I-Corps: Space Kinetic

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是在月球和其他低重力环境中潜在地开发电力选择和后勤服务。这项创新可以推出含有材料(如氧气或水等)的胶囊。给月球表面的潜在客户。同时，每个太空舱的动能也可以转化为可用电能，为太空操作提供动力。通过降低潜在的发射成本，同时使用相同的基础设施来传输材料、资源和能源，这些服务总体上可能会更便宜。最终，如果这项技术能够降低月球上的能源和资源转移成本，这项创新可能会支持进一步的建设、月球采矿、探索、旅行和旅游业，可能会促进太空经济增长。这个i-Corps项目的基础是为月球和其他空间环境中的电缆和月球车开发后勤服务和电力选择。有线能源系统可能很重，这使得它们从地球到月球的运输成本很高(每公斤载重可能超过100万美元)，而用于月球上电力设备和设备(如激光和微波)的能量传输解决方案在为设备和设备长距离供电方面效率低下，可能具有较高的资本成本，并且可能具有有限的网络效应。此外，将电缆和电力传输结合在一起的混合解决方案可能会增加任务复杂性和潜在故障点，从而增加风险。基于Rover的设备和材料转移系统也可能既笨重又耗时。通过潜在地开发一种集成的、无电缆的能量和材料传输系统，该系统可能更轻、更快，并且能够处理更多的容量，因此它可能比有线系统或漫游者更高效。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the potential development of power options and logistics services on the moon and other low-gravity environments. The innovation could launch capsules containing materials (like oxygen or water etc.) to potential customers across the lunar surface. At the same time, the kinetic energy of each capsule could also be converted to usable electricity to power space operations. By reducing potential launch costs while using the same infrastructure to transfer material, resources, and energy the services may be overall less expensive. Ultimately, if the technology can reduce the energy and resource transfer costs on the moon, this innovation may support further construction, lunar mining, exploration, travel, and tourism potentially enabling economic growth in space. This I-Corps project is based on developing logistics services and power options for cables and lunar rovers on the moon and other space environments. Cabled energy systems can be heavy making them costly to transport from the Earth to the moon (potentially over $1 million per kilogram of load carried) whilst energy beaming solutions to power devices and equipment on the moon such as lasers and microwaves can be inefficient at powering devices and equipment over long distances, can have high capital costs, and may have limited network effects. Furthermore, hybrid solutions combining cables and power beaming may add risk by increasing mission complexity and potential points of failure. Rover-based systems for transferring equipment and materials can also be heavy and time-consuming. By potentially developing an integrated, cable-less energy and material transfer system that may be lighter, faster, and able to handle more volume, it may therefore be more efficient than cabled systems or Rovers.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.