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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Base Construction Planning

Previous lunar missions and campaigns have been restricted to using robotic landers and lunar orbiting satellites as well as sortie type of operations using astronaut crews(NASA Apollo program).Now, the next phase of lunar exploration has begun under NASA’s Artemis program and there has been an international response where other nations such as China, Russia, India, Canada, Japan and theEuropean Union of nations, have all expressed interest in either collaborating or competing with NASA on theMoon. This next phase has an overarching goal of achieving a permanent human presence on theMoon via sustainable methods. A lunar base with human occupancy will require infrastructure to provide shelter, utilities, landing/launch pads, roads, communications, power and all the other necessities to sustain human life and protect equipment.Since human biology is not well suited for surviving in the lunar environment, there will be many forms of automated equipment, autonomy and robotic helpers that will minimize the amount of Extra-Vehicular Activity(EVA) required by the crew. This will mean that the radiation dosage received by the crew will stay within acceptable and safe career doses. Radiation shielding via the use of regolith can also mitigate radiation dangers.The required infrastructure must be constructed, but the mass and logistics of bringing all the construction materials from Earth are prohibitive, which makes the necessary construction difficult to achieve.In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) aims to solve this challenge by sourcing construction materials locally or “in-situ”. This means that their transportation can be completely eliminated, resulting in large cost savings by avoiding the launch out of Earth’s deep gravity well and subsequent trans lunar injection, lunar orbit capture and landing. This paper will give ahistorical review and current status of lunar construction planning and a high level introduction to the required infrastructure and construction equipment that will be required to robotically build a lunar base using in-situ resources.It will also organize these tasks into logical groupings so that technology development and implementation can be pursued within a framework that can be referenced by all involved.

Lunar↗
DOE OSTI2020

CEA/DAM - CEA/DEN - LANL - IAEA - IPHC Collaboration Meeting on Nuclear Data, Nuclear Reaction Theories, and Machine Learning (Summary Report)

Dupuis hosted our biennial CEA/NNSA collaboration meeting, and Kawano and Lovell of LANL and Tamagno of CEA/DEN (Cadarache) visited CEA/DAM to discuss current issues and further developments in nuclear reaction modeling, nuclear data evaluation, and relevant programs of modern computer science, especially the machine learning technology. The discussions included topics of our common interest such as neutron inelastic scattering, capture, and fission, with particular emphasis on the actinide nuclear data evaluations. We report briefly the summary of our discussions. We also had a half-day video meeting with Capote of IAEA and Kerveno of IPHC to discuss nuclear reactions on actinides.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Towards Quantitative Inference of Nanoscale Defects in Irradiated Metals and Alloys

Quantifying the population of nanoscale defects that are formed in metals and alloys exposed to extreme radiation environments remains a pressing challenge in materials science. These defects both fundamentally alter material properties and seed long-timescale performance degradation, which often limits the lifespan of engineering systems. Unlike ceramic and semiconducting materials, these defects in metals and alloys are not spectroscopically active, forcing characterization to rely on indirect measurements from which the distribution of nanoscale defects may be inferred. In this mini-review, different experimental methodologies which have been employed for defect inference are highlighted to capture the current state of the art. Future directions in this area are proposed, which, by combining data streams from multiple and complementary characterization methods in concert with multi-scale modeling and simulation, will enable the ultimate goal of quantifying the full spectrum of defects in irradiated metals and alloys.

Hirst, Charles A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

On the evolution of tidal capture X-ray binaries - 4U 2127+12 (M15) to 4U 1820-30 (NGC 6624)

A new evolutionary scenario for X-ray binaries in globular clusters, which begins with a tidal capture of a main-sequence star by a neutron star and ends with a white dwarf-neutron star system, is presented. For tidal captures of main-sequence stars into orbits too wide to begin mass transfer immediately, the subsequent evolution of the secondary can lead to a common envelope binary similar to what the 9 hr X-ray binary 4U 2127+12 in M15 is suspected to be. If the common envelope is thick enough, it may cause the neutron star and the white dwarf core of the secondary to spiral in, producing a detached white dwarf-neutron star system. Subsequently, gravitational radiation losses may evolve this into the configuration seen in the 11 minute X-ray binary 4U 1820-30 in NGC 6624. This model appears more likely on statistical grounds than formation by collision of a neutron star and a red giant. In some circumstances, the latter process may result in unstable mass transfer, which would result in coalescence rather than a binary system like 4U 1820-30.

