adsorption compression for Mars ISRU ( In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239 lab
adsorption compression for Mars ISRU ( In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239 lab
adsorption compression for Mars ISRU ( In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239 lab
adsorption compression for Mars ISRU ( In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239 lab
adsorption compression for Mars ISRU ( In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239 lab with (L-R) J. Finn, I Constantinescy, L Mulloth, J Howard, D Affleck
This engineering model of Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instrument is about to undergo vibration testing in a lab at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Vibration tests demonstrate the ability of instruments to survive the extreme conditions of both a rocket launch from Earth and a landing on Mars. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24202
Mars Environmental Chamber. Absorption Compression for Mars ISRU (In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239.
Mars Environmental Chamber. Absorption Compression for Mars ISRU (In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239.
Mars Environmental Chamber. Absorption Compression for Mars ISRU (In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239.
Mars Environmental Chamber. Absorption Compression for Mars ISRU (In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239.
Mars Environmental Chamber. Absorption Compression for Mars ISRU (In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239.
Mars Environmental Chamber. Absorption Compression for Mars ISRU (In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239.
Mars Environmental Chamber. Absorption Compression for Mars ISRU (In-SITU Resource Utilization) N-239.
One investigation on NASA's Mars 2020 rover will extract oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. It is called MOXIE, for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment. In this image, MOXIE Principal Investigator Michael Hecht, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, is in the MOXIE development laboratory at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Mars' atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide. Demonstration of the capability for extracting oxygen from it, under Martian environmental conditions, will be a pioneering step toward how humans on Mars will use the Red Planet's natural resources. Oxygen can be used in the rocket http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20761
In this image, the gold-plated Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) Instrument shines after being installed inside the Perseverance rover. The largest white tube on the top surface of MOXIE takes in filtered carbon dioxide-rich Martian atmosphere. That CO2 is pressurized and passed through the Solid Oxide Electrolysis unit, where it is split into carbon monoxide and oxygen. The smallest tube snaking across the top of the unit sends the oxygen produced by MOXIE through a composition sensor to measure purity, then vents the oxygen out to the Martian atmosphere. This technology demonstration may guide the design of future, larger devices that could enable human exploration of Mars. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24203
Members of NASA's Mars 2020 project install the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) into the chassis of NASA's next Mars rover. MOXIE will demonstrate a way that future explorers might produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere for propellant and for breathing. The car-battery-sized instrument does this by collecting carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Martian atmosphere and electrochemically splitting the carbon dioxide molecules into oxygen and carbon monoxide molecules. The oxygen is then analyzed for purity before being vented back out to the Martian atmosphere along with the carbon monoxide and other exhaust products. The image was taken on March 20, 2019, in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 Cleanroom at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23154
This nickel-alloy heat exchanger is among several that were 3D printed for the Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), one of the instruments aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. If conventionally fabricated, the heat exchanger would have required making two parts and welding them together; the 3D-printed heat exchanger is a single piece. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24171
NASA’s ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) performs a simulated lunar mission in a testbed at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. IPEx functions as both an excavator and a dump truck to mine and transport lunar regolith, the loose rocky material on the Moon’s surface, which is crucial for future lunar missions and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) processes. This dual capability makes IPEx an indispensable tool for sustainable lunar exploration.
A team from the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations lab who developed and tested NASA’s ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) pose for a photo on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in a testbed located at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IPEx functions as both an excavator and a dump truck to mine and transport lunar regolith, the loose rocky material on the Moon’s surface, which is crucial for future lunar missions and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) processes. This dual capability makes IPEx an indispensable tool for sustainable lunar exploration.
NASA’s ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) performs a simulated lunar mission in a testbed at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. IPEx functions as both an excavator and a dump truck to mine and transport lunar regolith, the loose rocky material on the Moon’s surface, which is crucial for future lunar missions and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) processes. This dual capability makes IPEx an indispensable tool for sustainable lunar exploration.
Engineers conduct a mass properties test on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility in Florida on Nov. 22, 2022. Mass properties determines the mass and center of gravity of the flight unit. The lander uses this information, from all payloads, to improve stability and performance of the lander – and to a lesser degree, the stability and performance of the rocket. This marks the end of testing at Kennedy for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) MSolo instrument. It will soon be shipped to Intuitive Machines in Houston for integration on the NOVA-C landing platform. Launching in 2023, the PRIME-1 mission will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon.
