Nebula Public Library

The DAEDALUS mission concept aims to explore and characterise the entrance and initial part of lunar lava tubes within a compact, tightly integrated spherical robotic device, with a complementary payload set and autonomous capabilities. The mission concept specifically addresses the identification and characterisation of potential resources for future ESA exploration, the local environment of the Moon's subsurface and its geologic and compositional structure.

 This study investigated the semi-autonomous exploration of a lunar skylight cavity.

In this activity, lunar regolith simulants were characterised based on their thermal behaviour, particle size distribution and composition, in order to inform the choice of consolidation method for functionally graded materials (FGMs) – powder characterisation results are provided in the 'conference paper' deliverable.

Firstly, an extensive literature review study (deliverable 'Literature Review') identified Digital Light Processing (DLP) and Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) as promising consolidation techniques.

Humankind tested its capacity to survive on the Moon’s surface for short periods of time through the Apollo missions almost 50 years ago. Since then, robotic missions to the Moon have spent periods lasting several days and nights on the satellite. However, many technological challenges arise when planning a lunar (robotic and/or manned) mission that is fully operational during the night. Among these challenges, the need for a power supply system for both day and night remains open.