Prototype Development of an Integrated Mars Atmosphere and Soil-Processing System

Interbartolo, Michael; Sanders, Gerald B.; Oryshchyn, Lara; Lee, Kris; Vaccaro, Helen; Santiago-Maldonado, Edgardo; Muscatello, Anthony C.

doi:10.1061/(asce)as.1943-5525.0000214

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The Sabatier reaction will be important when hydrogen becomes available, converting H 2 O and CO 2 to CH 4 and O 2 [11,13,14]. The Sabatier process was used in end-to-end lab demonstrations [15,16]. The CO is also used in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to produce hydrocarbons and methanol.…”

Section: Overview Of Mars Isru Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal

Rapp,

Inglezakis

2024

Applied Sciences

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The inspirational paper by Ash, Dowler, and Varsi in 1978, proposing to utilize in situ resources on Mars (ISRU) rather than bringing them from Earth, originated the field of Mars ISRU that has been the subject of research ever since. In this paper, we reviewed significant research reported on Mars ISRU since 1978 and reported briefly on accomplishments. We found that prior to 2014, progress on small tasks was sporadic and intermittent, always at low Technology Readiness Level (TRL). In 2014, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took a bold, imaginative, unprecedented step to fund a major project in Mars ISRU: the so-called “MOXIE” (Mars Oxygen In Situ Experiment), in which an oxygen production plant based on solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC) was developed, and finally demonstrated on Mars in 2022 and 2023. While MOXIE leaves behind it a wealth of accomplishments, there remains the need to close remaining gaps with additional laboratory and field work. Solid-oxide electrochemical cell (SOEC) technology has become a major area of worldwide investment for terrestrial energy and CO2 control. There is a very strong overlap between this terrestrial technology and Mars ISRU. NASA has already leveraged the terrestrial development work via MOXIE. NASA can leverage further advances with a comparatively small investment beyond 2023. Because NASA is engaged in a major program to return humans to the Moon, NASA’s focus is on lunar ISRU. Unfortunately, the mission impact and return on investment for lunar ISRU does not compare to that for Mars ISRU. NASA’s concept for Mars ISRU is futuristic, involving autonomous mining, transporting, and processing large amounts of Mars regolith. This might well occur long after initial human landings which could better profit in the near-term from MOXIE technology. By continuing further development of SOEC technology beyond MOXIE, while leveraging large investments in terrestrial applications, NASA can develop the Mars ISRU appropriate to nearer term human missions at modest investment. The goal of this paper is to place the relatively mature MOXIE technology advance and solid oxide electrolysis in general in perspective to the historical evolution of low TRL Mars ISRU technology.

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Section: Overview Of Mars Isru Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal

Rapp,

Inglezakis

2024

Applied Sciences

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“…2 j) [ 22 ]. In 2013, NASA also proposed a Mars in-situ resource utilization landing mission, MARCO POLO [ 23 ], which would utilize Mars’s atmospheric and soil resources to produce H 2 , O 2 and CH 4 by the Sabatier method and water electrolytic technology. They further proposed the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE) load in 2014 to deoxidize carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere to generate O 2 with a solid oxide electrolytic cell at 800ºC to achieve 10 g h –1 O 2 production (Fig.…”

Section: Recent Progress On Extraterrestrial Co 2 and H 2 O Conversion For Spacecraftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extraterrestrial artificial photosynthetic materials for in-situ resource utilization

Yang

Zhang

et al. 2021

National Science Review

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Missions as aerospace milestones in human history, including returning to the moon and manned Martian missions, are being implemented in recent years. Space exploration has become one of the global common goals. And the survival and development of human beings in the extraterrestrial extreme environment is becoming the basic ability and technology for manned space exploration. For the purpose of fulfilling the goal of extraterrestrial survival, researchers in Nanjing University and the China Academy of Space Technology proposed the extraterrestrial artificial photosynthesis (EAP) technology. By simulating natural photosynthesis of green plants on the earth, EAP converts CO2/H2O into fuels and oxygen in an in-situ, accelerated and controllable manner by using waste CO2 in confined space of spacecrafts, or abundant CO2 resources in extraterrestrial celestial environment, e.g. the Mars. Thus, the material loading of manned spacecraft can be greatly reduced to support affordable and sustainable deep space exploration. In this paper, the EAP technology was compared with the existing methods of converting CO2/H2O into fuel and oxygen in the aerospace field, especially Sabatier method and Bosch reduction method. And the research progress of possible EAP materials for in-situ utilization of extraterrestrial resources were discussed in depth. This review finally listed the challenges that EAP process may encounter with, which need to be focused on for the future implementation and application. We expected to deepen the understanding of artificial photosynthetic materials and technologies, aiming to strongly support the development of manned spaceflight.

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“…O 2 is used for astronaut breathing or as combustion supporting agent, H 2 is recovered [8][9][10]. In 2013, NASA proposed the Mars ISRU plan, which uses the atmosphere and soil resources of Mars to generate O 2 and fuel through the Sabatier reaction [11]. In 2021, the ''Perseverance'' rover carried the reaction device conducted experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrochemical Catalytic Synthesis of CH₃OH for In‐situ Resource Utilization

Yang,

Dong,

Zhu

et al. 2023

Chem Eng & Technol

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In space exploration activities, a large amount of materials needs to be carried, which limits the sustainable development of exploration activities. In‐situ resource utilization (ISRU) is an important means to realize resource recycling and continuous space exploration, which converts space resources into oxygen and hydrocarbon fuels. The traditional ISRU in outer space mainly uses high temperature and high pressure to electrolyze water or reduce CO2, having problems such as low conversion efficiency, high energy consumption, and excessive equipment volume. Here, an electrochemical catalytic synthesis technology based on a microfluidic device is proposed, which can convert H2O and CO2 into O2 and organic matter by electrocatalytic method at room temperature and achieve efficient energy and matter conversion. The gas‐liquid mixing and electrochemical reaction were analyzed. A mathematical model of gas‐liquid two‐phase mixing and microfluidic chemical reaction was established. The research results demonstrate the reliability and efficiency of the microfluidic reaction device designed in this paper for ISRU.

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Prototype Development of an Integrated Mars Atmosphere and Soil-Processing System

Cited by 13 publications

References 1 publication

Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal

Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal

Extraterrestrial artificial photosynthetic materials for in-situ resource utilization

Electrochemical Catalytic Synthesis of CH₃OH for In‐situ Resource Utilization

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Prototype Development of an Integrated Mars Atmosphere and Soil-Processing System

Cited by 13 publications

References 1 publication

Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal

Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal

Extraterrestrial artificial photosynthetic materials for in-situ resource utilization

Electrochemical Catalytic Synthesis of CH3OH for In‐situ Resource Utilization

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Electrochemical Catalytic Synthesis of CH₃OH for In‐situ Resource Utilization