the solar system