Engineers conduct a mass properties test on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility in Florida on Nov. 22, 2022. Mass properties determines the mass and center of gravity of the flight unit. The lander uses this information, from all payloads, to improve stability and performance of the lander – and to a lesser degree, the stability and performance of the rocket. This marks the end of testing at Kennedy for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) MSolo instrument. It will soon be shipped to Intuitive Machines in Houston for integration on the NOVA-C landing platform. Launching in 2023, the PRIME-1 mission will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon.
Engineers conduct a mass properties test on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility in Florida on Nov. 22, 2022. Mass properties determines the mass and center of gravity of the flight unit. The lander uses this information, from all payloads, to improve stability and performance of the lander – and to a lesser degree, the stability and performance of the rocket. This marks the end of testing at Kennedy for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) MSolo instrument. It will soon be shipped to Intuitive Machines in Houston for integration on the NOVA-C landing platform. Launching in 2023, the PRIME-1 mission will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., William Larson, retired NASA ISRU project manager, talks to participants in the room and those participating online during the Third International Workshop on Lunar Superconductor Applications. The workshop included presentations from several engineers and researchers at Kennedy Space Center. The three-day workshop included presentations from speakers throughout the country and focused on Lunar in-situ resource utilization, NASA’s Lunar Ice Prospector called RESOLVE, CubeSats, cryogenic storage and many other topics related to lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mockup of MARCO POLO, an ISRU propellant production technology demonstration simulated mission, is tested in a regolith bin with RASSOR 2.0, the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. On the surface of Mars, mining robots like RASSOR will dig down into the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. Regolith also shows promise for both construction and creating elements for rocket fuel.
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mockup of MARCO POLO, an ISRU propellant production technology demonstration simulated mission, is tested in a regolith bin with RASSOR 2.0, the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. On the surface of Mars, mining robots like RASSOR will dig down into the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. Regolith also shows promise for both construction and creating elements for rocket fuel.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Rob Mueller, senior technologist in the Surface Systems Office of the Engineering and Technology Directorate at Kennedy Space Center, talks to participants in the room and those participating online during the Third International Workshop on Lunar Superconductor Applications. The workshop included presentations from several engineers and researchers at Kennedy Space Center. The three-day workshop included presentations from speakers throughout the country and focused on Lunar in-situ resource utilization, NASA’s Lunar Ice Prospector called RESOLVE, CubeSats, cryogenic storage and many other topics related to lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mockup of MARCO POLO, an ISRU propellant production technology demonstration simulated mission, is tested in a regolith bin with RASSOR 2.0, the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. On the surface of Mars, mining robots like RASSOR will dig down into the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. Regolith also shows promise for both construction and creating elements for rocket fuel.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Russell Cox, director of research with Flexure Engineering, welcomes participants in the room and those participating online to the Third International Workshop on Lunar Superconductor Applications. The workshop included presentations from several engineers and researchers at Kennedy Space Center. The three-day workshop included presentations from speakers throughout the country and focused on Lunar in-situ resource utilization, NASA’s Lunar Ice Prospector called RESOLVE, CubeSats, cryogenic storage and many other topics related to lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Bonnie Dubrow, business development manager with Flexure Engineering, welcomes participants in the room and those participating online to the Third International Workshop on Lunar Superconductor Applications. The workshop included presentations from several engineers and researchers at Kennedy Space Center. The three-day workshop included presentations from speakers throughout the country and focused on Lunar in-situ resource utilization, NASA’s Lunar Ice Prospector called RESOLVE, CubeSats, cryogenic storage and many other topics related to lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann
This X-ray image shows the interior of a palm-size 3D-printed heat exchanger inside Perseverance's Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instrument. Martian air will be carried into the tiny channels visible in the center of this part, where they'll be preheated. MOXIE will convert Martian air, which is mostly composed of carbon dioxide, into oxygen, which will be needed in industrial quantities as rocket propellant for launching astronauts back to Earth. X-ray images like these are used to check for defects inside of parts; in this case, engineers checked to make sure the channels were free of the powder that the 3D printer melts in successive layers in order to produce the part. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24100
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mockup of MARCO POLO, an ISRU propellant production technology demonstration simulated mission, is tested in a regolith bin with RASSOR 2.0, the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. On the surface of Mars, mining robots like RASSOR will dig down into the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. Regolith also shows promise for both construction and creating elements for rocket fuel.
