While its technology is most often used to drill for oil here on Earth, oil company BP has entered into an agreement with NASA that could see its technology used to drill for resources on the moon.
The agreement was announced this week, and says the company will work with NASA to “support common goals in space exploration and energy production.” That involved sharing technology and technical expertise, particularly about how energy production can operate in extreme environments. This could be applicable to future NASA plans for exploration of the moon and Mars, both of which will require significant power generation.
“Both BP and NASA are custodians of deep technical expertise, working in extreme environments — whether that’s at the bottom of the ocean or on the moon,” said Giovanni Cristofoli, senior vice president of BP Solutions. “Sharing what we know with each other will help us solve complex engineering problems faster, meaning we can focus on keeping energy flowing safely and delivering higher margins with lower emissions.”
NASA is investigating technologies such as the use of nuclear reactors to generate power, as well as scaling up the solar power systems that are commonly used in many spacecraft and landers. Nuclear power has the advantage of consistent power output, but the public often worries about safety issue with the use of nuclear, while solar power is getting more and more efficient but still has limitations such as solar panels being covered by dust over time.
The new agreement with BP could see further development on power options such as the use of hydrogen and regenerative fuel cells, plus the high-capacity batteries that are important for solar power to be used consistently, and nuclear options such as small fission systems.
BP’s expertise in drilling could also be beneficial on Mars, which has virtually no liquid water on its surface. The planet is thought to host significant amounts of liquid water beneath the surface, though, so digging to access this could be one way to produce all-important water on Mars.
Water is important not only for drinking for future astronauts but also for the production of rocket fuel. Much current research into sending astronauts back to the moon revolves around finding and accessing water deposits there.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.