Friday / 16 June 2023

NASA Fostering Lunar Technologies from Small and Research Institution-Affiliated Businesses

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) US$150,000 Phase 1 awards to be made to 249 companies / 39 Research Institutions (300 proposals / $45M total) including many lunar-focused enterprises e.g., CA-based Cislune, which plans to mine water, refine & sell hydrogen as fuel, is recipient of SBIR awards for basalt construction (with Hawaii Island-based Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems) and minimally invasive excavation techniques and STTR awards for lunar rover (with UCF) & launch pad designs

Pictured: Cislune CEO Erik Franks; Credits: NASA, Cislune, PISCES, Astroport / UTSA
 

Friday / 17 Feb 2023

Mountain at Moon South Pole Named in Honor of NASA Apollo-era Mathematician Melba Roy Mouton

The 6,096-m high mountain on the western rim of Nobile Crater (~85.4°S, 37.5°E) is now officially known as Mons Mouton after NASA Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) team nomination to IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature; Situated just a few km east of Leibnitz Beta Plateau, Mons Mouton is to be the site of the 100-day VIPER mission to be delivered via Astrobotic Griffin lander NET Nov 2024; Mons Mouton is also 1 of 13 sites selected by NASA fo Artemis 3 human landings NET 2025

Pictured: Melba Roy Mouton, WGPSN Organizing Committee members Rita Schulz, Debra Elmegreen, José Espinosa; Credits: IAU, NASA

Friday / 11 February 2022

New Analysis of LCROSS Impact Plume Suggests Cometary Source of MSP Volatiles

Revised assessment of data collected by LCROSS and LAMP instrument aboard LRO during 2009 Centaur rocket impact focuses on elemental prevalence of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur compared to carbon; Study authors from Southwest Research Institute, Johns Hopkins APL, Aix-Marseille University, UT San Antonio conclude comet origin best fits composition profile, that 1-3 m of regolith within Cabeus crater (84.9°S, 35.5°W) may predate latest volcanism (~1 Gya) and “returning humans to the Moon presents an unprecedented opportunity to determine the origin of volatiles stored in PSRs”

 

Credits: NASA

Friday / 20 August 2021

Break the Ice Lunar Challenge to Fund 13 USA Groups Advancing ISRU

Proposals for excavation / conveyance of ice-containing regolith from Moon Permanently Shadowed Regions, supporting long-duration human activity receiving US$500k through NASA Centennial Challenge; Redwire Space (Jacksonville FL) receives first place / $125k for Lunar Regolith Excavator (L-Rex) and Lunar Transporter (L-Tran); Colorado School of Mines (Golden CO) second place / $75k for Lunar Ice Digging System (LIDS); Austere Engineering (Littleton CO) third place / $50k; PRIME-1 ice drill to be delivered on CLPS IM-2, Q4 2022; CNSA Chang’e-6 to retrieve MSP sample 2024

 

Credits: NASA, Redwire, Colorado School Of Mines

Tuesday / 17 August 2021

Lunar Surface Science Workshop Session 10 Upcoming 18-19 Aug

Fundamental and Applied Lunar Surface Research in Physical Sciences is focus of LSSW 10, with plenary talks including Artemis update from (L-R) Julie Robinson, NASA HEOMD Chief Scientist; A.V. Zakharov, Astronomer with Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences to present on Luna-25 instrument PmL, planned to conduct Lunar Near-Surface Dusty Plasma Investigations; S. Bandyopadhyay to expound on NIAC-awarded farside Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT) concept, C.J. Collins invited to speak on Instrumenting the Moon as a Spherical Gravitational Wave Detector