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mockup of MARCO POLO, an ISRU propellant production technology demonstration simulated mission, is tested in a regolith bin with RASSOR 2.0, the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. On the surface of Mars, mining robots like RASSOR will dig down into the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. Regolith also shows promise for both construction and creating elements for rocket fuel.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Pat Simpkins, director of Engineering and Technology at Kennedy Space Center talks to participants in the room and those participating online during the Third International Workshop on Lunar Superconductor Applications. The workshop included presentations from several engineers and researchers at Kennedy Space Center. The three-day workshop included presentations from speakers throughout the country and focused on Lunar in-situ resource utilization, NASA’s Lunar Ice Prospector called RESOLVE, CubeSats, cryogenic storage and many other topics related to lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mockup of MARCO POLO, an ISRU propellant production technology demonstration simulated mission, is tested in a regolith bin with RASSOR 2.0, the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. On the surface of Mars, mining robots like RASSOR will dig down into the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. Regolith also shows promise for both construction and creating elements for rocket fuel.
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mockup of MARCO POLO, an ISRU propellant production technology demonstration simulated mission, is tested in a regolith bin with RASSOR 2.0, the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. On the surface of Mars, mining robots like RASSOR will dig down into the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. Regolith also shows promise for both construction and creating elements for rocket fuel.
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mockup of MARCO POLO, an ISRU propellant production technology demonstration simulated mission, is tested in a regolith bin with RASSOR 2.0, the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. On the surface of Mars, mining robots like RASSOR will dig down into the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. Regolith also shows promise for both construction and creating elements for rocket fuel.
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A mockup of MARCO POLO, an ISRU propellant production technology demonstration simulated mission, is tested in a regolith bin with RASSOR 2.0, the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. On the surface of Mars, mining robots like RASSOR will dig down into the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. Regolith also shows promise for both construction and creating elements for rocket fuel.
iss059e034463 (April 23, 2019) --- NASA astronaut Anne McClain installs the MVP-2 platform onto Express Rack 4 and took historical photos. The Experimental Evolution of Bacillus subtilis Populations in Space: MVP-02 investigation seeks to understand how organisms adapt to the space environment, an important component of future space exploration. Microbes may play fundamental roles in the development of biologically-based closed-loop regenerative life support, in-situ resource utilization, and will have extensive interactions with human and plant hosts. Further, microbes may pose challenges through virulence and contamination, and as nuisance factors such as biofilms in water supply and ventilation systems.
Components are visible on the port side of the Perseverance rover in this close-up image taken on Nov. 16, 2019, in High Bay 1 of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. At center of the image, attached to the side of the rover, is a black cable bracket (with gold cabling running through it). Attached to the top of this black bracket — and gray in color — is the Entry Descent and Landing (EDL) microphone. Below the cable bracket are the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) wall ports. The orange cable passing over it is part of ground support equipment. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24046
A Kennedy Space Center engineer prepares the Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) instrument for vibration testing inside the Florida spaceport’s Cryogenics Laboratory on Aug. 3, 2022. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) – commercial deliveries that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface. This particular MSolo instrument is slated to fly on the agency’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission – the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon – as part of the agency’s CLPS initiative.
