# Presentation: 516993

## Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization

- _Harrison Hsu_
- Rutgers University Center for Structures in Extreme Environments
- NASA SHARP High School Apprenticeship Program
- mentored by Haim Baruh and Haym Benaroya

## Introduction to ISRU

- ISRU stands for In-Situ Resource Utilization.
- Utilizing materials available in an extraterrestrial setting.
- Examples: Bussard ramjets, asteroid mining.
- Current Project: Using ISRU for a moon base.

## Reasons for ISRU

- Less rockets needed if what’s up there is used.
- The Earth has limited resources.
- For a moon base:
- Current rocket boosters lack sufficient power to bring bases over.
- ISRU can be automated.

## ISRU and the Lunar Base

- Building materials can be produced out of what is literally moondust.
- Lunar soil (regolith) is primarily silicon, oxygen, and aluminum- good mineral content
- Research concludes that melted regolith produces cast basalt, a strong material.

- “Bast Basalt”: an example of cast basalt.

- Regolith ->

## Methods of Casting

- Three possible stages:
- 1. An automated rover with a “RoombaTM-like” brain, designed to melt the soil it drives on.
- - Lightweight        -Usable before mankind arrives
- -Buildable today (proposed as runway maker in 1980!)

## Methods of Casting II

- 2. A supervised and fixed solar heater.
- -Able to turn out thicker projects without fuel
- -concept by Ethan Wilson Cliffton

- 3. A full-scale factory
- -Not possible until men arrive and gain experience in lunar construction.

## Cast Regolith Products

- Although the rover can only handle slabs, the other casting methods can yield not only slabs but geodesic, spherical, and cylindrical sections:

## Engineering Requirements:

- All cast basalt must be at least 1m thick for radiation shielding.
- Structures must withstand 1 atm pressure from *inside*.
- Planned lunar cement must work.
- Dust-free construction.
- Less gravity means underbuilding is practical.

## Ongoing Research

- Planning and analysis of possible structures.
- Tensile stress (from internal air pressure) and compressive stress (from structure’s own weight) are being calculated for shapes such as domes and cylinders.
- Power required for regolith melting is being calculated.
- The feasibility of launching a melter-rover is being evaluated.

- Hooray for math programs!

- MATLAB® is a product of The MathWorks, Inc.

## Citations

- “International Space Station.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. 26 Jul 05
- “Saturn V Rocket.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. 26 Jul 05
- Appendix 5-C, Proceedings of the 1980 NASA/ASEE Summer Study. NASA report CP-255 (unclassified) Nov 1982. http://wikisource.org/wiki/Advanced_Automation_for_Space_Missions:Appendix_5C 20 Jul 05
- Cliffton, Ethan Wilson. “A design for fused-regolith lunar structures.” *Space ’90.* page 541. 1990. American Society of Civil Engineers.
- Horiguchi, T. *et alii* !! “Behavior of Simulated Lunar Cement Mortar in Vacuum Environment.” *Space ’98.* p 571. 1998. American Society of Civil Engineers.
_**Image credits:**_
- Cat:     “Bast.” http://www.goddess-gallery.com/ggimages/egypt/670.jpg The Goddess Gallery. 26 Jul 05.
- Rover: see “Appendix 5-C.”
- Background: NASA image AS11-40-5878.
- Other: Harrison Hsu