Artemis 1 Is Out And We Re One Step Closer To Using Lunar Dirt For Construction In Space

NASA has just launched its first rocket in the Artemis program, which will, among other things, conduct scientific experiments to produce metal on the moon. In recent years, some companies and organizations have stepped up efforts to establish technologies on the moon. But working in space is expensive. Sending just one kilogram of material to the moon can cost US$1.2 million (A$1.89 million). What if we could save money by using the resources that already exist? This process is called in situ resource utilization and is exactly what astrometallurgical researchers are trying to achieve. Why the moon? The moon has amazing potential for future space exploration. Its gravity is only one-sixth that of Earth, which makes it much easier to throw things from the moon into Earth orbit than to throw them directly from Earth! And in an industry where every kilo costs a fortune, the ability to save money is hugely attractive. Although people have been looking at making oxygen and rocket fuel in space for decades, the Artemis program marks the first time we have solid plans for making and using metal in space. Some companies are looking at extracting metals and oxygen from lunar dirt. At first these will be demonstrations, but eventually moon metal will be a viable option for manufacturing in space. As a researcher in this field, I expect that in about 10 to 20 years from now we will have demonstrated the ability to extract metals from the moon and probably use them to build large structures in space. Exactly what will we be able to export? And how would we do it? On a clear night, you can see the Moon’s two geological regions – the darker Maria and the lighter Highlands. Credit: Shutterstock What’s out there? There are two main geological regions on the moon that you can see on a clear night. The dark areas are called maria and have a higher concentration of iron and titanium. Bright areas are called highlands (or terrae) and have more aluminum. In general, dirt and rocks on the moon contain silicon, oxygen, aluminum, iron, calcium, magnesium, titanium, sodium, potassium, and manganese. This may sound like a mouthful, but there really isn’t that much to choose from. There are some other clues, but dealing with them is a game for another day. We know that metals like iron, aluminum and titanium are useful for construction. But what about the others? Well, it turns out that when you have limited options (and the alternative is to spend a small fortune), scientists can get pretty creative. We can use silicon to make solar panels, which could be the main source of electricity on the moon. We could use magnesium, manganese and chromium to make metal alloys with interesting properties and sodium and potassium as coolants. There are also studies looking at the use of reactive metals (aluminum, iron, magnesium, titanium, silicon, calcium) as a form of battery or “energy carrier”. If we really needed to, we could even use them as a form of solid rocket fuel. So we have options in terms of sourcing and using metals on the moon. But how do we get to them? How would export work? Researchers at the University of Glasgow used an electrolysis separation process to extract a pile of metal (right) from simulated lunar dirt (left). Credit: Beth Lomax/University of Glasgow While the moon has abundant metals, they are bound to the rocks as oxides — metals and oxygen stuck together. This is where astrometallurgy comes in, which is simply the study of extracting metal from space rocks. Metallurgists use a variety of methods to separate metals and oxygen from rocks. Some of the more common extraction methods use chemicals such as hydrogen and carbon. Some, such as “electrolytic separation” use pure electricity, while more innovative solutions involve completely vaporizing rocks to produce metal. If you are interested in a complete summary of lunar astrometallurgy, you can read about it in one of my research papers. Regardless of the method used, mining and processing metals in space presents many challenges. Some challenges are obvious. The moon’s relatively weak gravity means that gravity is basically non-existent, and digging into the soil like we do on Earth is not an option. Researchers are working on these problems. There is also a shortage of important resources such as water, which is often used for metallurgy on Earth. Other challenges are more specialized. For example, one lunar day is as long as 28 Earth days. So for two weeks you have plenty of access to the power and warmth of the Sun… but then you have two weeks of night. Temperatures also fluctuate wildly, from 120℃ during the day to -180℃ at night. Some permanently shaded areas drop below -220℃! Even if the mining and processing of resources were done remotely from Earth, much equipment would not withstand these conditions. Artemis 1 lifted off spectacularly just after 17:00 AEDT on 16 November. This brings us to the human factor: would the humans themselves be up there to help with all this? Probably not. Although we will be sending more people to the moon in the future, the dangers of meteor impact, exposure to radiation from the Sun and extreme temperatures mean that this work will have to be done remotely. But controlling robots hundreds of thousands of kilometers away is also a challenge. It’s not all bad news though, as we can use some of these factors to our advantage. The extreme vacuum of space can reduce the energy requirements of some processes, as the vacuum helps substances vaporize at lower temperatures (which you can test by trying to boil water on a high mountain). Something similar happens with molten rocks in space. And while the moon’s lack of atmosphere makes it uninhabitable for humans, it also means more access to sunlight for solar panels and direct solar heating. While it may take a few more years to get there, we’re well on our way to making things in space out of moon metal. Astrometallurgists will be watching with keen interest as future Artemis missions take off with the tools to make this happen. Powered by The Conversation

											  This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.  Read the original article.
												Reference: Artemis 1 is powered down—and we’re one step closer to using moon dirt to build in space (2022, November 17) Retrieved November 17, 2022, from 											 
										 This document is subject to copyright.  Except for any fair dealing for purposes of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission.  Content is provided for informational purposes only. 											 

