Lunar Surface Manufacturing · 2021. 1. 11. · 1 FISO December 2, 2020 Lunar Surface Manufacturing Dr. Alex Ignatiev and Dr. Ronald Polidan UNCLASSIFIED - Lunar Resources, Inc. –©

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FISODecember 2, 2020

Lunar Surface Manufacturing

Dr. Alex Ignatiev and Dr. Ronald Polidan

UNCLASSIFIED - Lunar Resources, Inc. –© 2018-2020

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Lunar Resources Background

Space Industrialization through Space Resource Utilization

Lunar Resources, Inc. - A Space Industrial Corporation: Development and Commercialization of Space Manufacturing and Space Resource Processing Technologies

Core Technologies: In-Space Vacuum Deposition, Molten Regolith Electrolysis

Current Programs/Missions: ADToMS, OSMOS, IN-SILICO, IN-WELD, MAGMA, Satellite Servicing Missions, and REPULSOR

Heritage: Wake Shield Facility Program; Molten Oxide Electrolysis Program


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Heritage: Wake Shield Facility Program

• Performed >300 hours of Thin Film Deposition in Space on STS 60; 69; 80 (1994-1996)

• Fabricated High Quality Thin Film GaAs Semi-conductors• Proved Vacuum Wake Concept with Measured Vacuum of 10-13Torr.• Raised In-Space Vacuum Deposition Technology to TRL 8

Demonstrated Space Vacuum Deposition for Thin Film Materials and Devices Fabrication Wake Shield Facility, NASA

• Infused Vacuum Quality Enhancement in Semiconductor Industry• Led to R&D Programs in: Thin film Solid Oxide Fuel Cells; Thin

Film Resistive Random Access Memory, Nano-Structured High Density Capacitors, Thin Film Superconductors. UNCLASSIFIED - Lunar Resources, Inc. –© 2018-2020

Free Flying Platform for Thin Film Materials Fabrication in Space Vacuum

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Heritage: Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MOE) Program

• Processed Regolith Simulant in a high temperature laboratory reactor cell• Extracted Oxygen at Anode• Extracted Regolith Slag

MOE Reactor, MIT

Demonstrated Electrochemistry for Extraction of Oxygen and Metals from Oxide Regolith


High-Temperature Electrolysis of Molten Regolith

• Enabled MOE for Steel Production on Earth

• Commercial Company formed for non-coke production of iron and steel – Boston Metal

Lunar Surface Manufacturing

5UNCLASSIFIED - Lunar Resources, Inc. –© 2018-2020

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Lunar Regolith Resource Extraction

Turning Lunar Soil into Product

Resource Extraction and Refining

Production of Raw Materials

Manufacturing of Final Products


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Apollo 15 Average Apollo 16 AverageMare Highland

O 42.77% 44.50%Si 21.88% 21.03%Ti 0.84% 0.32%Al 7.73% 14.45%Cr 0.25% 0.23%Fe 11.12% 3.96%Mn 0.15% 0.23%Mg 6.93% 3.44%Ca 7.72% 11.22%Na 0.29% 0.34%K 0.17% 0.14%P 0.10% 0.06%S 0.06% 0.07%

Lunar Regolith Sample Compositions By ElementLunar Regolith

• Powdery Mixture of Metallic Oxides

• Relatively Homogenous Across the Moon• Mare Regolith has Higher Iron Content• Highland Regolith has Higher Al and Ca

• 5m – 15m in depth

• Covers the Entire Moon

Challenge: Breaking Apart Regolith’s Oxygen Bonds to Obtain Core Elements


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Molten Regolith Electrolysis (MRE)

• Extraction of Oxygen (at Anode) and Metals (at Cathode)

• Direct Electrorefining of Regolith via Electrical Current/Voltage

• No Reagents or Secondary Processing Systems – MRE uses only electric current to extract and refine regolith…..


High-Temperature Electrolysis (~2000C)

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Lunar Resource Extraction

MRE Production of Raw MaterialsIndustry-Scale Production

• Oxygen• Metallurgical Grade Metals• Semiconductor Grade Silicon

Oxygen Aluminum

Silicon Titanium

Iron Manganese

Chromium Magnesium

Sodium Calcium

Nominal 1m3 MRE Reactor @ ~1500A• Process 64 Tons/yr of Regolith• Extract 3.7 Tons/yr of Oxygen• Extract 13 Tons/yr of Iron• Extract 3.2 Tons/yr of Silicon

Major Regolith Elements


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Lunar ResourcesHighlighted Programs

Magma Program

FarView Program 1MW Program

LR Application of MRE Materials on the Moon


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Magma Program

Metals for Lunar Structural ApplicationsMRE Extracted Metals

• Structural Iron• Rebar – lunar ‘concrete’ strengthening• I - beams – structure support• Conduit – fluid transport

• Structural Aluminum• Framework – inflatables/deployables• Conduit – fluid transport• Electrical transmission

• Conductive Magnesium/Calcium• Electrical Transmission (no atmosphere)


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Magma Program

Metals for Lunar Manufacturing Applications

Thin Film Materials Fabrication• Lunar surface is a ~10-10 Torr vacuum• Apply Vacuum Deposition Techniques • Fabricate Thin Film Functional Materials

