Solutions from Aachen for the Moon
MoonAixperts - since 2021
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We are the MoonAixperts. A team of students from RWTH Aachen & FH Aachen with diverse fields of study. We are also supervised by the Institute of Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT) at RWTH Aachen University. We founded our association in fall 2021 to participate in the “Over The Dusty Moon Challenge”, which was announced and accompanied by the Colorado School of Mines & Lockheed Martin. Since then, we have been researching in the field of space resources. Our solutions include the transportation, sorting and handling of lunar regolith. The main goal of our organization is to enable students to conduct space research and one day bring our solutions to the moon.
The foundation of life on the moon?
Lunar regolith!
Lunar regolith contains many resources whose use will make missions on and beyond the Moon more efficient and safer
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"Weltraumtechnologie made in Aachen: Wie Bergbau auf dem Mond gelingen kann"
Aachener Zeitung March 4th
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What is RegOne?A modular high volume transport system for lunar regolith.
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What is lunar regolith?Regolith is a collective term for the upper layer of a stony soil. Such layers exist on earth as well as on other planets of our solar system like the moon.
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How can we use lunar regolith?Lunar regolith contains many elements like iron, titanium, silicon and aluminum. If extracted these elements could prove useful for manufacturing on the moon. It is suspected that in craters at the lunar poles there could be water ice enclosed within the lunar regolith. This water could be used for life support or as basis for rocket fuel. Furthermore, the lunar regolith itself could be used as construction material to provide habitats or even radiation shielding for human exploration.
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Why is there a need for a regolith transport system on the moon?The location of the mining sites will most probably be different than the location where the lunar regolith is going to be processed and used. For this reason, a dependable lunar regolith transportation solution will be fundamental for the success of future long-term lunar missions.
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Can the system RegONE fly?No. The system is stationary.
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What is the theoretical foundation of MoonAixperts work?We acknowledge that both underlying concepts (vertical [1] and horizontal [2]) are based on peer-reviewed papers by Hioyuki Kawamoto from Waseda University (kawa@waseda.jp). Our team has made changes to both concepts, resulting in a complete regolith transport system called regONE. Vertical [1]: Vertical Transport of Lunar Regolith and Ice Particles Using Electrodynamic Traveling Wave Hiroyuki Kawamoto; Kazuhiro Hata; and Takahiko Shibata July 2021, Journal of Aerospace Engineering 34(4) Horizontal [2]: Vibration Transport of Lunar Regolith for In Situ Resource Utilization Using Piezoelectric Actuators with Displacement-Amplifying Mechanism Hiroyuki Kawamoto May 2020, Journal of Aerospace Engineering 33(3)
CONTACT
MoonAixperts e.V.
Collective Incubator
Jülicher Str. 209d
52070 Aachen, Germany
