NASA Funds Metal Production on the Moon

Seven university teams were selected to develop concepts supporting metal production on the Moon in NASA’s 2023 annual Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge: Lunar Forge.

The awards total about $1.1 million, with values between $120,000 and $180,000 based on each team’s proposed concept. The challenge is a unique collaboration between NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s (STMD) Game Changing Development (GCD) program and NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Space Grant Project.

The 2023 BIG Idea Challenge provides undergraduate and graduate students up to $180,000 to design, develop, and demonstrate technologies that will enable the production of lunar infrastructure from ISRU-derived metals found on the Moon. Key infrastructure products desired are storage vessels for liquids and gases, extrusions, pipes, power cables, and supporting structures (i.e., roads, landing pads, etc.). Teams are invited to submit proposals that focus on any part of the metal product production pipeline* from prospecting to testing.

Each team will submit a detailed and realistic budget in their proposals, not to exceed $180K. A wide range of award sizes is expected (in the range of $50K to $180K), depending on the scope of the work proposed. NASA anticipates funding several larger-scope awards ($125 – $180K) and several smaller-scope awards ($50K – $124K).

When NASA returns to the Moon with the Artemis program, they plan to put in place sustainable infrastructure that will allow us to increase our exploration capabilities and pave the way for a sustainable human presence. Crews will stay on the surface and in lunar orbit for longer periods of time. Using in-situ resources (ISRU) is critical for supporting human activities on the moon due to the high cost of transporting materials from the Earth. Currently, a top priority for ISRU system development has been the extraction of oxygen, and other volatiles, since they are the easiest to extract and can be used as propellants and for life-support systems. The next priority is the extraction of metals which have many potential uses critical to the operation of a lunar base. These include pressure vessels, pipes, power cables, and supporting structures.

NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative is working to develop and demonstrate technologies to use the Moon’s resources to produce water, fuel, and other supplies as well as capabilities to excavate and construct structures on the Moon. They need practical and affordable ways to use resources along the way, rather than carrying everything we think will be needed. Future astronauts will require the ability to collect space-based resources and transform them into the products needed for a sustained presence.

NASA is making long-term investments to advance ISRU technology in multiple areas such as oxygen extraction from regolith as well as regolith-based in-space manufacturing and construction. With the addition of ISRU-derived metals for pressure vessels, power cables, landing pads, rails for transportation, and pipes for the distribution of liquids and gases, most of the high mass products needed can be made locally. Advancements in additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, may make it possible to use metal feedstocks harvested on the Moon to fabricate a wide variety of complex products without complex casting, forging, milling, and machining. Feedstocks may be in the form of metal powders, wire, or billet for extrusions. The vacuum environment may have advantages for manufacturing methods such as electron beam freeform fabrication or the production of metals such as titanium. Incorporating other ISRU-derived materials into metal matrix composites could allow robust


structures such as vaults and landing pads to be developed using additive manufacturing techniques.

Teams can demonstrate the production of products using feedstocks that would likely be available from an ISRU metal production pipeline. An example would be the use of iron which is produced as a byproduct of an oxygen extraction system from ilmenite ores which are common on the lunar surface. Perhaps the quality of the feedstock can be increased using innovative processes and methods that take advantage of the lunar environment.

Teams are invited to submit proposals that focus on any part(s) of the product lifecycle* from prospecting to testing, including:


• Prospecting for metal-bearing ores


• Ore extraction from bulk regolith


• Beneficiation/Refining processes


• Smelting and other metal reduction methods


• Feedstock forming and alloying from ISRU-derived metals


• Handling of materials used in metal production


• Additive manufacturing and joining with ISRU-derived feedstock


• Production of metal matrix composites


• Extrusion and drawing methods tailored for use in the lunar environment where a complex


infrastructure is not available


• Test and qualification of ISRU-derived metal products such as storage vessels for liquids and gases, extrusions, pipes, power cables, and supporting structures

REQUIRED CAPABILITIES


• Able to demonstrate a facet of any part of the metal product production pipeline


• Able to operate for long periods in the harsh lunar environment (e.g., pervasive and abrasive lunar dust, vacuum, wide temperature ranges, etc.). See DSNE for more information on lunar applications.


• Minimal barriers to NASA adoption/commercial infusion (e.g., cost-effective, low mass, small size, low power, simplicity, high reliability, etc.)


• Technologies should reach a minimum system-level Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4** at the end of the challenge. For the purposes of this challenge, TRL 4 refers to:


o Operation on Earth with analog materials and in relevant environments


o Analysis showing the design can operate in targeted environments (environmental testing on critical subsystems is highly encouraged)


• Must demonstrate a working system/sub-system