Descripción del proyecto
Extracción y depuración del agua de la Luna
Para que los astronautas puedan vivir y trabajar en el espacio lejano, necesitan acceso al agua. Aunque el agua puede enviarse al espacio, los científicos buscan formas de generarla allí mismo. El equipo del proyecto LUWEX, financiado con fondos europeos, diseñará y probará un novedoso extractor de agua para procesar el regolito lunar que contenga suficiente agua helada para soportar un proceso de purificación posterior. El objetivo del proyecto es desarrollar un prototipo innovador para la extracción, la purificación y el control de la calidad del agua. En el caso del agua, puede almacenarse fácilmente y utilizarse directamente como consumible para los astronautas o electrolizarse en hidrógeno y oxígeno, una combinación muy eficaz como propulsor de cohetes.
Objetivo
Sustainable space exploration requires the development of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies, which encompass all processes that utilize local resources to generate useful products for robotic and human exploration. Among the available resources, water is the most versatile and most needed in space exploration. Water can be easily stored and directly used as consumable for astronauts or electrolyzed to hydrogen and oxygen, a very effective rocket propellant combination. LUWEX aims to develop, integrate and validate lunar water extraction and purification technologies for in-situ propellant and consumables production for future space exploration missions. The consortium will develop key technologies for an in-situ raw water process chain, which include an innovative water extraction prototype, water purification technologies and water quality monitoring for application in a future European-led space exploration mission. An integrated test setup will be built to validate the operational capabilities of the technologies and also of the whole process chain. This setup will deliver a relatively realistic environment analogue to the lunar surface and will use a lunar dust-ice simulant to provide proper validation conditions to raise the TRL of all subsystems and the whole process chain to level 4. The interdisciplinary nature of LUWEX combines research and innovation in space engineering, space science and exploration, geophysics and terrestrial water systems. Large space industry (Thales Alenia Space), research organizations (DLR), SME (Liquifer Systems Group, Scanway) and academia (Technische Universität Braunschweig, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology) from four European countries (Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland) join forces in a unique consortium to enable breakthroughs in ISRU technologies. LUWEX will help to strengthen the excellence in European space science and exploration and also foster the competitiveness of the European space sector.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyspace exploration
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineering
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetary geology
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processes
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-BasedCoordinador
51147 Koln
Alemania