Chapter
Jun 29, 2017
15th Biennial ASCE Conference on Engineering, Science, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments
Optical Mining Subscale Testing
Authors: Christopher B. Dreyer [email protected], Joel Sercel [email protected], Leslie Gertsch, Alex Lampe, Travis J. Canney, and Angel Abbud-MadridAuthor Affiliations
Publication: Earth and Space 2016: Engineering for Extreme Environments
ABSTRACT
Optical mining is an approach to simultaneously excavate carbonaceous chondrite asteroid surfaces and drive water and other volatiles out of the excavated material. Optical mining is part of an in situ resource utilization (ISRU) propellant and mission consumable mission architecture called Apis (asteroid provided in situ systems). The asteroid is captured in an inflatable bag without the need for complex robotics. Highly concentrated sunlight is delivered to the surface of the asteroid using reflective non-imaging optics. Concentrated sun light ablates the surface, continually exposing new material and forcing water and other volatiles out of the ablated material. This paper presents results of an experimental program to support optical mining. We show evidence that when exposed to intense light asteroid simulants spall and surfaces disaggregate.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
REFERENCES
Abbud-Madrid, A., Branch, M. C., and Daily, J. W., “Ignition and Combustion of Bulk Titanium and Magnesium at Normal and Reduced Gravity,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 26, pp. 1929-1936, 1996.
Sercel, J. C., “APIS (Asteroid Provided In-Situ Supplies): 100MT Of Water from a Single Falcon 9,” 2015 NIAC Fall Symposium, Seattle, Washington - October 28, 2015.
Sercel, J. C., Dreyer, C. B., Gertsch, L, Abbud-Madrid, A., Love, A. G., “A Coordinated Research Program in Optical Mining of Asteroids,” Earth and Space 2016, April 11-15 of 2016.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Earth and Space 2016: Engineering for Extreme Environments
Pages: 493 - 506
Editors: Ramesh B. Malla, Ph.D., University of Connecticut, Juan H. Agui, Ph.D., NASA Glenn Research Center, and Paul J. van Susante, Ph.D, Michigan Technological University
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-7997-1
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Jun 29, 2017
Permissions
Request permissions for this article.
Authors
Affiliations
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401. E-mail: [email protected]
TransAstra Corporation, Lake View Terrace, CA 91342. E-mail: [email protected]
Leslie Gertsch
Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO
Alex Lampe
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401
Travis J. Canney
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401
Angel Abbud-Madrid
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401
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.
View Options
Get Access
Access content
Please select your options to get access
Log in/Register
Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members:
Please log in to see member pricing
Purchase
Save for later Item saved, go to cart Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Get Access
Access content
Please select your options to get access
Log in/Register
Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members:
Please log in to see member pricing
Purchase
Save for later Item saved, go to cart Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.