Mueller. Robert P.

van Susante, Paul

NASA Technical Reports Server

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20120013419 2019-08-30T21:53:53+00:00Z
Terrestrial Impact Crater Mining for Resources 
"In 2007 the total global market capitalization of mining companies was reported 
at US $962 billion, (Businessweek, 2007) 
N~~ 
, I 
/ .. 
In North America alone, the value of impact 
related resources was in excess of $18 
billion/year (1994 $) 
Vredefort Crater - Largest known terrestrial impact crater 62 
" miles southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa 
Produces: Gold, Platinum & Diamonds 
2 
Extra-Terrestrial Impact Crater Mining for Resources N~~ 
... I 
Lunar Craters were formed by constant bombardment from Asteroids, Comets 
and other Space Debris since the Solar System formation 4.5 Billion Years ago 
Surfaces of Earth's Moon, Mars, Comet Temple 1 and Titan 
Impact Craters can point us to the Resources: 
°2, PGM, Titanium, Aluminum, Iron H20, Volatiles 
J-
3 
In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) N~A 
When considering all aspects of ISRU, there are 5 main areas that are 
relevant to human lunar and Mars exploration (Sanders et ai, 2010): 
1. Resource characterization and mapping for planning and science 
2. In-situ production of mission critical consumables and propellants for 
crew, power, and transportation 
3. Civil engineering and construction for hardware and crew protection 
and infrastructure growth 
4. In-situ energy production and storage 
5. In-situ manufacturing, repair, and reuse 
Areas 1, 2,3 and 5 require Regolith Operations and/or Regolith Mining 
... " 
"' . 
4 
In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) 
Resource & Site 
Characterization 
Regolith Excavation 
• u : -:" ... 
~ 
• Polar Volatile 
Extraction 
JI -, -
" 
Power Source 
Regolith Transport 
Power Generation, 
Manufacturing , 
feedstock 
Manufacturing & 
Repair 
Ascent 
Vehicles 
Site Preparation 
(roads, pads, berms, 
t 
Surface Construction 
Construction 
feedstock 
Mission 
consumables 
Product Storage 
(Modified lSAM Cargo lander) 
Mobile Transport 
of Oxygen 
/ 
Oxygen & fuel 
for life support, 
fuel celis, & 
propulsion 
N~~ , , 
/. 
Habitats & Shelters 
Surface 
Mobility 
Assets 
5 
Terrestrial Robotic Mining N~~ 
, I 
j . 
• Increased safety and improved working conditions for personnel 
• Improved utilization by allowing continuous operation during shift changes 
• Improved productivity through real-time monitoring and control of production loading and hauling 
processes 
• Improved draw control through accurate execution of the production plan and collection of 
production data 
• Lower maintenance costs through smooth operation of equipment and reduced damage 
• Remote tele-operation of equipment in extreme environments 
• Deeper mining operations with automated equipment 
• Lower operation costs through reduced operating labor 
• Reduced transportation and logistics costs for personnel at remote locations 
• Control of multiple machines by one tele-operator human supervisor 
6 
Early Visionary Studies 1900- 1980's 
7 
Eagle Engineering Reports -1988 
.. Lunar SUrface Construction & 
LB.S Assembly Equipment Study 
EEl Rapoft Number 88-194 
NASA Contract NunI:Ier NAS 9-17878 
1 SepI8mbar. 1968 
LunsrBsse 
Launch and Landing Facility 
Conceptual Design 
NASA c_ Nu~ NASIH7878 
EEl R~ 88-178 
• 
N~~ 
, I 
J . 
8 
Space Exploration Initiative: 1989-1991 
Planet Surface Systems Office - NASA JSC 
MiRib8 E~~~torlLoader. Lu ar 
.' ,.....-..-....--- ... . 
<'> .... ..;.; '~ 
.. .. ...... ~. .. ... 
.,... 
,-:frO; -T~~ 0'" 
c"l 
RqolUb Hauler, Lunar 
Human Spaceflight Architecture Team 
Ripper/EJlca vator/Loader 
ArtkoJated H8Ulu 
9 
Lunar Underground -1990's N~~ 
, i· 
J . 
10 
Colorado School of Mines 2001 - 2011 N~~ 
, i' 
-' . 
Paul van Susante Projects 
Mike Duke Project 
SysRand NASA SBIR 
11 
Lockheed Martin Bucket Drum - 2008 
Lockheed Martin Corp. Bucket Drum Excavator (BDE) prototype. 
N~~ 
" , ~. 
12 
NASA Centennial Challenge 
Regolith Excavation Competition 2007-2009 l\I~~ , i' ) . 
13 
NASA Centennial Challenge 
Regolith Excavation Competition Winner 2009 
Paul's Robotics Centennial Challenges 
Winner, 
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 
Worcester, Massachusetts 
$500,000 Prize! 
N~ 
" , 
" . 
14 
NASA Cratos - 2007 
Glenn Research Center N~~ , I ~ . 
15 