Bailyn, Charles D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Microwave and infrared simulations of an intense convective system and comparison with aircraft observations

A three-dimensional cloud model, radiative transfer model-based simulation system is tested and validated against the aircraft-based radiance observations of an intense convective system in southeastern Virginia on 29 June 1986 during the Cooperative Huntsville Meteorological Experiment. NASA's ER-2, a high-altitude research aircraft with a complement of radiometers operating at 11-micrometer infrared channel and 18-, 37-, 92-, and 183-GHz microwave channels provided data for this study. The cloud model successfully simulated the cloud system with regard to aircraft- and radar-observed cloud-top heights and diameters and with regard to radar-observed reflectivity structure. For the simulation time found to correspond best with the aircraft- and radar-observed structure, brightness temperatures T(sub b) are simulated and compared with observations for all the microwave frequencies along with the 11-micrometer infrared channel. Radiance calculations at the various frequencies correspond well with the aircraft observations in the areas of deep convection. The clustering of 37-147-GHz T(sub b) observations and the isolation of the 18-GHz values over the convective cores are well simulated by the model. The radiative transfer model, in general, is able to simulate the observations reasonably well from 18 GHz through 174 GHz within all convective areas of the cloud system. When the aircraft-observed 18- and 37-GHz, and 90- and 174-GHz T(sub b) are plotted against each other, the relationships have a gradual difference in the slope due to the differences in the ice particle size in the convective and more stratiform areas of the cloud. The model is able to capture these differences observed by the aircraft. Brightness temperature-rain rate relationships compare reasonably well with the aircraft observations in terms of the slope of the relationship. The model calculations are also extended to select high-frequency channels at 220, 340, and 400 GHz to simulate the Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer aircraft instrument to be flown in the near future. All three of these frequencies are able to discriminate the convective and anvil portions of the system, providing useful information similar to that from the frequencies below 183 GHz but with potentially enhanced spatial resolution from a satellite platform. In thin clouds, the dominant effect of water vapor is seen at 174, 340, and 400 GHz. In thick cloudy areas, the scattering effect is dominant at 90 and 220 GHz, while the overlaying water vapor can attenuate at 174, 340, and 400 GHz. All frequencies (90-400 GHz) show strong signatures in the core.

Prasad, N.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Variational Assimilation of Global Microwave Rainfall Retrievals: Physical and Dynamical Impact on GEOS Analyses and Forecasts

Global microwave rainfall retrievals from a 5-satellite constellation, including TMI from TRMM, SSWI from DMSP F13, F14 and F15, and AMSR-E from EOS-AQUA, are assimilated into the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Data Assimilation System (DAS) using a 1-D variational continuous assimilation (VCA) algorithm. The physical and dynamical impact of rainfall assimilation on GEOS analyses and forecasts is examined at various temporal and spatial scales. This study demonstrates that the 1-D VCA algorithm, which was originally developed and evaluated for rainfall assimilations over tropical oceans, can effectively assimilate satellite microwave rainfall retrievals and improve GEOS analyses over both the Tropics and the extratropics where the atmospheric processes are dominated by different large-scale dynamics and moist physics, and also over the land, where rainfall estimates from passive microwave radiometers are believed to be less accurate. Results show that rainfall assimilation renders the GEOS analysis physically and dynamically more consistent with the observed precipitation at the monthly-mean and 6-hour time scales. Over regions where the model precipitation tends to misbehave in distinctly different rainy regimes, the 1-D VCA algorithm, by compensating for errors in the model s moist time-tendency in a 6-h analysis window, is able to bring the rainfall analysis closer to the observed. The radiation and cloud fields also tend to be in better agreement with independent satellite observations in the rainfall-assimilation m especially over regions where rainfall analyses indicate large improvements. Assimilation experiments with and without rainfall data for a midlatitude frontal system clearly indicates that the GEOS analysis is improved through changes in the thermodynamic and dynamic fields that respond to the rainfall assimilation. The synoptic structures of temperature, moisture, winds, divergence, and vertical motion, as well as vorticity are more realistically captured across the front. Short-term forecasts using initial conditions assimilated with rainfall data also show slight improvements. 1

