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Noever1
High Performance Materials Applications toMoon/Mars Missions and Bases
David A. Noever
1
, David D. Smith
2
, Laurent Sibille
3
, Scott C. Brown
4
,Raymond J. Cronise
5
, and Sandor L. Lehoczky
6
Abstract
Two classes of material processing scenarios will feature prominently in futureinterplanetary exploration:
in situ
production using locally available materials in lunar orplanetary landings and high performance structural materials which carve out a set of properties for uniquely hostile space environments. To be competitive, high performancematerials must typically offer orders of magnitude improvements in thermal conductivityor insulation, deliver high strength-to-weight ratios, or provide superior durability (lowcorrosion and/or ablative character, e.g., in heat shields). The space-related environmentalparameters of high radiation flux, low weight, and superior reliability limits many typicalaerospace materials to a short list comprising high performance alloys, nanocompositesand thin-layer metal laminates (Al-Cu, Al-Ag) with typical dimensions less than theFrank-Reed-type (e.g., packing flaws or 'weak' points crystallographically) dislocationsource. Extremely light weight carbon-carbon composites and carbon aerogels will bepresented as novel examples which define broadened material parameters, particularlyowing to their extreme thermal insulation (R-32-64) and low densities (<0.01 g/cm
3
)approaching that of air itself. Even with these low-weight payload additions, rocket thrust
 
1
 
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Space Sciences Laboratory, ES-76, Huntsville,AL 35812
2
 
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Space Sciences Laboratory, ES-76, Huntsville,AL 35812
3
Universities Space Research Association, Huntsville, AL
4
 
Southern Research Institute, Birmingham, AL
5
 
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Space Sciences Laboratory, ES-76, Huntsville,AL 35812
6
 
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Space Sciences Laboratory, ES-76, Huntsville,AL 35812
 
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limits and transport costs will always place a premium on assembling as much structuraland life support resources upon interplanetary, lunar, or asteroid arrival. As an example,for
in situ
lunar glass manufacture, solar furnaces reaching 1700
°
C for pure silica glassmanufacture
in situ
are compared with sol-gel technology and acid-leached ultrapure(<0.1% FeO) silica aerogel precursors.
Introduction
The Moon and Mars have a restricted, albeit plentiful, set of resources, and manymaterials will need to be imported from extralunar and extraplanetary sources for a longtime. Because of this, anything not returning to Earth becomes a valuable source of rawmaterials for the lunar or Martian base. Lunar and planetary bases have been the subject of many design studies (Nishioka, et al. 1973; Carlton, et al., 1992; Dalton, et al. 1972;Mansfield, et al. 1971; Matsomoto, et al. 1997). In most cases, the total mass of housingand life support equipment is too large for efficient transport, reaching approximately2000 t brought from Earth to accommodate a construction crew of 300 persons.
 In situ
mining and processing is therefore a prerequisite for base construction and operation.In various Moon or Martian exploration scenarios the costs of interplanetarytransport become prohibitive in the absence of some
in situ
mining or production. TheMars Design Reference Mission (DRM) calls for the
in situ
production of CH
4
 /O
2
propellant for the crew's ascent vehicle and surface mobility, as well as the necessary waterand life support gases for the crew's entire surface stay.
 In situ
production permits asignificant decrease in the amount of material that must be delivered to Mars from Earth,while simultaneously increasing the productivity of the crew on the surface and theirsafety. This paper surveys some of the high performance materials applications andattempts to assess advantages and disadvantages for Moon/Mars missions and bases, withparticular attention paid to
in situ
production methods.
Material AbundanceLunar
Silica (SiO
2
) composes approximately 40-50 percent of the lunar soil, andin abundance are also found oxides of aluminum (Al
2
O
3
), iron (FeO), magnesium (MgO),calcium (CaO), and titanium (TiO
2
). Oxides of sodium (Na
2
O), potassium (K
2
O),phosphorus (P
2
O
3
), manganese (MnO), and chromium (Cr
2
O
3
) are present in less than 1percent. There are about ten major oxides/silicates among lunar minerals. One of the mostcommon lunar minerals is ilmenite, a mixture of iron, titanium, and oxygen. (Ilmenite alsooften contains other metals such as magnesium). Ilmenite is the most reactive phase, withcomplete reduction of FeO in the ilmenite to iron metal at all temperatures. Brecher et al.(1975) reacted lunar mare soil 74241 with hydrogen in a closed capsule at 800° C. Theyreported a significant increase in iron metal content at the expense of ilmenite. Electronmicrographs showed a distinctive grain surface texture, composed of 1-5 µm metal sub-grains on a substrate of titanium oxide.The most likely feedstock for a lunar oxygen plant is the local soil. Moon dustitself is a mixture of many different minerals, and nearly all of them contain oxygen in
 