Engineers install multilayer insulation (MLI) on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 20, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MLI protects the instrument from thermal temperature extremes, helping to insulate at cold temperatures and to cool at higher temperatures when solar lighting conditions or lunar infrared reflects onto the instrument. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers prepare the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument for the multilayer insulation installation inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 19, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers install multilayer insulation (MLI) on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 20, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MLI protects the instrument from thermal temperature extremes, helping to insulate at cold temperatures and to cool at higher temperatures when solar lighting conditions or lunar infrared reflects onto the instrument. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida remove the vibration fixture on the Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) instrument on Aug. 4, 2022. The activity followed a vibration test in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers install multilayer insulation (MLI) on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 20, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MLI protects the instrument from thermal temperature extremes, helping to insulate at cold temperatures and to cool at higher temperatures when solar lighting conditions or lunar infrared reflects onto the instrument. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers install multilayer insulation (MLI) on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 20, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MLI protects the instrument from thermal temperature extremes, helping to insulate at cold temperatures and to cool at higher temperatures when solar lighting conditions or lunar infrared reflects onto the instrument. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers prepare the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument for the multilayer insulation installation inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 19, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers install multilayer insulation (MLI) on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 20, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MLI protects the instrument from thermal temperature extremes, helping to insulate at cold temperatures and to cool at higher temperatures when solar lighting conditions or lunar infrared reflects onto the instrument. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
The Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) instrument undergoes vibration testing inside the Cryogenics Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 3, 2022. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) – commercial deliveries that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface. This particular MSolo instrument is slated to fly on the agency’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission – the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon – as part of the agency’s CLPS initiative.
Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida remove the vibration fixture on the Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) instrument on Aug. 4, 2022. The activity followed a vibration test in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center monitor the Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) instrument as it undergoes vibration testing inside the Florida spaceport’s Cryogenics Laboratory on Aug. 3, 2022. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) – commercial deliveries that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface. This particular MSolo instrument is slated to fly on the agency’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission – the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon – as part of the agency’s CLPS initiative.
Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida remove the vibration fixture on the Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) instrument on Aug. 4, 2022. The activity followed a vibration test in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers prepare the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument for the multilayer insulation installation inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 19, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers prepare the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument for the multilayer insulation installation inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 19, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
A Kennedy Space Center engineer prepares the Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) instrument for vibration testing inside the Florida spaceport’s Cryogenics Laboratory on Aug. 3, 2022. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) – commercial deliveries that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface. This particular MSolo instrument is slated to fly on the agency’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission – the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon – as part of the agency’s CLPS initiative.
Engineers prepare the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument for the multilayer insulation installation inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 19, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida remove the vibration fixture on the Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) instrument on Aug. 4, 2022. The activity followed a vibration test in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers prepare the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument for the multilayer insulation installation inside Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 19, 2022. The activity is in preparation for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission, which will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services – commercial deliveries beginning in 2023 that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center prepare the Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) instrument for vibration testing inside the Florida spaceport’s Cryogenics Laboratory on Aug. 3, 2022. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. Researchers and engineers are preparing MSolo instruments to launch on four robotic missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) – commercial deliveries that will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to the lunar surface. This particular MSolo instrument is slated to fly on the agency’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission – the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon – as part of the agency’s CLPS initiative.
NASA’s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) manipulates simulated regolith, or lunar dust found on the Moon’s surface, to create a three-foot berm during a site preparation test inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The opposing motion of the bucket drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could be used in construction or broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human presence. RASSOR represents an earlier generation technology that informed the development of NASA’s IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator), serving as a precursor and foundational platform for the advanced excavation systems and autonomous capabilities now being demonstrated by this Moon-mining robot.
NASA’s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) manipulates simulated regolith, or lunar dust found on the Moon’s surface, to create a three-foot berm during a site preparation test inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The opposing motion of the bucket drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could be used in construction or broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human presence. RASSOR represents an earlier generation technology that informed the development of NASA’s IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator), serving as a precursor and foundational platform for the advanced excavation systems and autonomous capabilities now being demonstrated by this Moon-mining robot.
NASA’s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) manipulates simulated regolith, or lunar dust found on the Moon’s surface, to create a three-foot berm during a site preparation test inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The opposing motion of the bucket drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could be used in construction or broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human presence. RASSOR represents an earlier generation technology that informed the development of NASA’s IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator), serving as a precursor and foundational platform for the advanced excavation systems and autonomous capabilities now being demonstrated by this Moon-mining robot.
NASA’s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) manipulates simulated regolith, or lunar dust found on the Moon’s surface, to create a three-foot berm during a site preparation test inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The opposing motion of the bucket drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could be used in construction or broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human presence. RASSOR represents an earlier generation technology that informed the development of NASA’s IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator), serving as a precursor and foundational platform for the advanced excavation systems and autonomous capabilities now being demonstrated by this Moon-mining robot.
