Lunar Polar Environmental Testing: Regolith Simulant Conditioning

Author:   National Aeronautics and Space Adm Nasa
Publisher:   Independently Published
ISBN:  

9781794413184


Pages:   34
Publication Date:   22 January 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Our Price $50.13 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

Lunar Polar Environmental Testing: Regolith Simulant Conditioning


Add your own review!

Overview

As ISRU system development approaches flight fidelity, there is a need to test hardware in relevant environments. Extensive laboratory and field testing have involved relevant soil (lunar regolith simulants), but the current design iterations necessitate relevant pressure and temperature conditions. Including significant quantities of lunar regolith simulant in a thermal vacuum chamber poses unique challenges. These include facility operational challenges (dust tolerant hardware) and difficulty maintaining a pre-prepared soil state during pump down (consolidation state, moisture retention).For ISRU purposes, the regolith at the lunar poles will be of most interest due to the elevated water content. To test at polar conditions, the regolith simulant must be doped with water to an appropriate percentage and then chilled to cryogenic temperatures while exposed to vacuum conditions. A 1m tall, 28cm diameter bin of simulant was developed for testing these simulant preparation and drilling operations. The bin itself was wrapped with liquid nitrogen cooling loops (100K) so that the simulant bed reached an average temperature of 140K at vacuum. Post-test sampling was used to determine desiccation of the bed due to vacuum exposure. Depth dependent moisture data is presented from frozen and thawed soil samples.Following simulant only evacuation tests, drill hardware was incorporated into the vacuum chamber to test auguring techniques in the frozen soil at thermal vacuum conditions. The focus of this testing was to produce cuttings piles for a newly developed spectrometer to evaluate. This instrument, which is part of the RESOLVE program science hardware, detects water signatures from surface regolith. The drill performance, behavior of simulant during drilling, and characteristics of the cuttings piles will be offered. Kleinhenz, Julie Elise Glenn Research Center NASA/TM-2014-218295, AIAA Paper-2014-0689, E-18890, GRC-E-DAA-TN13415

Full Product Details

Author:   National Aeronautics and Space Adm Nasa
Publisher:   Independently Published
Imprint:   Independently Published
Dimensions:   Width: 21.60cm , Height: 0.20cm , Length: 27.90cm
Weight:   0.104kg
ISBN:  

9781794413184


ISBN 10:   1794413189
Pages:   34
Publication Date:   22 January 2019
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

ls

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List