Hypothesized Surface: ISRU for Hypothesized Surfaces – RHIT – A

“Deep Space Metallurgy”

INSTITUTION

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT)

CLASS

Tungsten Class (2023 – 2024)

STUDENT TEAM

ACADEMIC GUIDANCE

Dr. Shraddha Sangelkar
Dr. Jay McCormack
Dr. Zac Chambers

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Deep Space Metallurgy’s project focused specifically on melting the metal on the surface of Psyche, assuming the metal can be inserted to our system and will exit the system to be manufactured. This design used induction-based heating to efficiently melt the metal, accounting for the environmental conditions of melting metal in space and the power constraints on Psyche. If taken further, this system could be used on different bodies in deep space, allowing less raw material to be sent into space, and accelerating the possibility of on-site deep-space construction.

 

 

Final Report: Deep Space Metallurgy

This work was created in partial fulfillment of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Capstone Course “ME 471”. The work is a result of the Psyche Student Collaborations component of NASA’s Psyche Mission (https://psyche.asu.edu). “Psyche: A Journey to a Metal World” [Contract number NNM16AA09C] is part of the NASA Discovery Program mission to solar system targets. Trade names and trademarks of ASU and NASA are used in this work for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by Arizona State University or National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of ASU or NASA.