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considerable abundance. The Moon, even though it is 45 percent oxygen, is actuallyunderoxidized. This is clear from the fact that the soil contains a high percentage of freeiron (unoxidized) powder fines (harvestable for the cost of a magnet), and that oxidizediron (ore) is ferrous (FeO), not ferric (Fe
2
O
3
). About 85 percent of the weight of a typicalspacecraft at launch is the oxygen used for rocket fuel. Lunar oxygen, condensed intoliquid and stored in tanks made from lunar materials, might be shipped economically fromthe Moon to refuel spacecraft throughout cislunar space. 
Base Geographic Consideration and Material Supply Lines
Although stillrequiring confirmation, the Clementine satellite discovered lunar (south polar) ice—apotentially one billion metric ton supply of mainly water ice, but probably also containingpropellant precursors such as frozen ammonia, methane, and other ices deposited bycomets. Because the pole lies within the 2600-kilometer-wide, 12-kilometer-deep SouthPole-Aitken Basin, the largest known impact crater in the solar system, the potential topartially cover a surface crater for habitation and base manufacturing is an appealingdesign. As a crater base, partial radiation shielding could be expected from the severalmillion tons of soil mass passively and without impairing the contact of the colonists withtheir environment or imposing electromagnetic active shielding.Some passive solar furnace made from lightweight reflectors is required forvirtually all
in situ
production methods, particularly metallic ore or oxygen recovery(Mansfield, J. M., et al. 1973). For this reason, locating a base at the pole wouldfurthermore allow the base to have portions in the Sun the majority of the time, especiallymountain tops near the base. For lunar power generation, nuclear reactors have previouslybeen considered a first choice compared to solar photovoltaics, since most places on theMoon receive 14 days of sunlight followed by 14 days of darkness. But at the south pole,near-constant sunlight shines at four places up to 90 percent of the time, making themexcellent sites for solar power systems. The best-lit site is at 89.3 degrees south, 105degrees west. Thus, placing two bases 'across' the lunar pole from each other would allowone of them to have sunlight at all times. The distance between them need not exceed 60miles if by storage and transferring electricity from one base to the other, a dual site wouldallow incoming solar energy for photovoltaics or passive furnaces throughout the lunarnight.
 In situ
Production and Extraction Cycles
Lunar or Martian silica is needed forwindows and solar cells. Aluminum, titanium, magnesium, and iron are all potentialconstruction materials. On the Moon, titanium is in the form of a magnetic mineral(ilmenite) which can, in theory, be easily separated from the bulk of the lunar ore. Inaddition, use of titanium for structure would result in significant savings in the totalamount of refined material because, although more difficult to form and fabricate, itsstrength-to-mass ratio is greater than that of the other metals available. Since ilmenite isbasically FeTiO
3
, significant amounts of iron and oxygen can be extracted as byproducts.To supply one million tons per year, a surface area the size of about eight football fieldsmust be mined. If the mining machinery operates 50 percent of the time, a mining rate of about 4 t/min (about 1 m3/min) is scooped and carried to the processor by scooper-loaders(Nishioka, et al. 1973), then it is carried from the mining area on a conveyor system.
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