SBIR Phase II: Portable Production Process for Icy Regoliths by Vapor Deposition

SBIR 第二阶段：通过气相沉积生产冰风化层的便携式生产工艺

• 批准号: 2231348
• 负责人: Vincent Roux
• 金额: $ 99.67万
• 依托单位: OFF PLANET RESEARCH L.L.C.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-07-15 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2231348&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Portable; Production

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will enable research and development on simulated moon surface materials that resemble the icy regolith on the Moon and other worlds by a large number of organizations that currently do not have access to such materials. Making realistic icy regolith simulants is beyond the reach of most organizations because they are produced by replicating the natural formation processes, that is they are produced under conditions that approximate the environment within the ultra-cold, permanently-shadowed areas in the polar regions of the Moon. Utilizing the resource potential of icy regoliths is a key to an enduring human presence in space. Accurate simulants of these materials are necessary to develop the technologies for studying, prospecting, and utilizing this resource. Greater access to these simulants will increase academia/industry partnerships and allow more rapid technology development through higher fidelity testing.This SBIR Phase II project provide a location-dependent, custom production method to produce icy regolith simulants in large enough quantities in locations where they are needed by students, researchers, and engineers. Currently, the difficulty and cost of making realistic icy regolith simulants is preventing the higher fidelity testing required to reduce the risk and facilitate the development of in situ extraction technologies for critical resources. These simulants must be produced by re-creating the natural formation processes on the Moon and other worlds as closely as possible under very controlled conditions. Icy simulants must be custom-made and can include hazardous gases so they are expensive and can only be produced slowly in small batches. Cryogenic shipment after production is expensive, difficult, and limited to small amounts. This project will produce new equipment and methods of production that are portable. The solution will also make more realistic and complete icy regolith simulants in quantities large enough for effective research and development to take place. The equipment will be designed to be adaptable and have the capacity to make various physical forms of icy simulants with differing ingredients.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将使大量目前无法获得此类材料的组织能够研究和开发类似于月球和其他世界上冰冷风化层的模拟月球表面材料。 制作逼真的冰风化层模拟物超出了大多数组织的能力范围，因为它们是通过复制自然形成过程来生产的，也就是说，它们是在近似于月球极地地区超冷、永久阴影区环境的条件下生产的。 利用冰表土层的资源潜力是人类在太空持久存在的关键。 这些物质的精确模拟物是开发研究、勘探和利用这些资源的技术所必需的。 更多地获得这些模拟物将增加学术界/工业界的合作伙伴关系，并通过更高保真的测试实现更快速的技术开发。SBIR第二阶段项目提供了一种位置依赖的定制生产方法，可以在学生，研究人员和工程师需要的地方生产足够大数量的冰风化层模拟物。 目前，制作逼真的冰风化层模拟物的难度和成本正在阻碍降低风险和促进关键资源原位提取技术发展所需的高保真度测试。这些模拟物必须通过在非常受控的条件下尽可能接近地重现月球和其他世界的自然形成过程来生产。 结冰模拟物必须定制，并且可能包含有害气体，因此它们价格昂贵，只能小批量缓慢生产。 生产后的低温运输是昂贵的，困难的，并且仅限于少量。该项目将生产新的便携式设备和生产方法。 该解决方案还将使更真实和完整的冰风化层模拟物的数量足够大，以进行有效的研究和开发。 该设备将被设计为适应性强，并有能力使不同成分的冰模拟物的各种物理形式。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。