Excavation Forces in Reduced Gravity Environment
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 10, Issue 2
Abstract
When we return to the moon we will likely do so on limited budgets that will necessitate small, low-cost missions. Since the cost of transportation to the moon consumes upwards of 50% of the cost of an entire mission, one way to reduce mission cost is to use lunar resources to the greatest extent practical. This will reduce the amount of material transported to the moon, translating directly and linearly into cost savings. The most obvious lunar resource is the lunar regolith. With the lunar regolith we can build blast barriers; provide radiation and micrometeorite protection for habitats; and provide feed stock for oxygen production processes. Excavation technology for the lunar environment is an important element that will enable these uses of lunar regolith and one that requires further investigation. The objective of this paper is to present the results of experiments that provide bounds to the problem. These bounds may be used for the design and construction of a realistic prototype for further testing and development.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Carrier III, W. D., Olhoeft, G. R., and Mendell, W. (1991). “Physical properties of the lunar surface.”Lunar sourcebook, Cambridge University Press, New York, N.Y.
2.
Klosky, J. L., Sture, S., Ko, H., and Barnes, F. (1996). “Vibratory excavation and anchoring tools for the lunar environment.”Proc., 5th Int. Conf. on Space '96, ASCE, New York, N.Y.
3.
Willman, B. M., and Boles, W. W.(1995). “Soil-tool interaction theories as they apply to a lunar soil simulant.”J. Aerosp. Engrg., ASCE, 4(2), 77–87.
4.
Willman, B. M., Boles, W. W., McKay, D. S., and Allen, C. C.(1995). “Properties of the lunar soil simulant: JSC-1.”J. Aerosp. Engrg., ASCE, 4(2), 88–99.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Apr 1, 1997
Published in print: Apr 1997
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.