Recent Progress in Lunar Helium-3 Extraction Research

Autors/ores

  • Aaron David Sumaili Olson Engineering Physics Dept., University of Wisconsin-Madison

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17307/wsc.v0i0.138

Paraules clau:

Lunar, He-3, helium, ISRU

Resum

Research is ongoing to develop a prototype lunar volatiles extraction system that will demonstrate a process for acquiring helium-3 for future fusion power plants that would produce little to no radioactive waste, and other volatile gases that can be used for life support in space. The prototype system is called the Helium Extraction and Acquisition Test bed (HEAT).  Testing of HEAT will focus on obtaining information on the rate of 3He extraction possible and to what extent thermal energy recovery can be employed in this kind of volatile extraction system.  Before demonstrating the evolution of 3He out of regolith simulant, simulant that is embedded to a known concentration must be available in order to gauge the performance of HEAT.  An implantation device is being developed to implant helium into batches of JSC-1A regolith simulant for HEAT. The implantation device under development is referred to as the Solar Wind Implanter (SWIM).

Referències

Gajda, M. (2006). “A Lunar Volatiles Miner.†University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.S. Thesis.

Kuhlman, K., and Kulcinski, G. L. (2012). “Helium Isotopes in the Lunar Regolith - Measuring Helium Isotope Diffusivity in Lunar Analogs.†Moon: Prospective Energy and Material Resources, Springer Praxis, 22–56.

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Olson, A. D. S. (2013). “The Mark IV: A Scalable Lunar Miner Prototype.†International Astronautical Congress 2013, Beijing, China, IAC-13.A3.2B.7.

Olson, A. D. S., Santarius, J. F., and Kulcinski, G. L. (2015). “Design of a Lunar Solar Wind Volatiles Extraction System.†Proceedings of the Wisconsin Space Conference, 1(1).

Pepin, R. O., Nyquist, L. E., Phinney, D., and Black, D. C. (1970). “Rare Gases in Apollo 11 Lunar Material.†Proceedings of the Apollo 11 Lunar Science Conference, 1435 – 1454.

Sviatoslavsky, I. N. (1993). “The Challenge of Mining He-3 on the Lunar Surface: How All the Parts Fit Together.†Space 94, The 4th International Conference and Exposition on Engineering, Construction and Operations in Space, and The Conference and Exposition/Demonstration on Robotics for Challenging Environments, February 26 - March 3, 1994, Albuquerque NM Also: WCS.

Sviatoslavsky, I. N., and Jacobs, M. K. (1988). “Mobile Helium-3 Mining and Extraction System and Its Benifits Toward Lunar Base Self-Sifficiency.†Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics Technical Report (WCSAR-TR) AR3-8808-1.

Wittenberg, L. J., Santarius, J. F., and Kulcinski, G. L. (1986). “Lunar Source of He-3 for Commercial Fusion Power.†Fusion Technology, 10, 167.

Publicades

2016-02-11

Com citar

Olson, A. D. S. (2016). Recent Progress in Lunar Helium-3 Extraction Research. Proceedings of the Wisconsin Space Conference. https://doi.org/10.17307/wsc.v0i0.138

Número

Secció

Physics and Engineering