Developing the Technology-Who can contribute?
The timing and likelihood of the products described above are not equal. Oxygen and cast basalt are two products which, we feel, are relatively easy to produce. The greater amount of mining for light gas collection puts these products further into the future and also requires robust mining systems. While the production of refined materials such as silicon and aluminum has already been demonstrated, the fabrication of solar cells, wires, and structural beams from these feedstocks requires a fair degree of manufacturing sophistication.
The development of new technologies will thus be necessary to accrue the benefits of ISMU. Thermal control, cryogenic engineering, and space power sources are cross-cutting technologies that are well understood, but chemical processing, teleoperated mining vehicles, and manufacturing are new to NASA.
In their 1986 report, the National Commission on Space recommended the formation of "a continuing program to test, optimize, and demonstrate chemical engineering methods for separating materials found in space into pure elements suitable as raw materials for propellants and for manufacturing." This directive was based on lab results from preliminary tests of oxygen extraction using electrolytic and chemical processes. The Commission continued with the following recommendation: "Research to pioneer the use, in construction and manufacturing, of space materials that do not require chemical separation, for example: lunar glasses and metallic iron concentrated in the lunar fines." The development of many of the technologies in each of these disciplines will be synergistic. As in any development program, time and effort will be necessary to bring these possibilities to fruition. How will we acquire the necessary expertise to accomplish our goals?
NASA and many of the aerospace firms have begun considering how we can develop the potential of ISMU so that we can incorporate it with confidence into plans for the SEI. One realization is that many of the skills which will be required are not ones which they have traditionally embraced.
Many of the aerospace firms have thus formed links with companies whose main function is chemical processing. Firms that construct chemical plants or engage in the actual operation of these plants have decades of experience which can be brought to bear on the tasks which lie ahead.
Another candidate for the production of oxygen from lunar regolith is depicted here. This process involves electrolysis to release oxygen from the silicates present t in the soil. While this technology has some similarity to the aluminum industry here on Earth, much research remains to be done before such a process can be developed for lunar conditions.
Likewise, industries that work in the many aspects of energy here on Earth can bring their expertise to many of the hurdles we face in methane production and handling, power generation from stored thermal energy, lunar power systems, or helium fusion. Additionally, the power requirements of most ISMU processes can be quite high, so energy conservation-also being pursued by industry-will play a role.
As described earlier, many of the routes to oxygen are similar in nature to the production of metals from ores. The processing of regolith for metal and oxygen production can benefit from the knowledge and experience of metallurgical firms.
Before we can hope to process the soil of the Moon into other materials, we will most likely need to dig it up and feed it into our processing plants. There are many concepts of how to do this, but all will need to resolve many of the same issues that have been faced by mining companies for centuries. While there are problems on the Moon that are not a factor here on Earth, the mastery of this skill will require NASA to include the lessons of this segment of industry in its planning. The U.S. Bureau of Mines and several universities have already begun to consider the requirements and options for lunar mining equipment.
The skills and technologies engendered in these industries will be critical to many aspects of a lunar outpost. Excavation and materials transport, like mining, will teach us how to prepare a site for a habitat module as well as how to bring regolith to our feedstock pile. Larger scale production will require larger processing plants. These plants may exceed the size and mass we can bring down on a single vehicle, thus construction will be required at some level. Since many of these capabilities will be needed in the fabrication of larger habitats, whether they are derived from ISMU products or brought from Earth, there is a great need for adaptable construction equipment.