NASA’s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) manipulates simulated regolith, or lunar dust found on the Moon’s surface, to create a three-foot berm during a site preparation test inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The opposing motion of the bucket drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could be used in construction or broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human presence. RASSOR represents an earlier generation technology that informed the development of NASA’s IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator), serving as a precursor and foundational platform for the advanced excavation systems and autonomous capabilities now being demonstrated by this Moon-mining robot.
NASA’s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) manipulates simulated regolith, or lunar dust found on the Moon’s surface, to create a three-foot berm during a site preparation test inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The opposing motion of the bucket drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could be used in construction or broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human presence. RASSOR represents an earlier generation technology that informed the development of NASA’s IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator), serving as a precursor and foundational platform for the advanced excavation systems and autonomous capabilities now being demonstrated by this Moon-mining robot.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Media representatives discuss the design and operation of the prototype rover Artemis Jr. for NASA’s Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction, or RESOLVE, project with NASA In Situ Resource Utilization Project Manager William Larson, facing the rover, in a field beside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rover and its drill are provided by the Canadian Space Agency and work in concert with NASA science instruments to prospect for water, ice and other lunar resources. RESOLVE also will demonstrate how future explorers can take advantage of resources at potential landing sites by manufacturing oxygen from soil. NASA will conduct field tests in July outside of Hilo, Hawaii, with equipment and concept vehicles that demonstrate how explorers might prospect for resources and make their own oxygen for survival while on other planetary bodies. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA In Situ Resource Utilization Project Manager William Larson discusses the design and operation of the prototype rover Artemis Jr. for NASA’s Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction, or RESOLVE, project with media representatives during a rover demonstration for media representatives in a field beside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rover and its drill are provided by the Canadian Space Agency and work in concert with NASA science instruments to prospect for water, ice and other lunar resources. RESOLVE also will demonstrate how future explorers can take advantage of resources at potential landing sites by manufacturing oxygen from soil. NASA will conduct field tests in July outside of Hilo, Hawaii, with equipment and concept vehicles that demonstrate how explorers might prospect for resources and make their own oxygen for survival while on other planetary bodies. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA In Situ Resource Utilization Project Manager William Larson, back to camera, discusses the design and operation of the prototype rover Artemis Jr. for NASA’s Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction, or RESOLVE, project with media representatives during a rover demonstration in a field beside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rover and its drill are provided by the Canadian Space Agency and work in concert with NASA science instruments to prospect for water, ice and other lunar resources. RESOLVE also will demonstrate how future explorers can take advantage of resources at potential landing sites by manufacturing oxygen from soil. NASA will conduct field tests in July outside of Hilo, Hawaii, with equipment and concept vehicles that demonstrate how explorers might prospect for resources and make their own oxygen for survival while on other planetary bodies. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA In Situ Resource Utilization Project Manager William Larson, back to rover, discusses the design and operation of the prototype rover Artemis Jr. for NASA’s Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction, or RESOLVE, project with media representatives during a rover demonstration in a field beside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rover and its drill are provided by the Canadian Space Agency and work in concert with NASA science instruments to prospect for water, ice and other lunar resources. RESOLVE also will demonstrate how future explorers can take advantage of resources at potential landing sites by manufacturing oxygen from soil. NASA will conduct field tests in July outside of Hilo, Hawaii, with equipment and concept vehicles that demonstrate how explorers might prospect for resources and make their own oxygen for survival while on other planetary bodies. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
The port side of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover can be seen in this image taken on Nov. 16, 2019, in High Bay 1 of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. At the top left, the rover's remote sensing mast can be seen in the deployed position. To the right of the mast in the center of the image is the light gray high-gain antenna. At center of the image, attached to the side of the rover, is a black cable bracket (with gold cabling running through it). Attached to the top of this black bracket — and gray in color — is the Entry Descent and Landing (EDL) microphone. The rectangular screen to the right of the cable bracket is the rover chassis HEPA filter, which is above the white box housing the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) inlet filter assembly. Gray and bright orange cables seen in the foreground of the image belong to ground support equipment. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24045
A team from Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California participates in simulation training for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the training is to get the integrated PRIME-1 team – engineers with PRIME-1’s MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations) and Honeybee Robotics’ TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) drill – prepared to operate the instrument on the lunar surface. The team commanded the PRIME-1 hardware, located at Intuitive Machines in Houston, to operate MSOLO and TRIDENT. PRIME-1 is scheduled to launch through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service) initiative and will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon, with MSOLO and TRIDENT making up its two primary components. Through Artemis missions, CLPS deliveries will be used to perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human deep space exploration missions.
