The World Is Not Enough (Wine): Harvesting Local Resources For Eternal Exploration Of Space

Abstract

The World is Not Enough (WINE) is a new generation of CubeSats that take advantage of In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) to explore space. The WINE takes advantage of existing CubeSat technology and combines it with 3D printing technology and a water extraction system. 3D printing enables the development of steam thrusters (higher specific impulse than cold gas) as well as tanks that fit within the available space within the CubeSat. The ISRU module captures and extracts water while taking advantage of the heat generated by the CubeSat electronics system supplemented by power from solar charged batteries. The extracted water is stored in a steam thruster tank and used as fuel for propulsion to fly to another location. The WINE is ideally suited as a prospecting and reconnaissance missions before the mining/exploration missions are launched. Several tests were performed in vacuum chamber using asteroid simulant. Water was successfully extracted and captured demonstrating feasibility of the WINE architecture.

Publication Date

1-1-2016

Publication Title

AIAA Space and Astronautics Forum and Exposition, SPACE 2016

Document Type

Article; Proceedings Paper

Personal Identifier

scopus

Socpus ID

84995654929 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84995654929

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