Solar Concentrator System for Lunar ISRU Applications

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to develop a solar concentrator system for lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) applications. In this system solar radiation is collected using a concentrator array which transfers the concentrated solar radiation to the optical waveguide (OW) transmission line made of low loss optical fibers. The OW transmission line directs the solar radiation to the thermal receiver for thermochemical processing of lunar regolith. Key features of the proposed system are:1.nbsp;nbsp; Highly concentrated solar radiation (103~ Colozza, Anthony, Heller, Richard, Wong, Wayne and Hepp, Aloysius, ldquo;Solar Energy System for Lunar Oxygen Generationrdquo; NASA/TM ndash; 2010-216219, AIAA-20101166, April, 2010.104 suns) can be transmitted via the flexible OW transmission line directly to the thermal receiver for oxygen production from lunar regolith;2.nbsp;nbsp; Power scale-up of the system can be achieved by incremental increase of the number of concentrator units;3.nbsp;nbsp; The system can be autonomous, stationary or mobile, and easily transported and deployed on the lunar surface; and4. nbsp; The system can be applied to multiple lunar ISRU processes.nbsp;PSI proposes to develop component and subsystem technologies for the solar concentrator system for lunar ISRU applications including: oxygen extraction from lunar regolith; lunar regolith processing for surface stabilization; and manufacturing of building blocks for in-situ lunar construction. The specific technical objectives of the proposed Phase I program are:nbsp;(1)nbsp; Develop and evaluate the design concept for the key components of the solar concentrator system to be transported, deployed and operated on the lunar surface; and(2)nbsp; Develop the lunar dust removal method applicable to the solar concentrator system for lunar ISRU applications.