Planetary Regolith Delivery Systems for ISRU

Abstract

This paper describes tests conducted since 2008 at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to address engineering challenges associated with delivering planetary regolith to in situ resource utilization (ISRU) systems. The need to excavate regolith under reduced-gravity conditions on a planetary surface and then deliver it to systems for material analysis and/or processing constrains the possible engineering approaches that can be used in space. Mission costs may further limit the mass and available power of a regolith delivery system. Mechanical systems operating in a planetary environment require high reliability with respect to system service life because it is usually difficult or impossible to perform maintenance robotically on a planetary surface. The regolith delivery system for most ISRU systems must have a leak-tight interface between the near-vacuum found on a planetary surface and the pressurized atmosphere within the ISRU reactor. Depending on the mission, the amount of regolith that must be delivered may range from a few grams (e.g., for analysis) to tens of kilograms (e.g., for oxygen production). Hot, spent regolith from an ISRU reactor must eventually be returned to the planetary environment by means of an interface that is capable of operating and sealing over a potentially large temperature range. In this paper, we will describe pneumatic and auger methods of conveying large amounts of regolith that have been studied and demonstrated at NASA KSC and at ISRU field tests and discuss other regolith delivery systems that are being designed for future field tests.