SBIR-STTR Award

Lunar Articulating Mirror Array
Award last edited on: 1/11/2023

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NASA : MSFC
Total Award Amount
$1,056,174
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
Z14.02
Principal Investigator
Alan Carter

Company Information

Blueshift LLC

575 Burbank Street Unit G
Broomfield, CO 80020
   (303) 953-0297
   N/A
   www.blueshiftusa.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 02
County: Broomfield

Phase I

Contract Number: 80NSSC22PA967
Start Date: 7/28/2022    Completed: 1/25/2023
Phase I year
2022
Phase I Amount
$156,476
NASA is requesting technologies for constructing lunar and Martian infrastructure using in situ resources to radically reduce the cost and increase the scope of future space exploration. Blueshift, LLC dba Outward Technologies proposes to develop a novel Lunar Articulating Mirror Array (LAMA) for constructing landing/launch pads, roadways, habitats, and other infrastructure structural elements using in situ resources. The proposed LAMA system and associated construction method will be able to rapidly construct thick structures with material properties similar to concrete from minimally beneficiated lunar regolith. Benefits of the proposed innovation include a complete lack of earth-based consumables, very low electrical power needs, and lower material handling requirements as compared to polymer stabilization, lunar concrete, sintered bricks, or microwave sintering. The system utilizes a lightweight deployable design that further minimizes launch costs and includes design elements to enable long-term operation on the Moon with minimal to no maintenance requirements. The proposed hardware and related feedback and control systems are uniquely suited for in situ process monitoring for construction verification and qualification. The Phase I effort will focus on developing a representative numerical model to verify feasibility of the full-scale system, producing prototype hardware of a small-scale LAMA, and characterizing the mechanical behavior of infrastructure elements produced by the proposed construction method. Anticipated

Benefits:
The primary application within NASA’s technology roadmap for LAMA is TX12.X: Other Manufacturing, Materials, and Structure. The technology also is applicable to TX07.2.2: In Situ Manufacturing, Maintenance, and Repair as well as TX07.2.3: Surface Construction and Assembly, and TX03.3 Power Management and Distribution. The LAMA system will support infrastructure development through the rapid construction of non-pressurized structures such as landing pads, roadways, and blast shields. The proposed construction technology will benefit other federal agencies interested in surface construction in extraterrestrial environments. Terrestrially, LAMA could be adapted for construction in remote locations where sunlight is readily available, where building materials are limited, and where communities are underserved by currently available construction methods.

Phase II

Contract Number: 80NSSC23CA076
Start Date: 5/12/2023    Completed: 5/11/2025
Phase II year
2023
Phase II Amount
$899,698
Blueshift, LLC d/b/a Outward Technologies proposes to continue development of a Lunar Articulating Mirror Array (LAMA) for enabling lunar surface construction of large-scale infrastructure. The technology utilizes concentrated solar power to heat lunar regolith at a distance of meters to tens of meters from the mirror array. The configuration of the design allows for precise control over the solar flux and solar flux density delivered to the target surface. Phase I demonstrated feasibility of this technology through fabrication, assembly, and control of a physical prototype demonstrating the translation of a spot of highly concentrated solar energy across a receiver surface; ray tracing models matched to Phase I prototype results confirming validity of these models; extension of the ray tracing models to mid- to large-scale LAMA systems for solar conditions found on the Moon; generation of selectively solar melted and liquid-phase sintered surfaces of a lunar highlands regolith simulant; evaluation of performance of selectively solar melted surfaces for bearing loads equivalent to those that would be imposed by a lander footpad; and evaluation of reducing ejecta from selectively solar sintered regolith surfaces when exposed to a simulated plume-surface interaction. These efforts will be extended in Phase II to develop a medium-fidelity LAMA prototype and evaluate its performance in a relevant test environment to advance the TRL from 4 to 5. Selectively solar melted and sintered regolith surfaces will be produced in air and in vacuum conditions. Specimens generated from selective solar melting will be exposed in controlled thermal pulse tests representing impingement by superheated gases from an 80 ton lunar lander. Plume-surface interactions of selective solar sintered surfaces will be explored in vacuum conditions. Finally, a demonstration Landing/Launch Pad measuring 1m in diameter will be evaluated through multiple hot-fire tests from a large solid rocket motor. Anticipated

Benefits:
NASA applications include construction of large horizontal structures, layer-wise additive construction, treatment of regolith surfaces to minimize ejecta from PSI's, and solar-thermal power generation on the lunar surface. These capabilities primarily address technology taxonomy areas TX12, TX12.X, TX03.3, and TX07.1. Through continued funding and development, LAMA will provide a robust construction tool for addressing NASA's needs for establishing permanent lunar infrastructure while relying on abundant solar-thermal power and ISRU materials. Potential non-NASA applications include: increased pointing accuracy of heliostat fields for higher efficiency concentrated solar-thermal power plants on Earth; improved design of heliostat geometries to enable higher temperature solar-thermal reactors for industrial decarbonization; and In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) in low-Earth orbit for DoD and commercial customers.