Earth Independence Lunar Manufacturing E M Rion Motley
- Slides: 15
Earth Independence: Lunar Manufacturing E. M. Rion Motley III Managing Partner & Founder, Wet. Spark Innovations LLC www. wetspark. net rion@wetspark. net 1
Overview • • Why manufacture on the Moon? What end products will we need? Current manufacturing methods A new framework for design decisions, that changes as the Lunar population grows
Why manufacture locally?
Reasons for local fab Local Fabrication: The lunar surface offers plentiful resources and the freedom to design for use case, rather than transportation.
Required Proucts: Tools, Equipment, Shelter
Ice Excavation Regolith KREEP Extraction Distillation Water Organics Metals Silicon Chemistry CO 2 Plastics P K Machining Fabrication Growth Electrolysis Propellant N Sanitation Drinking Water Food Parts Equipment Telerobots Structures Solar Cells Electronics
Required Products https: //www. fanuc. eu/
Current Manufacturing Methods
Just Four Things • Heating and cooling (not necessarily melting) • Plastic Deformation – forging, bending, rolling • Shearing – milling, turning, sawing – chip removal. • Surface Treatment – conversion coatings, case hardening
Manufacturing Methods
Current Manufacturing Methods
Current Manufacturing Methods
Current Manufacturing Methods
Current Manufacturing Methods https: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Continuous_casting
Conclusions • There is no ‘magic bullet’ • Use-case design is good design. • Telerobotics can augment human presence, but the “Lights Out Fab” is still years away. • Selective automation can leverage our timetable, scaling ahead of demand.