Related papers: Autonomous Robot Swarms for Off-World Construction…
A significant step in space exploration during the 21st century will be human settlement on Mars. Instead of transporting all the construction materials from Earth to the red planet with incredibly high cost, using Martian soil to construct…
Several physical mechanisms are involved in excavating granular materials beneath a vertical jet of gas. These occur, for example, beneath the exhaust plume of a rocket landing on the soil of the Moon or Mars. A series of experiments and…
A method and facilities for delivering payload and people into outer space are presented. This method uses, in general, engines located on a planetary surface. The installation consists of a space apparatus, power drive stations, which…
The renewed global interest in lunar exploration requires new orbital strategies to ensure flight safety which can benefit extended lunar missions and service a plethora of planned instruments in the lunar orbit and surface. We investigate…
We present a simulation framework for lunar construction work involving multiple autonomous machines. The framework supports modelling of construction scenarios and autonomy solutions, execution of the scenarios in simulation, and analysis…
Normally a passive object launched from the Moon at less than the escape velocity orbits the Moon once and then crashes back to the launch site. We show that thanks to lunar gravity anomalies, for specific launch sites and directions, a…
The allure of lunar surface exploration and development has recently captured widespread global attention. Robots have proved to be indispensable for exploring uncharted terrains, uncovering and leveraging local resources, and facilitating…
In-space manufacturing is essential for achieving long-term planetary colonization, particularly on Mars, where material transport from Earth is both costly and logistically restrictive. Traditional subtractive manufacturing methods are…
Mars is the Solar System's canonical small, rocky planet that transitioned from early geologic activity and surface liquid water to a cold and arid planet with a thin, cold, CO$_2$-dominated atmosphere. The evolution of Mars, in the context…
Exploration of the Red Planet is essential on the way through both human colonization and establishing a habitat on the planet. Due to the high costs of space missions, the use of distributed sensor networks has been investigated to make in…
The ability to launch small secondary payloads to Mars on future science missions present an exciting opportunity for demonstration of advanced technologies for planetary exploration such as aerocapture. Over the years, several aerocapture…
The discovery of ice deposits in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar North and South Pole Moon presents an important opportunity for In-Situ Resource Utilization. These ice deposits maybe the source for sustaining a lunar base or…
Aims. An asymmetric dust cloud was detected around the Moon by the Lunar Dust Experiment on board the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission. We investigate the dynamics of the grains that escape the Moon and their…
Robots are ideal for open-pit mining on the Moon as its a dull, dirty, and dangerous task. The challenge is to scale up productivity with an ever-increasing number of robots. This paper presents a novel method for developing scalable…
The resurgent era of lunar exploration is defined by a strategic shift from temporary visits to a sustained international and commercial presence, resulting in an unprecedented demand for a robust and continuously available communication…
Nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs) are the primary carriers of water in rocky planet mantles. Therefore, studying water solubilities of major NAMs in the mantle can help us estimate the water storage capacities of rocky planet mantles and…
The lunar surface is extremely harsh and current mineral processing and metal extraction technologies are not adequately equipped to address this environment. In this paper we review the metals available for extraction and conditions at the…
One objective of Artemis science is to determine the impact human activities have on the lunar environment, which might compromise science objectives and measurements. We perform a preliminary analysis of the contamination associated with…
Drilling and Extraction Automated System (DREAMS) is a fully automated prototype-drilling rig that can drill, extract water and assess subsurface density profiles from simulated lunar and Martian subsurface ice. DREAMS system is developed…
Recent successful lunar landing missions have generated significant interest among space agencies in establishing a permanent human settlement on the Moon. Building a lunar base requires multiple and frequent landing missions to support…