Long-Range Magnetic Transport of Regolith Particles Using Multistage Coil Gun on Moon and Mars
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 34, Issue 4
Abstract
A magnetic transport system for regolith particles on the Moon and Mars was developed, taking advantage of the fact that lunar and Martian regolith particles are magnetic. A multistage coil gun mechanism was used to realize long-range regolith transport. The system has a simple configuration, consisting of a tube in which regolith is transported, solenoid coils attached to the tube, and a power supply that consists of a direct current (DC) power supply, capacitor, and switching circuit. A series of pulse currents was applied by discharging the charged capacitor to the coils, which were arranged in series along the longitudinal direction of the tube. It was demonstrated that a substantial number of particles can be transported in the tube for a long distance by adjusting the pulse time and interval between pulses. A multistage terraced path was preferable to transport particles for a long distance than a straight path. Because the magnetic permeability of the lunar and Martian regolith is low and environmental conditions on the Moon and Mars are different from those on Earth, the performance in those environments was estimated by numerical calculation using the modified discrete-element method. The numerical calculation suggested that regolith particles could be successfully transported in the low-gravity environment of the Moon, but improvement is needed to apply the system on Mars. The system does not require mechanical moving and sticking parts, consumables such as gases or liquids, and its control is simple; thus, it is potentially reliable for use in space. The system can be implemented as reliable particle transportation for in situ resource utilization, which supports future long-term crewed missions on the Moon and Mars.
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Data Availability Statement
Some data and models used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request:
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Data in Fig. 3,
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Data in Fig. 4,
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Data in Fig. 6,
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Data in Fig. 8, and
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Data in Fig. 9.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Ryo Obata and Michikazu Tateno (Waseda University) for their support in conducting the experiment. A part of this work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. 17K06276.
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Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 34 • Issue 4 • July 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 14, 2019
Accepted: Dec 16, 2020
Published online: Mar 22, 2021
Published in print: Jul 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Aug 22, 2021
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