Lin, Xin↗
NASA NTRS2016

Rough Surfaces: Is the Dark Stuff Just Shadow?: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The shadow knows!"

Remote observations of the surfaces of airless planetary objects are fundamental to inferring the physical structure and compositional makeup of the surface material. A number of forward models have been developed to reproduce the photometric behavior of these surfaces, based on specific, assumed structural properties such as macroscopic roughness and associated shadowing. Most work of this type is applied to geometric albedos, which are affected by complicated effects near zero phase angle that represent only a tiny fraction of the net energy reflected by the object. Other applications include parameter fits to resolved portions of some planetary surface as viewed over a range of geometries. The spherical albedo of the entire object (when it can be determined) captures the net energy balance of the particle more robustly than the geometric albedo. In most treatments involving spherical albedos, spherical albedos and particle phase functions are often treated as if they are independent, neglecting the effects of roughness. In this paper we take a different approach. We note that whatever function captures the phase angle dependence of the brightness of a realistic rough, shadowed, flat surface element relative to that of a smooth granular surface of the same material, it is manifested directly in both the integral phase function and the spherical albedo of the object. We suggest that, where broad phase angle coverage is possible, spherical albedos may be easily corrected for the effects of shadowing using observed (or assumed) phase functions, and then modeled more robustly using smooth-surface regolith radiative transfer models without further imposed (forward-modeled) shadowing corrections. Our approach attributes observed "power law" phase functions of various slope (and "linear" ranges of magnitude-vs.-phase angle) to shadowing, as have others, and goes on to suggest that regolith-model-based inferences of composition based on shadow-uncorrected spherical albedos overestimate the amount of absorbing material contained in the regolith.

geometric albedos↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Machine learning based noise reduction for satellite products: application to solar-induced fluorescence retrievals using simulated and real data

In the past two decades, global satellite measurements of terrestrial chlorophyll solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) have been used widely for a number of different applications related to physiology, phenology, and productivity of plants. However, SIF retrievals are inherently noisy due to the relatively small SIF spectral signature in comparison with observational noise. In this work, we examine how a spectral-based approach that employs principal component analysis along with a relatively shallow artificial neural network can be used to reduce noise and other artifacts in satellite level 2 (L2) products. We first apply the approach in a controlled environment in which radiance spectra are simulated with a full atmospheric and surface radiative transfer model for different scenarios including various SIF values that are known. Various levels of noise can be added to the simulated spectra. Resulting noisy and noise-reduced SIF retrievals are compared with the true values to assess performance. We then apply the noise reduction approach to real SIF derived from instruments flying on meteorological satellites. The results are evaluated by comparing SIF retrievals from different platforms with each other and with other independent data sets, showing enhanced capability to capture seasonal and interannual variability in SIF.

Chlorophyll fluorescence↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Implementation of a Hybrid Edge Node-Centroid Node Approach for the Generation of Reduced Thermal Models

