Barber, Simeon

Biswas, J.

Pitcher, Craig

Reganaz, M.

Reiss, P.

Richter, L.

Sheridan, Simon

Open Research Online

Open Research OnlineThe Open University’s repository of research publicationsand other research outputsMobile In-Situ Exploration of Lunar Volatiles with theLVS on LUVMIConference or Workshop ItemHow to cite:Biswas, J.; Reiss, P.; Sheridan, Simon; Barber, Simeon; Pitcher, Craig; Reganaz, M. and Richter, L. MobileIn-Situ Exploration of Lunar Volatiles with the LVS on LUVMI. In: European Lunar Symposium (ELS) 2018, 13-16May 2018, Toulouse, France.For guidance on citations see FAQs.c© [not recorded]https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Version: Accepted ManuscriptLink(s) to article on publisher’s website:https://els2020.arc.nasa.gov/Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyrightowners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policiespage.oro.open.ac.ukMOBILE IN-SITU EXPLORATION OF LUNAR VOLATILES WITH THE LVS ON LUVMI  J. Biswas1, P. Reiss1, S. Sheridan2, S. Barber2,, C. Pitcher2, M. Reganaz3, L. Richter3  1Institute of Astronautics, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstr. 15, 85748 Garching, Germany, (j.biswas@tum.de), 2The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK, 3OHB System AG, Manfred-Fuchs-Str. 1, 82234 Weßling, Ger-many,  Introduction:  Lunar volatiles are considered as a potential resource for future exploration efforts. Re-mote observations have confirmed the existence of volatiles deposits in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) near the lunar poles [1], but in-situ measure-ments of local abundances are necessary to determine the economic viability of future exploitation. Cur-rently existing or proposed instruments for volatiles prospecting, such as the ESA PROSPECT payload for the Luna-27 lander [2], consist of many different sub-systems, like sampling drill, sample distribution sys-tems, gas extraction ovens, and an analysis instrument suite, resulting in comparably high overall mass and complexity. The Lunar Volatiles Scout (LVS) [3,4] heats soil samples in-situ inside the drill, thus avoid-ing the need for extensive sample logistics and reduc-ing the associated risks of sample degradation. Its drill can sample volatiles on the lunar surface as well as in the shallow subsurface [5] up to a depth of 20 cm. With an overall instrument mass of less than 2.0 kg, the LVS will be carried by the Lunar Volatiles Mobile Instrumentation (LUVMI) [6], a 20 – 40 kg class rover, capable of operating in and around PSRs. LUVMI is currently under development by a consor-tium of Space Applications Services, The Open Uni-versity, Technical University of Munich, OHB Sys-tems, and Dynamic Imaging Analytics in the Euro-pean Horizon 2020 framework.   Figure 1: CAD image of the LVS  System Description:  Figure 2 shows a schematic of the LVS: The hollow drill shell of the Volatiles Sampler (VS) encloses sample volume of regolith (max. 218 cm3) and a heating rod in its center, which can heat the sample up to 400 K to extract present vol-atiles. Extracted gases either accumulate inside the sample volume, diffuse out through  open bottom of the shell or flow through a calibrated orifice. Moni-toring the pressure profile over time inside the sample volume allows the inference of the original abundance of volatiles in the sample. A miniature mass spectrom-eter, the Volatiles Analyser (VA), identifies the chem-ical species and relative concentrations for extracted volatiles with a m/z ratio between 10 and 150. The drill shell is equipped with an auger and is rotated by a brushed DC motor to ease insertion, while maintain-ing a low rotational speed to reduce heating through friction.    Figure 2: Schematic of the LVS  Prototypes and Testing: As part of the prepara-tory tests for the development of the VS, a mechanical prototype was designed and manufactured to deter-mine the necessary vertical insertion force and the op-timal drill shell geometry. It was found that no more than 30 N were required to reach a minimum depth of 10 cm. A static gas extraction prototype was built and tested in a dust tolerant (“dirty”) thermal-vacuum  chamber to demonstrate gas extraction and sample preparation procedures.  Currently, an integrated prototype is being manu-factured (Figure 1) that will allow end-to-end testing with cryo-cooled samples and mechanical insertion in thermal-vacuum conditions. This will allow a full characterisation of the integrated LVS in a relevant environment with the  goal to raise the instrument technology readiness level to TRL 6.   Expected Results: The LVS enables in-situ ex-traction of volatiles from undisturbed lunar regolith samples near and inside PSRs. With the mobile plat-form LUVMI, a high number of repeated measure-ments at different locations, different depths, as well as over longer periods of time will be possible. This allows the characterisation of volatile species  Figure 3: Static gas extraction prototype during ther-mal-vacuum testing  and their distribution, abundance, and variation over time. LVS on LUVMI therefore represents an ideal precursor instrument for future lunar exploration and can identify locations of interest for the exploitation of volatiles as a resource.   Figure 4: Examplary gas extraction test result with  a JSC-1A sample with approximately 0.25 wt% water  References: [1] Colaprete A. et al (2010) Science, 330, 463–468. [2] Carpenter J. et al. (2017) European Lunar Symposium 2017. [3] Biswas J. et al (2017)  European Lunar Symposium 2017. [4] Reiss P. et al (2016) European Lunar Symposium 2016. [5] Beyer R. et al (2011) LPSC XLII #2735. [6] Urbina D. et al (2017) IAC-17,A3,2B,10,X41392 

Mobile In-Situ Exploration of Lunar Volatiles with the LVS on LUVMI

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Mobile In-Situ Exploration of Lunar Volatiles with the LVS on LUVMI

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