Parametric review of existing regolith excavation techniques for lunar In Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) and recommendations for future excavation experiments

Just, Gunter H.; Smith, Katherine; Joy, Katherine H.; Roy, Matthew

doi:10.1016/j.pss.2019.104746

Cited by 64 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…In 2009, NASA announced preliminary results from the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) impact mission, confirming the presence of ice on the Moon 3 . Since then, interest in the in situ resource utilization (ISRU) such as lunar subsurface exploration and related studies has been increasing [4][5][6][7][8][9] . A thermal vacuum chamber containing a regolith simulant bed-a dusty thermal vacuum chamber (DTVC)-is necessary for the testing and verification of equipment for a lunar surface mission [10][11][12][13][14] .…”

Section: Controlling Soil Disturbance Of a Lunar Regolith Simulant Bed During Depressurization In A Vacuum Chambermentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling soil disturbance of a lunar regolith simulant bed during depressurization in a vacuum chamber

Lee

Chung

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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A dusty thermal vacuum chamber (DTVC) containing a regolith simulant bed is essential for testing equipment and techniques related to lunar surface exploration. Space agencies have been reluctant to operate a DTVC because of the challenge of controlling soil disturbance of the lunar regolith simulant bed during pumping down or depressurization, which may contaminate or even damage the chamber and vacuum equipment. There appears to be no previously available solution to this problem, or how to avoid it. We investigated the mechanism of soil disturbance during depressurization and established a criterion for evaluating its occurrence. The proposed criterion was validated by extensive experiments and numerical modelling to simulate air evacuation from soil voids. There is a critical pressure difference (CPD) between the top and bottom of the lunar regolith simulant bed that causes soil disturbance during depressurization. We found a simple equation estimating the CPD and further provided guideline on the optimum depressurization rate to avoid soil disturbance before the target vacuum level is achieved under varying soil conditions.

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Section: Controlling Soil Disturbance Of a Lunar Regolith Simulant Bed During Depressurization In A Vacuum Chambermentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling soil disturbance of a lunar regolith simulant bed during depressurization in a vacuum chamber

Lee

Chung

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…Bulldozers, like all earthmoving equipment, need to develop strong tractive forces to loosen and move the material. Just at al. (2019) provide an overview of requirements for lunar regolith excavation and summarize the current state of the art.…”

Section: The Interlock Bulldozermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It also includes larger rock fragments. The density of regolith increases rapidly with depth, reaching 90% at a depth of 30 cm (Carrier 1991;Just 2019). The rocket plume of a vehicle landing on and taking off from the Moon can eject dust grains from the Moon surface which can travel great distances at high velocities, possibly damaging the vehicle and any infrastructure even hundreds of meters away, as no atmosphere slows the grains down (Hintze and Quintana 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Sensing and Earthmoving Vehicle for Lunar Landing Pad Construction

Nannen¹,

Bover²,

Zöbel³

2019

Preprint

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Reducing the forces necessary to construct projects like landing pads and blast walls is possibly one of the major drivers in reducing the costs of establishing lunar settlements. The interlock drive system generates traction by penetrating articulated spikes into the ground and by using the natural strength of the ground for traction. The spikes develop a high pull to weight ratio and promise good mobility in soft, rocky and steep terrain, energy-efficient operation, and their design is relatively simple. By penetrating the ground at regular intervals, the spikes also enable the in-situ measurement of a variety of ground properties, including penetration resistance, temperature, and pH. Here we present a concept for a light lunar bulldozer with interlocking spikes that uses a blade and a ripper to loosen and move soil over short distances, that maps ground properties in situ and that uses this information to construct landing pads and blast walls, and to otherwise interact with the ground in a targeted and efficient manner. Trials on Mediterranean soil have shown that this concept promises to satisfy many of the basic requirements expected of a lunar excavator. To better predict performance in a lunar or Martian environment, experiments on relevant soil simulants are needed.

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“…In order to achieve the goals of ISRU, robotic vehicles capable of traversing planetary surfaces and excavating material must be developed. According to the literature (Just et al, 2020b;Skonieczny et al, 2011), excavation systems are either discrete, where one cutting surface makes repeated contact with the surface, or continuous, where multiple cutting surfaces successively make contact with the surface to excavate material. Just et al (Just et al, 2020b) also indicate that the key parameters that should be used to compare excavation performance are the excavation rate, vehicle traverse rate, total power consumption, and the geotechnical properties of the regolith analogue used.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the literature (Just et al, 2020b;Skonieczny et al, 2011), excavation systems are either discrete, where one cutting surface makes repeated contact with the surface, or continuous, where multiple cutting surfaces successively make contact with the surface to excavate material. Just et al (Just et al, 2020b) also indicate that the key parameters that should be used to compare excavation performance are the excavation rate, vehicle traverse rate, total power consumption, and the geotechnical properties of the regolith analogue used. These parameters are indeed critical to characterizing the performance of ISRU excavation systems, however, this paper will examine two additional parameters that provide further insight into system performance: the cost of transport (COT), which is a measure of mobility efficiency and the excavation transport rate (ETR), a new parameter introduced in this work that seeks to combine excavation and mobility performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regolith Excavation Performance of a Screw-propelled Vehicle

Green¹,

McBryan²,

Mick³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Excavation of regolith is the enabling process for many of the in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) efforts that are being considered to aid in the human exploration of the moon and Mars. Most proposed planetary excavation systems are integrated with a wheeled vehicle, but none yet have used a screw-propelled vehicle which can significantly enhance the excavation performance. Therefore, CASPER, a novel screw-propelled excavation rover is developed and analyzed to determine its effectiveness as a planetary excavator. The excavation rate, power, velocity, cost of transport, and a new parameter, excavation transport rate, are analyzed for various configurations of the vehicle through mobility and excavation tests performed in silica sand. The optimal configuration yielded a 30 kg/hr excavation rate and 10.2 m/min traverse rate with an overall system mass of 3.4 kg and power draw of less than 30 W. These results indicate that this architecture shows promise as a planetary excavation because it provides significant excavation capability with low mass and power requirements. Corresponding author(s) Email: hmarvi@asu.edu

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Parametric review of existing regolith excavation techniques for lunar In Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) and recommendations for future excavation experiments

Cited by 64 publications

References 64 publications

Controlling soil disturbance of a lunar regolith simulant bed during depressurization in a vacuum chamber

Controlling soil disturbance of a lunar regolith simulant bed during depressurization in a vacuum chamber

Integrated Sensing and Earthmoving Vehicle for Lunar Landing Pad Construction

Regolith Excavation Performance of a Screw-propelled Vehicle

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