title: “Artemis 1 Is Out And We Re One Step Closer To Using Lunar Dirt For Construction In Space " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-23” author: “Joey Colley”

NASA has just launched its first rocket in the Artemis program, which will, among other things, conduct scientific experiments to produce metal on the moon. In recent years, some companies and organizations have stepped up efforts to establish technologies on the moon. But working in space is expensive. Sending just one kilogram of material to the moon can cost US$1.2 million (A$1.89 million). What if we could save money by using the resources that already exist? This process is called in situ resource utilization and is exactly what astrometallurgical researchers are trying to achieve. Why the moon? The moon has amazing potential for future space exploration. Its gravity is only one-sixth that of Earth, which makes it much easier to throw things from the moon into Earth orbit than to throw them directly from Earth! And in an industry where every kilo costs a fortune, the ability to save money is hugely attractive. Although people have been looking at making oxygen and rocket fuel in space for decades, the Artemis program marks the first time we have solid plans for making and using metal in space. Some companies are looking at extracting metals and oxygen from lunar dirt. At first these will be demonstrations, but eventually moon metal will be a viable option for manufacturing in space. As a researcher in this field, I expect that in about 10 to 20 years from now we will have demonstrated the ability to extract metals from the moon and probably use them to build large structures in space. Exactly what will we be able to export? And how would we do it? On a clear night, you can see the Moon’s two geological regions – the darker Maria and the lighter Highlands. Credit: Shutterstock What’s out there? There are two main geological regions on the moon that you can see on a clear night. The dark areas are called maria and have a higher concentration of iron and titanium. Bright areas are called highlands (or terrae) and have more aluminum. In general, dirt and rocks on the moon contain silicon, oxygen, aluminum, iron, calcium, magnesium, titanium, sodium, potassium, and manganese. This may sound like a mouthful, but there really isn’t that much to choose from. There are some other clues, but dealing with them is a game for another day. We know that metals like iron, aluminum and titanium are useful for construction. But what about the others? Well, it turns out that when you have limited options (and the alternative is to spend a small fortune), scientists can get pretty creative. We can use silicon to make solar panels, which could be the main source of electricity on the moon. We could use magnesium, manganese and chromium to make metal alloys with interesting properties and sodium and potassium as coolants. There are also studies looking at the use of reactive metals (aluminum, iron, magnesium, titanium, silicon, calcium) as a form of battery or “energy carrier”. If we really needed to, we could even use them as a form of solid rocket fuel. So we have options in terms of sourcing and using metals on the moon. But how do we get to them? How would export work? Researchers at the University of Glasgow used an electrolysis separation process to extract a pile of metal (right) from simulated lunar dirt (left). Credit: Beth Lomax/University of Glasgow While the moon has abundant metals, they are bound to the rocks as oxides — metals and oxygen stuck together. This is where astrometallurgy comes in, which is simply the study of extracting metal from space rocks. Metallurgists use a variety of methods to separate metals and oxygen from rocks. Some of the more common extraction methods use chemicals such as hydrogen and carbon. Some, such as “electrolytic separation” use pure electricity, while more innovative solutions involve completely vaporizing rocks to produce metal. If you are interested in a complete summary of lunar astrometallurgy, you can read about it in one of my research papers. Regardless of the method used, mining and processing metals in space presents many challenges. Some challenges are obvious. The moon’s relatively weak gravity means that gravity is basically non-existent, and digging into the soil like we do on Earth is not an option. Researchers are working on these problems. There is also a shortage of important resources such as water, which is often used for metallurgy on Earth. Other challenges are more specialized. For example, one lunar day is as long as 28 Earth days. So for two weeks you have plenty of access to the power and warmth of the Sun… but then you have two weeks of night. Temperatures also fluctuate wildly, from 120℃ during the day to -180℃ at night. Some permanently shaded areas drop below -220℃! Even if the mining and processing of resources were done remotely from Earth, much equipment would not withstand these conditions. Artemis 1 lifted off spectacularly just after 17:00 AEDT on 16 November. This brings us to the human factor: would the humans themselves be up there to help with all this? Probably not. Although we will be sending more people to the moon in the future, the dangers of meteor impact, exposure to radiation from the Sun and extreme temperatures mean that this work will have to be done remotely. But controlling robots hundreds of thousands of kilometers away is also a challenge. It’s not all bad news though, as we can use some of these factors to our advantage. The extreme vacuum of space can reduce the energy requirements of some processes, as the vacuum helps substances vaporize at lower temperatures (which you can test by trying to boil water on a high mountain). Something similar happens with molten rocks in space. And while the moon’s lack of atmosphere makes it uninhabitable for humans, it also means more access to sunlight for solar panels and direct solar heating. While it may take a few more years to get there, we’re well on our way to making things in space out of moon metal. Astrometallurgists will be watching with keen interest as future Artemis missions take off with the tools to make this happen. Powered by The Conversation

											  This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.  Read the original article.
												Reference: Artemis 1 is powered down—and we’re one step closer to using moon dirt to build in space (2022, November 17) Retrieved November 17, 2022, from 											 
										 This document is subject to copyright.  Except for any fair dealing for purposes of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission.  Content is provided for informational purposes only.