Credits: LPI, NASA, Russian Academy of Sciences

Tuesday / 1 Dec 2020

Lunar Oxygen Extraction Technique Advances With Public-Private Partnership In UK

Oxygen, Key Element For Sustaining Human Life And Powerful Source Of Propulsion Fuel, May Be Refined From Moon Regolith Using ISRU Version Of Electrolysis Process Currently Employed In Earth Mining; ESA Contracted Rotherham-Based Metalysis To Develop Method Tailored For Lunar Surface; Composition Of Regolith Estimated 45% Oxygen By Weight; Process Requires 950°C Molten Salt Bath; Iron, Titanium Extraction Byproducts Useful For 3D Printed Construction; ESA Materials Engineer Advenit Makaya, Project Lead, Indicates Extraction Technology Demonstration Is Oxygen Plant Precursor

Credits: ESA, Metalysis, MIT / Kennedy Space Center

Friday / 2 Oct 2020

‘Watts On The Moon’ Contestants Conceptualize Lunar Power Management Solutions

Latest NASA Centennial Challenge Phase 1 Runs 25 Sep To 25 March 2021; Seeks Original, Innovative Plans To Store / Distribute Thermal And Electrical Energy From Hypothetical 10kW Power Plant Located Outside Of Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR) To Resource Extraction Worksites: Regolith And Water Collectors Inside PSR, Oxygen Plant In Lit Region; Competition Offers Up To US$500K For First Phase – $100K Per Each Of 3 Mission Areas With 4 Prizes Of $50K For Runners-Up; $4.5M Prize Purse For Second Phase Starting June 2021

Credits: NASA, ESA

Friday / 10 July 2020

NASA Supports Advanced Lunar Resource Extraction / Exploration Technologies With ~US$17M

4 Enterprises Nurtured By Phase 1 & 2 SBIR/STTR Grants Chosen To Further Refine Technologies Deemed Vital For Artemis Mission Success: Informatic Health And Spacecraft Diagnostics Systems By Qualtech Systems (CT), Regolith Refining Machinery For ISRU By Pioneer Astronautics (CO), Protoinnovations (PA) Tasked With Rover Traction Control, Fibertek (VA) To Develop Cis-Lunar Laser Communication; Post-Phase 2 Awards Range $2.5M – $5M, Designed As Final Stage Of Incubation Prior To Commercialization; Administrator Bridenstine Seeks $25.2B Appropriation From Congress To Fund Agency

Credits: NASA, Qualtech , Pioneer Astronautics, Protoinnovations, Fibertek

Tuesday / 7 July 2020

Artemis / Sustained Moon Habitation Advances Via Lunar Dust, Power, Sterilization Investigations

NASA Awards 312 Small Businesses ~US$125K For 409 Technology Proposals ($51M Total) Through Phase 1 Of Annual NASA SBIR & STTR Programs; 9 Funded Ideas Center On Regolith Dust Mitigation, Including Electrodynamic Shielding (Hedgefog Research), Wireless Communication (Astrobotic), <1 Micron Filtration (Mainstream Engineering Corporation); Opterus R&D Will Study Heavy Duty Lunar Solar Array Concept, Paragon Space To Work On Water Collection / Purification, CU Aerospace To Develop Plasma Anti-Microbial Device; Phase 2 Will Include ‘Multi-million’ Prototyping Contracts, Market Entry Support; 27% Of Awardees Women / Minority Owned

Credits: NASA, ESA, MEC, HR, Astrobotic, PSDC, ORD, CU Aerospace

Friday / 5 June 2020

Moon ‘Ice Favorability Index’ Created By UCF Benefits Moon Prospecting Mission Planning, Ice Formation Studies

Supported By NASA SSERVI & Center For Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science At UCF, Team Led By Kevin Cannon Creates Geological Model Of Lunar Poles, PSR / Craters And Most Likely Areas Of Ice To Determine Distribution “At Meter To Hundred-Meter Scales Relevant For Mining Operations”; Vital For Surviving Off-Earth, 1st Direct Evidence Of Water Vapor At Moon Shown By Apollo 14 In 1975 Inspiring Countless Prospecting, Science Plans; CLPS Missions Could Launch To Moon South Pole 2022, Chang’e-6 Sample Return 2021-23, Volatiles Rover 2023, 1st Human Mission 2024-25

Credits: K. Cannon via Twitter, ESA, NASA