Lunar Attachment Node for Construction & 
Excavation (LANCE) on Chariot - NASA JSC/KSC 2009 N~ , ). 
16 
Lunar Attachment Node for Construction & 
Excavation (LANCE) on Chariot - NASA 2009 
- -- ---
Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) 2010-2012 N~~ 
, i' 
J . 
J J ATOI 
18 
ATHLETE Excavation, NASA: 2009 - 2011 N~~ 
, i' 
) . 
19 
Automated Mining for Earth & Space 
NASA/Caterpillar - 2009 
Caterpillar 287C semi-autonomous Multi Terrain Loader 
N~~ 
" I 
-' . 
20 
NASA Centaur 2 Regolith Excavator 
JSC/GRC/KSC - 2010-2011 
21 
Pneumatic Excavation and Regolith Transport 
Honeybee Robotics and NASA KSC: 2009-2011 N~~ , I J . 
22 
Canadian Space Agency, 2010 Mauna Kea ISRU Tests 
(NORCAT & Juno NEPTEC Rover) 
Small Bulldozer 
load, Haul, Dump Excavator 
N~~ 
... ) . 
23 
Astrobotic Technology inc. Lunar Mining Concepts 
NASA SBIR 2010-2012 
Human Spaceflight Architecture Team 
NC;S~ 
... , 
) . 
24 
Robotic Precursor Small Robotic Mining Systems 
« 50 Kg) 2011-2012 
NASA Kennedy Space Center Excavator. 
-- - - --
N~~ 
" i ' ) . 
Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) 
25 
Regolith Excavation Mechanisms 
All excavators from three Centennial Excavation Challenge Competitions (2007, 2008 and 
2009) and two Lunabotics Mining Competitions (2010 and 2011) 
Regolith Excavation Mechanism # of machines employing 
excavation mechanism 
Bucket ladder (two chains) 29 
Bucket belt 10 
Bulldozer 10 
Scraper 8 
Auger plus conveyor belt / impeller 4 
Backhoe 4 
Bucket ladder (one chain) 4 
Bucket wheel 4 
Bucket drum 3 
Claw /gripper scoop 2 
Drums with metal plates (street sweeper) 2 
Bucket ladder (four chains) 1 
Magnetic wheels with scraper 1 
Rotating tube entrance 1 
Vertical auger 1 
26 
NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition Robot Systems 
2010 - 2012 N~~ , \. /-
2010 Lunabotics Mining Competition 
Winner: Montana State University 
"The Mule" Lunabot 
2011 Lunabotics Mining Competition Winner: 
, 
from Bozeman, Montana 
Laurentian University 
"Production" Lunabot, 
from Sudbury, Canada 
27 
Top Robotic Technical Challenges* 
+ Object Recognition and Pose Estimation 
+ Fusing vision, tactile and force control for manipulation 
+ Achieving human-like performance for piloting vehicles 
+ Access to extreme terrain in zero, micro and reduced gravity 
+ Grappling and anchoring to asteroids and non cooperating objects 
+ Exceeding human-like dexterous manipulation 
N~~ 
" I j . 
+ Full immersion, telepresence with haptic and multi modal sensor feedback 
+ Understanding and expressing intent between humans and robots 
+ Verification of Autonomous Systems 
+ Supervised autonomy of force/contact tasks across time delay 
+ Rendezvous, proximity operations and docking in extreme conditions 
+ Mobile manipulation that is safe for working with and near humans 
*NASA Technology Area 4 Roadmap: Robotics, Tete-Robotics and Autonomous Systems (NASA, 
Ambrose, Wilcox et ai, 2010) 
28 
Top Space Mining Technical Challenges 
+ Low reaction force excavation in reduced and micro-gravity 
+ Operating in regolith dust 
+ Fully autonomous operations 
+ Encountering sub surface rock obstacles 
+ Long life and reliability 
+ Unknown water ice / regolith composition and deep digging 
+ Operating in the dark cold traps of perennially shadowed craters 
+ Extreme access and mobility 
+ Extended nigtlt time operation and power storage 
+ Thermal management 
+ Robust communications 
29 
Conclusions N~~ 
, I 
+ There are vast amounts of resources in the solar system that will be 
useful to humans in space and possibly on Earth 
+ None of these resources can be exploited without the first necessary 
step of extra-terrestrial mining 
+ The necessary technologies for tele-robotic and autonomous mining 
have not matured sufficiently yet 
+ The current state of technology was assessed for terrestrial and extra-
terrestrial mining and a taxonomy of robotic space mining mechanisms 
was presented which was based on current existing prototypes 
+ Terrestrial and extra-terrestrial mining methods and technologies are on 
the cusp of massive changes towards automation and autonomy for 
economic and safety reasons 
+ It is highly likely that these industries will benefit from mutual co-
operation and technology transfer 
) . 
30 


Evolution of Extra-Terrestrial Mining Robot Concepts

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