Investigate and develop concepts for in-situ recycling of hardware brought for an exploration mission, to serve other purposes at the mission destination

 

Future human exploration missions will be longer in duration and go to farther destinations. In order to ensure the viability and sustainability of such missions, the dependence on cargo re-supply missions needs to be minimized. In-situ resource utilization (ISRU will be an enabling element.

 

A key aspect of ISRU is to harness the potential of hardware and materials brought for the mission and no longer used at destination, e.g. Lander parts, electronic components or packaging. Scavenged materials or hardware parts could be processed or recombined to produce hardware needed at destination. This may include maintenance tools, utensils, habitat elements or research instrumentation. Developing adequate concepts for hardware recycling is fundamental for sustainable long term human exploration missions.

 

Recycling concepts will cover three levels:

a. Re-cycling of basic materials, where individual materials can be extracted from the original hardware or where components can be transformed into small particles. The materials can then be processed into new hardware by techniques such as additive manufacturing.

B. Partial re-utilisation of parts: parts of the original hardware can be re-combined with other parts e.g. To convert them into a different shape for reuse.

C. Complete re-utilisation of hardware parts (e.g. Module structure) in their specific form and function, for a new application.

 

This activity encompasses the following tasks:

1) A review of materials typically carried in human exploration missions. This includes metallic, polymer, ceramic and composite materials brought for the missions and their associated hardware

2) Identification of needs for hardware and structural elements for lunar and Martian human exploration

3) Development of concepts for re-use of spacecraft hardware and associated materials.

4) Selection of a re-use concept and demonstration on a selected utilization scenario. This will consist of processing and combining parts of hardware typically used for an exploration mission, to produce a piece of hardware needed at the destination.

5) Recommendations on the potential of hardware re-use concepts and required technology developments.