Project Info

Preliminary modeling evaluation of water ice extraction from Lunar permanently shadowed craters by direct heating of icy regolith

Luis Zerpa | lzerpa@mines.edu

The main objective of this project is to adapt/modify a petroleum reservoir numerical simulator to model heat transfer from a wellbore into icy regolith, sublimation of ice and flow of water vapor through porous regolith. This will allow studying different well configurations to extract water ice from lunar craters, and assess feasibility by identifying limitations and challenges of such approach for lunar in-situ resource extraction.

More Information

“Colaprete, A. et al., 2010. Detection of Water in the LCROSS Ejecta Plume. Science, 330(6003): 463-468.
Feldman, W.C. et al., 1998. Fluxes of Fast and Epithermal Neutrons from Lunar Prospector: Evidence for Water Ice at the Lunar Poles. Science, 281(5382): 1496.
Gladstone, G.R. et al., 2010. LRO-LAMP Observations of the LCROSS Impact Plume. Science, 330(6003): 472.
Mitrofanov, I.G. et al., 2010. Hydrogen Mapping of the Lunar South Pole Using the LRO Neutron Detector Experiment LEND. Science, 330(6003): 483.
Paige, D.A. et al., 2010. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment. Space Science Reviews, 150(1): 125-160.”

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