Developing technology to accelerate humanity living on the Moon.
Created: 2022-12-21
Updated: 2024-01-20
Company - Cislune
Product/Service
- Classification
- In-Space Manufacturing
- Category
- In-Space Manufacturing
Space Construction Company
- Fields
- Space Construction Company
- Status
- Development
- First launch
- Not announced
Cislune is proud to be 1 of 13 US teams to win Level 1 of the NASA's Break the Ice Lunar Challenge.
Cislune Regolith Pathways and Landing Pads
- Cislune and UCF propose a site preparation architecture that relies upon in-situ resources and a small number of rovers and excavators working as a swarm to build durable lunar surfaces with size-sorted and then compacted lunar regolith. Efficient manipulation of bulk regolith via size-sorting and compaction is the most efficient architecture for lunar site preparation. We will test compaction techniques on various combinations of regolith simulant size fractions to determine the maximum strength available from compressed regolith. We will also do PSI and CFD modeling to determine requirements for landing spacecraft to determine where compressed regolith can be used.
- Site preparation will be required on the Moon and Mars as landing sites are developed for robotic and human missions. NASA is considering the lunar South Pole of the Moon with PSR’s for water ice, peaks of eternal light for power and heat, and continuous line-of-sight to the Earth for communications which will make it the focus of intensive and repeated robotic and human operations. Crew safety is significantly improved with landing pads and a reduction in ejecta.
Surface Construction - High Efficiency Sintering via Beneficiation of the Building Material
- We propose a construction system that magnetically beneficiates the soil to create a layered surface then sinters it relying on antenna near-field energy absorbance. The layering will consist of a highly microwave-susceptible, highly thermal-conductive top layer, on top of a poorly microwave-susceptible, poorly thermal-conductive sublayer. The antenna system will be optimized for magnetically dominant or electrically dominant reactive near fields as required for maximum absorbance in the beneficiated top layer. These innovations will ensure microwave energy is maximally deposited into the upper, sintering region with minimal deposition below that layer, and that it is maximally retained in that region rather than conducting deeper in the soil where temperatures do not reach sintering levels.
- The system will also use multiple wavelengths corresponding to the changing absorbance of lunar soil as a function of temperature during the heating process. The entire system (excavating, beneficiating, laying and compacting layers, and sintering) can be packaged onto a single robot for single-pass construction of landing pads and roads, or these functions can be separated into distinct excavation, beneficiation, and construction machines for larger-scale efficiency in future operations. This system will save the exploration program hundreds of millions (potentially billions) of dollars by reducing sintering energy by a factor of 2 or more, recouping the gigantic time-value of the lunar surface power systems.
- NASA can use this system to build landing pads, roads, and regolith shields over outposts on the lunar surface. Since lander blast mitigation is a major problem, there is high probability of using this system early in a lunar surface program.
- Our proposal T7.04-1097, the Refuse-to-get-stuck Rovers, emphasizes our commitment to robust and reliable mobility on the lunar surface.
- Proposal T12.08-1722, the Deflector Cone and Vented Launch Pad, brings in a creative approach to safe and sustainable launch operations.
- With Proposal Z14.02-1795, we're exploring the potential of Basalt Brackets for Truss Structures, opening doors for leveraging in situ resources in structural applications.
- And finally, Proposal Z12.01-1792 focuses on Minimizing Volatile Sublimation, a crucial consideration for resource conservation and utilization in the harsh lunar environment.
Cislune Lunar Fuel Refinery and Exporter
NASA has selected the following awardees to receive $85,000 each as Round 2 winners of the 2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge!