NASA plans to use an oxygen pipeline to efficiently transport oxygen to various locations around the Moon’s south pole during the upcoming Artemis mission.
Peter Curreri, chief scientific officer of Lunar Resources Inc, details the problems with NASA’s current project to transport oxygen using autonomous robots. Curreri submitted the proposal to Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program carried out by NASA. His group is one of 14 research teams with a budget of $175,000 to develop ideas, Interesting engineering reported on January 17.
Simulation of oxygen pipelines on the surface of the Moon.
Simulation of oxygen pipelines on the surface of the Moon. (Photo: Peter Curreri).
Lunar pipeline In the proposal, the official name is Lunar South Pole Oxygen Pipeline (LSPOP), connected to NASA’s ice extraction center located at the south pole of the Moon. NASA, China and Russia are targeting this area because it contains large amounts of ice and many other resources just below the surface. This ice will be a key part of the plan to send humans to the Moon, because it can be filtered and converted into drinking water and oxygen for breathing, as well as rocket fuel.
Previously, NASA’s plan was to store the ice in cryogenic pressure vessels and transport it using autonomous robots. They will have to transport ice to areas close to the equator. Meanwhile, Curreri’s lunar pipeline idea would provide regular access to oxygen for colonists, significantly reducing costs associated with transportation. Unlike pipes on Earth, leaks on the Moon do not cause pollution. Instead, the oxygen simply escapes into space because the Moon has no atmosphere.
According to Curreri, the initial idea was a 5km-long pipeline to transport oxygen from a production source, such as a molten topsoil (MRƐ) electrolysis mining site or other source, to the liquefaction or oxygen storage plant near the lunar base. If NASA approves the LSPOP for the Artemis mission, the pipeline will be manufactured in sections on the Moon before full assembly. Pipelines can be made from aluminum, a material abundant in the South Pole.
Article source: VnExpress
If there is an error in the article NASA can build an oxygen pipeline on the Moon, or if the content is incorrect, please contact us so we can correct it.
Keyword:
NASA plans to use an oxygen pipeline to efficiently transport oxygen to various locations around the Moon’s south pole during the mission…