A team of engineers participates in simulation training for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the training is to get the integrated PRIME-1 team – engineers with PRIME-1’s MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations) and Honeybee Robotics’ TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) drill – prepared to operate the instrument on the lunar surface. The team commanded the PRIME-1 hardware, located at Intuitive Machines in Houston, to operate MSOLO and TRIDENT. PRIME-1 is scheduled to launch through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service) initiative and will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon, with MSOLO and TRIDENT making up its two primary components. Through Artemis missions, CLPS deliveries will be used to perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human deep space exploration missions.
A team of engineers participates in simulation training for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the training is to get the integrated PRIME-1 team – engineers with PRIME-1’s MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations) and Honeybee Robotics’ TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) drill – prepared to operate the instrument on the lunar surface. The team commanded the PRIME-1 hardware, located at Intuitive Machines in Houston, to operate MSOLO and TRIDENT. PRIME-1 is scheduled to launch through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service) initiative and will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon, with MSOLO and TRIDENT making up its two primary components. Through Artemis missions, CLPS deliveries will be used to perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human deep space exploration missions.
A team of engineers participates in simulation training for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the training is to get the integrated PRIME-1 team – engineers with PRIME-1’s MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations) and Honeybee Robotics’ TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) drill – prepared to operate the instrument on the lunar surface. The team commanded the PRIME-1 hardware, located at Intuitive Machines in Houston, to operate MSOLO and TRIDENT. PRIME-1 is scheduled to launch through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service) initiative and will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon, with MSOLO and TRIDENT making up its two primary components. Through Artemis missions, CLPS deliveries will be used to perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human deep space exploration missions.
A team of engineers participates in simulation training for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the training is to get the integrated PRIME-1 team – engineers with PRIME-1’s MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations) and Honeybee Robotics’ TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) drill – prepared to operate the instrument on the lunar surface. The team commanded the PRIME-1 hardware, located at Intuitive Machines in Houston, to operate MSOLO and TRIDENT. PRIME-1 is scheduled to launch through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service) initiative and will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon, with MSOLO and TRIDENT making up its two primary components. Through Artemis missions, CLPS deliveries will be used to perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human deep space exploration missions.
Janine Captain, left, and Jackie Quinn participate in simulation training for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the training is to get the integrated PRIME-1 team – engineers with PRIME-1’s MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations) and Honeybee Robotics’ TRIDENT (Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) drill – prepared to operate the instrument on the lunar surface. The team commanded the PRIME-1 hardware, located at Intuitive Machines in Houston, to operate MSOLO and TRIDENT. PRIME-1 is scheduled to launch through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service) initiative and will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon, with MSOLO and TRIDENT making up its two primary components. Through Artemis missions, CLPS deliveries will be used to perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human deep space exploration missions.
MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) was launched aboard NASA's Perseverance rover to test a technology for extracting oxygen from the Red Planet's carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. Audio of MOXIE's air compressor at work on Mars was captured by the microphone on Perseverance's SuperCam instrument on May 27, 2021, the 96th day of the rover's mission. Since Perseverance landed on Mars in 2021, MOXIE generated a total of 122 grams of oxygen – about what a small dog breathes in 10 hours. At its most efficient, MOXIE was able to produce 12 grams of oxygen an hour – twice as much as NASA's original goals for the instrument – at 98% purity or better. On its final, 16th run, on Aug. 7, 2023, the instrument made 9.8 grams of oxygen. MOXIE successfully completed all of its technical requirements and was operated at a variety of conditions throughout a full Mars year, allowing the instrument's developers to learn a great deal about the technology. MOXIE produces molecular oxygen through an electrochemical process that separates one oxygen atom from each molecule of carbon dioxide pumped in from Mars' thin atmosphere. As these gases flow through the system, they're analyzed to check the purity and quantity of oxygen produced. While many of Perseverance's experiments are addressing primary science goals, MOXIE was focused on future human exploration. MOXIE served as the first-ever demonstration of technology that humans could use to survive on, and leave, the Red Planet. An oxygen-producing system could help future missions in various ways, but the most important of them would be as a source of rocket propellant, which would be required in industrial quantities to launch rockets with astronauts for their return trip home. Rather than bringing large quantities of oxygen with them to Mars, future astronauts could live off the land, using materials they find on the planet's surface to survive. This concept – called in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU – has evolved into a growing area of research. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Audio file available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26041
In the image, taken on June 1, 2019, an engineer in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, can be seen working on the exposed belly of the Mars 2020 rover. It has been inverted to allow the 2020 engineers and technicians easier access. The front of the rover is on camera left. The engineer is inspecting wiring directly above the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instrument. MOXIE will demonstrate a way that future explorers might produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere for propellant and for breathing. In the foreground, just to the left of center and distinctive because of the relative lack of wiring, is the body unit for the SuperCam instrument. The mast unit for SuperCam instrument, which will provide imaging, chemical composition analysis, and mineralogy from its high perch at the top of the rover's remote sensing mast was installed June 25. To the far left, covered by a red-colored shield, is the bay where the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) will document, analyze and process for storage samples of Mars rock and soil for future return to Earth. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23312
With the lights out, the ISRU Pilot Excavator digs in regolith bin during testing inside Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 28, 2022. Tests use a gravity assist offload system to simulate reduced gravity conditions found on the Moon. On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like the Pilot Excavator will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. The Pilot Excavator can scoop up icy regolith which can be used to make operations on the Moon sustainable.
With the lights out, the ISRU Pilot Excavator digs in regolith bin during testing inside Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 28, 2022. Tests use a gravity assist offload system to simulate reduced gravity conditions found on the Moon. On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like the Pilot Excavator will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. The Pilot Excavator can scoop up icy regolith which can be used to make operations on the Moon sustainable.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, checks the hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
The ISRU Pilot Excavator digs in the regolith bin during testing inside Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 28, 2022. Tests use a gravity assist offload system to simulate reduced gravity conditions found on the Moon. On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like the Pilot Excavator will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. The Pilot Excavator can scoop up icy regolith which can be used to make operations on the Moon sustainable.
With the lights out, the ISRU Pilot Excavator digs in the regolith bin during testing inside Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 28, 2022. Tests use a gravity assist offload system to simulate reduced gravity conditions found on the Moon. On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like the Pilot Excavator will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. The Pilot Excavator can scoop up icy regolith which can be used to make operations on the Moon sustainable.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, inspects a piece of hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
The ISRU Pilot Excavator digs its way through the regolith bin during testing inside Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 28, 2022. Tests use a gravity assist offload system to simulate reduced gravity conditions found on the Moon. On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like the Pilot Excavator will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. The Pilot Excavator can scoop up icy regolith which can be used to make operations on the Moon sustainable.
The ISRU Pilot Excavator digs in the regolith bin during testing inside Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 28, 2022. Tests use a gravity assist offload system to simulate reduced gravity conditions found on the Moon. On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like the Pilot Excavator will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. The Pilot Excavator can scoop up icy regolith which can be used to make operations on the Moon sustainable.
A team from the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab operates a test of the ISRU Pilot Excavator in regolith bin inside Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 28, 2022. Tests use a gravity assist offload system to simulate reduced gravity conditions found on the Moon. On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like the Pilot Excavator will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. The Pilot Excavator can scoop up icy regolith which can be used to make operations on the Moon sustainable.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, inspects a piece of hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, works on the hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
With the lights out, the ISRU Pilot Excavator digs in regolith bin during testing inside Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 28, 2022. Tests use a gravity assist offload system to simulate reduced gravity conditions found on the Moon. On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like the Pilot Excavator will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems. The Pilot Excavator can scoop up icy regolith which can be used to make operations on the Moon sustainable.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, works on the hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, works on the hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, works on the hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, checks the hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, inspects a piece of hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, checks the hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, inspects a piece of hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, inspects a piece of hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
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