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Completed TRL 4 (started at 4, targeting 5)
Recent Mars Curiosity rover data indicates >5% of water trapped in the regolith and available globally on Mars. Water can provide hydrogen and oxygen for propellant at the destination, avoiding the launch and transportation of propellant from Earth. The current lunar Resource Prospector will be followed by other ISRU missions to the moon, asteroids and Mars. NASA Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 requires ISRU as an enabling technology. Water-based ISRU via regolith excavation would eliminate the need to transport hydrogen in large volume tanks to Mars for Sabatier CO2 atmospheric processing. This type of propellant ISRU could radically change the space mission architectures of the future, requiring significantly less propellant from Earth. It is the key to sustainable space exploration and life support, by cutting our logistical ties to the Earth. However, all the resources are contained in the regolith and the sunlight energy. Without excavation, it might not be possible to acquire the resources in the regolith. In order to enable these transformative space exploration mission architectures, low reaction force excavation is a key enabling technology. Excavation is the first step towards utilization of discovered resources. Without lightweight excavation robots, the resources cannot be acquired, processed and consumed.
Resource materials in space are primarily contained in the regolith of target bodies such as Asteroids, Comets, Mars, Mars’ moons, and lunar cold traps. After prospecting for the right type of regolith, a sample must be obtained for “ground truth” characterization. Science and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) customers need proven technologies and devices for regolith and volatiles sample acquisition in very challenging environmental conditions such as micro-gravity (1/1000th G), low temperatures (~40 K) and dusty environments (< 100 microns particles). These samples will help us to better understand the solar system and to use the resources for human and robotic exploration purposes. Existing HRS robots, excavation implements and regolith simulant test bins will be leveraged to provide a NASA agency capability for regolith sample acquisition in very challenging space target body environments.
First, an existing percussive bucket end effector (Badger) will be tested in calibrated regolith simulants to characterize the reduced digging force performance advantages. Static digging buckets will be used as a “control test” baseline for quantitative comparison and future modeling validation. Percussive buckets will be integrated and demonstrated on HRS mobility platforms: Centaur 2 and ATHLETE showing medium and large-scale regolith and volatiles sampling capabilities for planetary surfaces.
The RASSOR 2.0 counter-rotating bucket drum technology will be tested to determine the feasibility of repetitively acquiring, retaining and delivering regolith in reduced (1/6th G and 3/8 G) gravity and micro-gravity.
The results of this technology development will be prototype excavation and sampling for reduced and low gravity environments.
Infusion of these technologies will be via ISRU prospecting, sampling and mining missions.
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