Extraction and Capture of Water from Martian Soil

Completed TRL 7 (started at 4, targeting 7)

Description

The plan is to build and test in a relevant environment several concepts for extracting and capturing water moisture from a simulated Mars soil. We will include tests on both bound water and hydrated minerals. Specific objectives include: Demonstrate the feasibility of novel concepts to extract water from the martian soil Measure energy required to liberate the bound water and water from hydrated minerals Demonstrate the feasibility of low-complexity capture of released water Measure the efficiency of water extraction and capture in continuous process that does not require regolith seals.

Benefits

This work addresses the NASA Grand Challenges of Space Colonization and Efficient In-Space Transportation. The primary application of this work (in-situ resource utilization to reduce cost and risk of planetary exploration missions) aligns with GRC's core competency in Physical Sciences and Biomedical Technologies in Space. As the water resource can be used directly or further processed for a variety of purposes, such as propellant, reactants for fuel cells, life support, and habitat radiation shielding, the capability to extract and collect water will also lead to applications in our core competencies of In-Space Propulsion and Cryogenic Fluids Management, and Power, Energy Storage, and Conversion.

Details

Program	Center Innovation Fund: GRC CIF (GRC CIF)
Lead organization	Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH
Start date	2014-11-01
End date	2015-10-01

Project contacts

Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.

Diane L Linne

How to get involved

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.