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Aerospace
Special Issues
The (Near) Future of Space Resources
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The (Near) Future of Space Resources

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Astronautics & Space Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 5313

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Michael Nord

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, USA
Interests: space resources; remote sensing; synthetic aperture radar; insitu resource utilization; planetary science

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue of MDPI’s journal Aerospace, which is dedicated to the exploration and utilization of space resources—an exciting frontier that promises to redefine the future of human civilization. As we stand on the cusp of a new era in space exploration, the significance of harnessing extraterrestrial resources cannot be overstated. This edition aims to serve as a comprehensive platform for scholarly discussions and cutting-edge research, connecting experts from diverse fields to explore the myriad opportunities and challenges associated with the sustainable exploitation of space resources.

The scope of this edition includes a broad spectrum of topics, including, but not limited to, the prospecting, extraction, and utilization of space resources, as well as the legal and ethical considerations that underpin the responsible use of these resources. We welcome contributions related to any technology leveraging space resources to enhance our ability to explore or inhabit space, as well as those innovations designed to improve life on Earth. Of particular interest are topics with more immediate practical implications, considering the forthcoming Artemis missions and anticipated reductions in launch costs. We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions, which will enrich our understanding of this dynamic and forward-facing field.

Dr. Michael Nord
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • space resources
  • in situ resource utilization
  • space mining

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 16714 KiB  
Article
Water Recuperation from Regolith at Martian, Lunar & Micro-Gravity during Parabolic Flight
by Dario Farina, Hatim Machrafi, Patrick Queeckers, Christophe Minetti and Carlo Saverio Iorio
Aerospace 2024, 11(6), 475; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11060475 - 16 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2280
Abstract
Recent discoveries of potential ice particles and ice-cemented regolith on extraterrestrial bodies like the Moon and Mars have opened new opportunities for developing technologies to extract water, facilitating future space missions and activities on these extraterrestrial body surfaces. This study explores the potential [...] Read more.
Recent discoveries of potential ice particles and ice-cemented regolith on extraterrestrial bodies like the Moon and Mars have opened new opportunities for developing technologies to extract water, facilitating future space missions and activities on these extraterrestrial body surfaces. This study explores the potential for water extraction from regolith through an experiment designed to test water recuperation from regolith simulant under varying gravitational conditions. The resultant water vapor extracted from the regolith is re-condensed on a substrate surface and collected in liquid form. Three types of substrates, hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and grooved, are explored. The system’s functionality was assessed during a parabolic flight campaign simulating three distinct gravity levels: microgravity, lunar gravity, and Martian gravity. Our findings reveal that the hydrophobic surface demonstrates the highest efficiency due to drop-wise condensation, and lower gravity levels result in increased water condensation on the substrates. The experiments aimed to understand the performance of specific substrates under lunar, Martian, and microgravity conditions, providing an approach for in-situ water recovery, which is crucial for establishing economically sustainable water supplies for future missions. To enhance clarity and readability, in this paper, “H2O” will be referred to as “water”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The (Near) Future of Space Resources)
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13 pages, 3315 KiB  
Article
Experimental Evaluation of Lunar Regolith Settlement Caused by Ice Extraction
by Zheng Gong, Nicholas Barnett, Jangguen Lee, Hyunwoo Jin, Byunghyun Ryu, Taeyoung Ko, Joung Oh, Andrew Dempster and Serkan Saydam
Aerospace 2024, 11(3), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11030207 - 6 Mar 2024
Viewed by 2003
Abstract
Water resources are essential to human exploration in deep space or the establishment of long-term lunar habitation. Ice discovered on the Moon may be useful in future missions to the lunar surface, necessitating the consideration of in situ resource utilization if it is [...] Read more.
Water resources are essential to human exploration in deep space or the establishment of long-term lunar habitation. Ice discovered on the Moon may be useful in future missions to the lunar surface, necessitating the consideration of in situ resource utilization if it is present in sufficient amounts. Extraction of ice can cause the regolith to settle, which can lead to unintended structural damage. Therefore, any settlement resulting from ice extraction should be understood from a geotechnical perspective. This work reports on experimental investigation of the potential settlement caused by the extraction of ice from lunar regolith simulant containing different textures of ice. The KLS-1 simulant was prepared with different water contents and ice textures. Significant settlement occurred in simulant–ice mixtures with initial water contents of 5–10%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The (Near) Future of Space Resources)
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