Fundamental Regolith Properties, Handling, and Water Capture (FLEET)

There are still many fundamental issues regarding digging, transporting, and processing of lunar and Mars regolith that have not been developed. The capability gaps for both oxygen (O2) from regolith and lunar (and Mars) ice to water include; how to dig up hard, frozen resources; transport to the ISRU processing site; lift into a reactor, and capture the extracted product, all without losing the primary product to the environment. These gaps arwe addressed in this portfolio project via three small fundamental tasks, leveraging the subject matter expert team of soil and thermal communities and unique facilities for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) equipment testing. This project developed a variety of hardware concepts to fill open component gaps common to multiple systems.The purpose of this work is to develop several steps of the ISRU production cycle through a combination of analytical modeling and experimentation. This was accomplished by multiple cycles of demonstrating feasibility, gathering fundamental parametric data, and developing common hardware components. The equipment built for this project is fundamental, initial builds consisting of simple materials and components since the equipment has not previously been created or evaluated. Three hardware design concepts advanced through the design/build/test/analyze cycle and were ground tested in relevant lunar surface environments, with lunar simulants.The three technology elements of the project are:Excavation force reduction utilizing the design concept of the Ultrasonic Blade (UB)Fundamental soil handling utilizing the design concept of the Regolith Transport (RT), also referred to as the Vertical Lunar Regolith Conveyor (VLRC)Mobile water capture utilizing the design concept of the Water Capture (WC) Ice Tanker. The project was led at Glenn Research Center (GRC) and the project was supported by principal investigators for Ultrasonic Blade and Water Capture at GRC as well as for the Regolith Transport at Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

The Fundamental Regolith Properties, Handling & Water Capture (FLEET) project is a portfolio of three technologies that allow for efficient handling and transport of regolith, water, and ice on the Lunar surface with reduced mass and energy, allowing for more space and energy for the science component of the mission. Excavating in reduced gravity conditions without increasing an excavator's mass to counterbalance is a challenge to overcome so technologies that can help reduce excavation forces will be beneficial. The Ultrasonic Blade (UB) technology concept was tested and analyzed to better understand how to penetrate compacted, hard regolith with minimal forces and the least amount of manifest mass. Transporting regolith and icy frozen regolith between locations, such as a raw material collection hopper on the surface and up to an ISRU processing reactor on an elevated lander deck, is an open technology shortfall that needs to be closed for ISRU to be feasible. The Regolith Transport (RT) technology concept tested and assessed the granular movement of lunar simulant particles along a Vertical Lunar Regolith Conveyor (VLRC) under lunar gravity and vacuum conditions to takes steps closer in closing this shortfall.​Various studies have been performed to assess proposed ISRU concepts of operations. The Water Capture (WC) technology concept was used to provide fundamental research data to feed into current and future ISRU studies to create higher fidelity concepts of operations and quantification predictions. The WC technology concept developed a method to collect low pressure water vapor and capture and store as a solid for transport out of a Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR). The ability to condense (liquid) or freeze (ice) incoming water vapor at a rate defined by concept of operations studies was tested. A model was be produced to predict water capture of varied extraction rates.Stakeholders for the FLEET project include ISRU processing plants, mobile rovers, augers, volatile transportation, construction and digging equipment.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.