• Aluminum – wires; contacts; electrodes• Silicon – solar cells• Magnesium – wires, batteries• Calcium - wires• Sodium – battery component


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FarView Concept

Construct Thin Film RF Antenna Array on Lunar Far Side• Fabricate Low-Frequency Radio Observatory on Far Side of

Moon - Fabricate Dipole Antenna Elements on the Lunar Surface

- Utilized Extracted Lunar Resources – aluminum; magnesium- Do Not Bring Everything From Earth

• Enable Astrophysics Study of the Cosmic Dark Ages (21cm Line)

• Construct 20km x 20km array with 100,000 dipoles• Fabricate 100,000 ten meter dipoles in 2 years

• Major Expansion of the FARSIDE Astrophysics Probe Study

UC Boulder


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FarView Concept

Tools for Fabricating Thin Film Antennae

Direct fabrication of antenna elements on Lunar Surface

• Rover moves across lunar surface

• Regolith under rover is melted into a glass

• Aluminum or magnesium is deposited on glass

•Thin Film Antenna is fabricated

• Antennae are interconnected with thin film wires

Vapor Deposition Sources

Lunar Resources Lunar Deposition Rover


Lunar Surface Thin Film Deposition Rover

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FarView Concept: ATLASS Mission

Artemis Technology Lunar Astrophysics and Science Suite (ATLASS)

Lunar Resources

Proof of Concept Lunar Manufacturing for Science:Fabricate a Dipole Antenna Element on the Moon

• Deploy Small Rover on Far Side of Moon• Traverse ~10-15m from lander depositing 10m metallic dipole

element on lunar surface• Integrate dipole with pre-amp/data collection system & acquire

data on the global 21-cm radio frequency signal• Measure charged particle environment – electron spectrometer• Measure electric potential environment – electrometer• Measure atmospheric volatiles environment – mass

spectrometerUNCLASSIFIED - Lunar Resources, Inc. –© 2018-2020

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1MW Program

In-Situ Lunar Solar Cell FabricationFabricate Thin Film Microcrystalline Silicon Solar Cells

• Utilize Thin Film Deposition Rover • Use Silicon and Aluminum Raw Materials• Deposit Solar Cell Structure on Melted Regolith Glass

Substrate• Interconnect Cells with Thin Film Wires to Form Arrays• Continuous Lay-Out of Cells on Lunar Surface• Microcrystalline Silicon Cell have Moderate Efficiency ~10%• However, Can Fabricate Array Capacity of ~450kW in one year

Lunar ResourcesUNCLASSIFIED - Lunar Resources, Inc. –© 2018-2020

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1MW Program

1MW In-Situ Power Grid on the Lunar SurfaceDeploy Multiple Deposition Rovers and MRE Processors• MRE Processors Feed Deposition Rovers• Continuously Fabricate Thin Film Silicon Solar Cells• Interconnect Cell Arrays – Fabricate on Both Sides of Lim to

Allow for Uninterrupted Power Generation• 1MW In-Situ Electrical Power Generation and Storage on Lunar

Surface by 2030• Increase production by ~ 2-5 MW/yr

• Energy-Rich Environment on the Moon for Life Support; Transportation; Manufacturing; Science; Technology Development; Commercialization…..

Shimizu


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1MW Program: Energy Storage

Manufacture of Lunar Battery from Lunar Resources Fabricate Thick Film Battery on Moon

• Reactive Metal Anode: Aluminum or Magnesium • Sulfur/Metal Matrix Cathode (co-deposition)• Metal Halide Electrolyte – confined in regolith divot

• Partial Electrolyte fabricated from lunar Cl/F and alkali metal and Partial Electrolyte brought from Earth • Thionyl Chloride (<20% mass of battery)

• Output Projected at ~35A-hr l at -100C

In-Situ Fabricated Energy Storage on the MoonUNCLASSIFIED - Lunar Resources, Inc. –© 2018-2020

Cathode

Anode

Electrolyte

Lunar Battery fabricated in a divot in the lunar regolith

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Lunar Regolith Resource Utilization

Lunar Resources: Production of Basic Materials and Devices on the Moon

Oxygen(By-Product)

Humans

Fabrication Materials

Structural Materials

Rebar Wire Metallic Conduit

Structural Trusses

Functional Materials

Solar Cells; transistors;

micro-electronics

Conductive thin film wires -transmission

lines

Absorptive, Emissive, and

Reflective Coatings


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Lunar ResourcesContact Information

Recent Lunar Resources Op-Ed in SpaceNews

https://spacenews.com/op-ed-to-get-to-mars-first-develop-the-moon/

Non-Technical POC: Elliot Carol, CEO

[email protected]

Technical POC: Dr. Alex Ignatiev, CTO

[email protected]

Thank You!

Science POC: Dr. Ronald Polidan, Manager

[email protected]


For Additional Information

https://spacenews.com/op-ed-to-get-to-mars-first-develop-the-moon/

Documents

Lunar Surface Manufacturing · 2021. 1. 11. · 1 FISO December 2, 2020 Lunar Surface Manufacturing Dr. Alex Ignatiev and Dr. Ronald Polidan UNCLASSIFIED - Lunar Resources, Inc. –©