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Completed TRL 4 (started at 3, targeting 4)
In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technology capable of extracting and repurposing extraterrestrial resources is vital to realizing NASA’s Moon to Mars objectives of human establishment on the lunar surface. The ability to extract key volatiles such as hydrogen and oxygen from the lunar surface for vehicle propellant would drastically reduce future mission costs and expedite the construction of life-sustaining architecture on Mars (NASA 2020 Taxonomy numbers: TX 13.1.4, TX 07.1.2, TX 07.1.3). The Microwave AeroGel Volatile Collector is a revolutionary volatile extraction system that uses microwave radiation to induce an off-gassing effect in volatile-rich regolith and is comprised of a magnetron, an aerogel-insulated chamber, a volatile storage system, and an autonomous operating system. The MAGVC is a previously awarded concept stemming from LSPACE’s NPWEE in which $10k was awarded for a student-led group to begin developing the technology. This CIF is serving as a continuation of work for this effort in conjunction with providing valuable data to future missions. Some of the materials and student work from the original effort will be leveraged to continue development from TRL3 to TRL4 to reduce overall project costs. Additionally, a CAN is being pursued to develop the volatile collection and containment system, comprising a series of filters, cold traps, and ionic liquids, to go on top of the extraction system proposed here. The end goal of these efforts is to have an autonomous volatile extraction and collection system for ISRU efforts on the lunar surface. The insulation of the chamber is key to the device’s extraction efficiency and therefore its overall viability for infusion with future mission. This CIF would focus on characterizing and down selecting 5 aerogel variants that are potential candidates for life system architectures, and then testing their efficiency for use in the MAGVC.
Objective of the Project: 1) To select a particular insulator – an aerogel product – for increased efficiency of the volatile extraction process, and 2) To validate the efficiency of the design developed for the extraction of volatilized water from regolith. STMD Gap ID number: STMD-AMSM-027. Technology pull: This tech is revolutionary because the process of extracting volatiles using mw radiation has been developed but this project seeks to develop a new technology to contain the heat generated during this process and direct the volatiles into a collection system to increase the efficiency of the volatile extraction. The design of the technology has been created with the intention of releasing volatiles – specifically volatilized water from icy regolith simulating PSRs – to be collected in the future.
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