Version 1
: Received: 29 April 2024 / Approved: 30 April 2024 / Online: 1 May 2024 (09:56:06 CEST)
How to cite:
Farina, D.; Machrafi, H.; Queeckers, P.; Minetti, C.; Iorio, C. S. Water Recuperation from Regolith at Martian, Lunar & Micro-gravity during Parabolic Flight. Preprints2024, 2024050039. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0039.v1
Farina, D.; Machrafi, H.; Queeckers, P.; Minetti, C.; Iorio, C. S. Water Recuperation from Regolith at Martian, Lunar & Micro-gravity during Parabolic Flight. Preprints 2024, 2024050039. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0039.v1
Farina, D.; Machrafi, H.; Queeckers, P.; Minetti, C.; Iorio, C. S. Water Recuperation from Regolith at Martian, Lunar & Micro-gravity during Parabolic Flight. Preprints2024, 2024050039. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0039.v1
APA Style
Farina, D., Machrafi, H., Queeckers, P., Minetti, C., & Iorio, C. S. (2024). Water Recuperation from Regolith at Martian, Lunar & Micro-gravity during Parabolic Flight. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0039.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Farina, D., Christophe Minetti and Carlo Saverio Iorio. 2024 "Water Recuperation from Regolith at Martian, Lunar & Micro-gravity during Parabolic Flight" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0039.v1
Abstract
Recent discoveries of potential ice particles and ice-cemented regolith on celestial bodies like the Moon and Mars have ushered in new opportunities for developing technologies to extract water, facilitating future space missions and activities on these celestial surfaces. This study delves into 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. This experiment aims to provide insights into in-situ water recovery, which is pivotal for establishing economically-sustainable water supplies for future missions.
Keywords
regolith hydration; water extraction technologies; parabolic flight simulation; ice-regolith interaction; substrate condensation efficiency; in-situ resource utilization (ISRU); thermal condensation processes; micro-gravity experiments; surface properties and water recovery; space resources; space mining
Subject
Engineering, Aerospace Engineering
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