Reduced thermal models are often required for delivery to organizations that manage observatory or launch models at the highest levels of assembly. However, the effort to generate reduced models, and verify against their detailed counterparts, is a challenge that has not yet been conclusively solved. Higher level organizations often place a limit on the number of nodes for delivered models with the assumption that smaller models generally result in less computation time. However, the burden of producing and verifying the accuracy of the reduced models is placed primarily on the lower-level organizations, which in turn consumes resources needed to produce these models. Limiting the total number of allowable nodes may also prevent users from taking full advantage of software capabilities that allow for faster generation of models, such as finite elements, which generally require more nodes than older centroid based models. A methodology using Thermal Desktop was described in 2010 which used: (1) finite elements and edge nodes for a conduction matrix, (2) centroid nodes for capacitance and radiative computations, and (3) the super network feature to produce a conduction matrix based only on the centroid nodes. At that time, the methodology was clear, but the implementation would have had to be done manually; however, with the inclusion of the OpenTD API, this methodology can now be implemented programmatically and for the first time, be a viable approach for the generation of reduced models. The approach was implemented and developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for the Capture, Containment, and Return System (CCRS) payload on the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) as part of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, resulting in the TCYEE tool. ERO features a spacecraft bus provided by Airbus through the European Space Agency (ESA) with node limitations on the delivered CCRS model provided by GSFC. TCYEE was used to generate the reduced model for this delivery and the predictions compared favorably to the detailed model currently in use for the thermal performance evaluation. Furthermore, TCYEE is being explored for potential use on the Roman Space Telescope (RST) for the generation of reduced models for delivery to the launch provider, which also has node limit requirements on the RST observatory model for use in launch simulation analyses. This paper describes the methodology, its implementation, and compares the performance of reduced models generated by TCYEE to their detailed counterparts.

Hume L. Peabody↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Implementation of a Hybrid Edge Node-Centroid Node Approach for the Generation of Reduced Thermal Models

Reduced thermal models are often required for delivery to organizations that manage observatory or launch models at the highest levels of assembly. However, the effort to generate reduced models, and verify against their detailed counterparts, is a challenge that has not yet been conclusively solved. Higher level organizations often place a limit on the number of nodes for delivered models with the assumption that smaller models generally result in less computation time. However, the burden of producing and verifying the accuracy of the reduced models is placed primarily on the lower-level organizations, which in turn consumes resources needed to produce these models. Limiting the total number of allowable nodes may also prevent users from taking full advantage of software capabilities that allow for faster generation of models, such as finite elements, which generally require more nodes than older centroid based models. A methodology using Thermal Desktop was described in 2010 which used: (1) finite elements and edge nodes for a conduction matrix, (2) centroid nodes for capacitance and radiative computations, and (3) the super network feature to produce a conduction matrix based only on the centroid nodes. At that time, the methodology was clear, but the implementation would have had to be done manually; however, with the inclusion of the OpenTD API, this methodology can now be implemented programmatically and for the first time, be a viable approach for the generation of reduced models. The approach was implemented and developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for the Capture, Containment, and Return System (CCRS) payload on the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) as part of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, resulting in the TCYEE tool. ERO features a spacecraft bus provided by Airbus through the European Space Agency (ESA) with node limitations on the delivered CCRS model provided by GSFC. TCYEE was used to generate the reduced model for this delivery and the predictions compared favorably to the detailed model currently in use for the thermal performance evaluation. Furthermore, TCYEE is being explored for potential use on the Roman Space Telescope (RST) for the generation of reduced models for delivery to the launch provider, which also has node limit requirements on the RST observatory model for use in launch simulation analyses. This paper describes the methodology, its implementation, and compares the performance of reduced models generated by TCYEE to their detailed counterparts.

Thermal desktop↗
DOE OSTI2020

Charged-particle spectra from μ – capture on Al

Published data on the emission of charged particles following nuclear muon capture are extremely limited. In addition to its interest as a probe of the nuclear response, these data are important for the design of some current searches for lepton flavor violation. This work presents momentum spectra of protons and deuterons following μ- capture in aluminum. It is the first measurement of a muon capture process performed with a tracking spectrometer. A precision of better than 10% over the momentum range of 100–190MeV/c for protons is obtained; for deuterons of 145–250MeV/c the precision is better than 20%. The observed partial yield of protons with emission momenta above 80MeV/c (kinetic energy 3.4MeV) is 0.0322 ± 0.0007(stat) ± 0.0022(syst) per capture, and for deuterons above 130MeV/c (4.5MeV) it is 0.0122 ± 0.0009(stat) ± 0.0006(syst). Extrapolating to total yields gives 0.045 ± 0.001(stat) ± 0.003(syst) ± 0.001(extrapolation) per capture for protons and 0.018 ± 0.001(stat) ± 0.001(syst)± 0.002(extrapolation) for deuterons, which are the most precise measurements of these quantities to date.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Coincident Capture through Post-processing PTRAC [Slides]

