Two devices are being developed as part of a project to demonstrate the extraction of helium-3 and other volatiles from lunar regolith. The first is an implantation system to embed helium ions into JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant and the second is a counter flow heat pipe heat exchanger for the subsequent diffusion of the helium out of the regolith. This will simulate the previously proposed acquisition of helium-3 from the Moon for use in nuclear fusion reactors on Earth. Preliminary designs of both of these systems are discussed. 1
Two devices are being developed as part of a project to demonstrate the extraction of helium-3 and other volatiles from lunar regolith. The first is an implantation system to embed helium ions into JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant and the second is a counter flow heat pipe heat exchanger for the subsequent diffusion of the helium out of the regolith. This will simulate the previously proposed acquisition of helium-3 from the Moon for use in nuclear fusion reactors on Earth. Preliminary designs of both of these systems are discussed. 1
The Helium Extraction & Acquisition Testbed (HEAT) is an experimental lunar volatiles extraction system designed to test recuperative heat pipe heat exchanger (HPHX) technology that could be used to release volatiles from lunar regolith. HEAT has passive and active granular flow components that allow for the controlled flow of regolith through a variety of HPHX configurations. HEAT has instrumentation to measure regolith and heat pipe temperature at key positions in the device to ascertain the HPHX recuperative efficiency of the device. Volatile gas release is also measured with the use of a residual gas analyzer. The primary volatile of interest for this investigation is helium-3 (3 He). As a surrogate for 3 He containing regolith, 4 He containing JSC-1A regolith simulant is used. A summary of the design of the HEAT device and an overview of the modeling approach for an HPHX is discussed in this paper.
Crew 110A consisted of a team of engineers, undergraduates and graduate students, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During our stay, we celebrated the New Year with an inaugural midnight EVA and red Martian cool-aid, we anxiously listened to the UW-Madison Badger Football Team play in the Rose Bowl, and we completed 15 EVA's within a seven day period.The crew set out with a mission to conduct habitability, atmospheric, geologic imaging, and space suit ergonomic studies and a vision to advance the space industry's exploration capabilities.The team worked with a NASA lead human factors engineer to design a habitat architecture study, a member from ESA on 3D imaging, and a professional astronomer. The crew also looked at habitable space for crew exercising and made outreach videos for upcoming middle school and high school visits.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.