PartagerNASA tests liquefaction technology to produce propellant on the Moon
Experts at NASA’s Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland, USA, are testing technology designed to liquefy oxygen on the lunar surface for use as rocket propellant.
Deep-space exploration to the Moon and Mars poses a key technological challenge: the more fuel a spacecraft carries, the heavier it becomes, requiring even more fuel to launch from Earth.
To address this issue, NASA has been developing technology to allow for the production and storage of propellants on the surface of both Mars and the Moon. This so-called In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) could decrease launch mass, reduce launch requirements, and simplify the descent vehicle design [1].
NASA engineers at Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland, USA, are testing technology designed to liquefy oxygen on the lunar surface for use as rocket propellant. The CryoFILL (Cryogenic Fluid In-Situ Liquefaction for Landers) project aims to demonstrate how oxygen extracted from water ice in permanently shadowed regions of the Moon can be cooled and condensed into liquid form.
A method of liquefaction being considered is the Broad Area Cooling (BAC) [1], in which gaseous helium or neon is circulated through tubes attached with good thermal contact to the outside surface of the propellant tank. The BAC gas is cooled by a cryocooler prior to removing heat from the tank and thereby liquefying the gas flowing into the tank (see figure).
A flight-like cryocooler developed by Creare LLC through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is being used to remove heat from the extraction system, allowing the oxygen to condense and remain at temperatures below -300°F (-184°C) [2].
CryoFILL could transform the way NASA fuels future space exploration missions, reducing costs and extending the duration of planetary surface operations.
For more information on the liquefaction technology, an open access paper was published as part of IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering.
Sources
[1] Kashani, A., Yamashita, K., Grotenrath, R., Hauser, D., Balasubramaniam, R., & Johnson, W. (2024, May). Thermal Modeling of CryoFILL liquefaction tests. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 1301, No. 1, p. 012009). IOP Publishing. DOI 10.1088/1757-899X/1301/1/012009
[2] https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-tests-lander-refueling-tech/
[3] https://www.aerospacetestinginternational.com/news/nasa-tests-cryogenic-refueling-technology-for-lunar-landers.html
Image credits: NASA.