This presentation discusses the new PTRAC capabilities and workflows. The PTRAC capability in MCNP6.3 has seen a massive overhaul since MCNP6.2. The new HDF5 file format allows for both MPI- and thread-based parallelism. MCNPTools has been updated to handle the new HDF5 PTRAC format and is now open sourced on GitHub. Built-in capabilities, such as the pulse-height tally coincident capture special treatment, can largely be replicated through separate postprocessing scripts that leverage both PTRAC and MCNPTools. This allows for greater flexibility in user-specified and controlled detector response functionality, ultimately using the MCNP code for what it is best at (i.e., particle transport).

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Enhancement of radiation detection performance with reduction of EH 6/7 deep levels in n-type 4H–SiC through thermal oxidation

We report the effect of EH 6/7 electron trap centers alone on the performance of high-resolution radiation detectors fabricated on n-type 4H–SiC epitaxial layers. A Schottky barrier detector (SBD) and a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor detector fabricated using two sister samples derived from the same 50 μm 4H–SiC parent wafer exhibited widely different energy resolutions of 0.4% and 0.9% for 5486 keV alpha particles. An equivalent noise charge model analysis ruled out the effect of the detector capacitance and the leakage current on the resolution of the detectors. Deep level transient spectroscopic studies revealed the presence of two trapping centers in each detector within the temperature scan range 240–800 K. The Z 1/2 center, a potential electron trap, was detected in both the detectors in equal concentration, which suggested that the observed difference in the energy resolution is due to the presence of the other defect, the EH 6/7 center, in the SBD. The capture cross section of the EH 6/7 center was calculated to be three orders of magnitude higher than the second defect [a carbon antisite vacancy (CAV) center] observed in the MOS detector with an activation energy of 1.10 eV, which accounted for the enhanced electronic trapping in the SBD leading to its poor energy resolution. It has been proposed that the EH 6/7 centers in the SBD have likely been reconfigured to CAV pairs during the thermal growth of the silicon dioxide layer in the MOS detector. The proposed formation mechanism of CAV, a stable qubit state for quantum information processing, addresses the outstanding questions related to the role of defect dynamics in their formation.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Scalable Implicit Solvers with Dynamic Mesh Adaptation for a Relativistic Drift-Kinetic Fokker–Planck–Boltzmann Model

In this work we consider a relativistic drift-kinetic model for runaway electrons along with a Fokker–Planck operator for small-angle Coulomb collisions, a radiation damping operator, and a secondary knock-on (Boltzmann) collision source. Here, we develop a new scalable fully implicit solver utilizing finite volume and conservative finite difference schemes and dynamic mesh adaptivity. A new data management framework in the PETSc library based on the p4est library is developed to enable simulations with dynamic adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), distributed memory parallelization, and dynamic load balancing of computational work. This framework and the runaway electron solver building on the framework are able to dynamically capture both bulk Maxwellian at the low-energy region and a runaway tail at the high-energy region. To effectively capture features via the AMR algorithm, a new AMR indicator prediction strategy is proposed that is performed alongside the implicit time evolution of the solution. This strategy is complemented by the introduction of computationally cheap feature-based AMR indicators that are analyzed theoretically. Numerical results quantify the advantages of the prediction strategy in better capturing features compared with nonpredictive strategies; and we demonstrate trade-offs regarding computational costs. The robustness with respect to model parameters, algorithmic scalability, and parallel scalability are demonstrated through several benchmark problems including manufactured solutions and solutions of different physics models. We focus on demonstrating the advantages of using implicit time stepping and AMR for runaway electron simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Can the GPM IMERG Final Product Accurately Represent MCSs’ Precipitation Characteristics over the Central and Eastern United States?

Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) play an important role in water and energy cycles as they produce heavy rainfall and modify the radiative profile in the tropics and midlatitudes. An accurate representation of MCSs’ rainfall is therefore crucial in understanding their impact on the climate system. The V06B Integrated Multisatellite Retrievals from Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) half-hourly precipitation final product is a useful tool to study the precipitation characteristics of MCSs because of its global coverage and fine spatiotemporal resolutions. However, errors and uncertainties in IMERG should be quantified before applying it to hydrology and climate applications. This study evaluates IMERG performance on capturing and detecting MCSs’ precipitation in the central and eastern United States during a 3-yr study period against the radar-based Stage IV product. The tracked MCSs are divided into four seasons and are analyzed separately for both datasets. IMERG shows a wet bias in total precipitation but a dry bias in hourly mean precipitation during all seasons due to the false classification of nonprecipitating pixels as precipitating. These false alarm events are possibly caused by evaporation under the cloud base or the misrepresentation of MCS cold anvil regions as precipitating clouds by the algorithm. IMERG agrees reasonably well with Stage IV in terms of the seasonal spatial distribution and diurnal cycle of MCSs precipitation. A relative humidity (RH)-based correction has been applied to the IMERG precipitation product, which helps reduce the number of false alarm pixels and improves the overall performance of IMERG with respect to Stage IV.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Investigating the Impacts of Aqueous-Phase Processing on Organic Aerosol Chemical Climatology Using ARM and ASR Observations

This project improved understanding of how atmospheric aerosol particles form and evolve, with a focus on the role of water-driven (aqueous-phase) chemical reactions in the atmosphere. These processes occur in clouds, fog, and humid air and can significantly change the composition and properties of airborne particles, known as aerosols, which influence air quality and climate. By combining field measurements, laboratory experiments, and advanced analytical techniques, the project identified key chemical signatures that allow scientists to distinguish particles formed through aqueous processes from those formed in the gas phase. Observations from multiple environments, including wildfire smoke, urban regions, and cloud-influenced areas, show that aqueous chemistry is an important pathway for particle formation and aging. The project also developed new measurement approaches using uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to capture how aerosol composition varies with altitude, providing critical insights into how particles interact with clouds. In addition, new data analysis frameworks were created to better interpret long-term aerosol measurements and improve characterization of particle sources and transformations. These results have been integrated into a global database of aerosol measurements and used to support atmospheric modeling efforts. Overall, the project provides important tools and knowledge to improve predictions of how aerosols affect climate and air quality, particularly through their interactions with radiation and clouds.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Base Construction Overview

Previous lunar missions and campaigns have been restricted to using robotic landers and lunar orbiting satellites as well as sortie type of operations using astronaut crews (NASA Apollo program). Now, the next phase of lunar exploration has begun under NASA’s Artemis program and there has been an international response where other nations such as China, Russia, India, Canada, Japan and the European Union of nations, have all expressed interest in either collaborating or competing with NASA on the Moon. This next phase has an over arching goal of achieving a permanent human presence on the Moon via sustainable methods. A lunar base with human occupancy will require infrastructure to provide shelter, utilities, landing/launch pads, roads, communications, power and all the other necessities to sustain human life and protect equipment. Since human biology is not well suited for surviving in the lunar environment, there will be many forms of automated equipment, autonomy and robotic helpers that will minimize the amount of Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) required by the crew. This will mean that the radiation dosage received by the crew will stay within acceptable and safe career doses. Radiation shielding via the use of regolith can also mitigate radiation dangers. The required infrastructure must be constructed, but the mass and logistics of bringing all the construction materials from Earth are prohibitive, which makes the necessary construction difficult to achieve. In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) aims to solve this challenge by sourcing construction materials locally or “in-situ”. This means that their transportation can be completely eliminated, resulting in large cost savings by avoiding the launch out of Earth’s deep gravity well and subsequent trans lunar injection, lunar orbit capture and landing. This paper will give an overview of the required construction tasks and related equipment that will be required to robotically build a lunar base using in-situ resources. It will also organize these tasks into logical groupings so that technology development and implementation can be pursued within a framework that can be referenced by all involved.

Lunar Base↗