Workshop Location and Dates
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) are pleased to announce a workshop to facilitate collaboration between lander and rover providers and technology developers to share technologies that can enable survival through the lunar night. The Commercial Lunar Payload Services Survive the Night Technology Workshop is scheduled for December 6–8, 2022, at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, with an opportunity for virtual participation.
Purpose and Scope
The Moon is a fundamental part of Earth’s past and future — an off-world continent that may hold valuable resources to support space activity and scientific treasures that may tell us more about our planet. The Moon is a cornerstone for solar system science where we can learn about the history of Earth and the solar system from the Moon by studying its craters and regolith. This will provide clues about the origin and structure of the Moon and planets and answer life’s most fundamental questions.
Because one rotation of the Moon lasts about 28 days on Earth, the lunar day/night cycle at most locations on the surface includes fourteen Earth days of continuous sunlight followed by fourteen days of constant darkness and extreme cold. This presents one of the most demanding environmental challenges that will be faced in lunar exploration. Due to the lack of a moderating atmosphere, temperatures on the lunar surface can range from +120 ℃ during the day to -180 ℃ during the night, creating an incredibly intense environment and destroying the capabilities of most equipment. Permanently shadowed regions can be even colder (down to -240 ℃). However, surviving and operating through the lunar night is critical to accomplishing essential science and exploration objectives, and lunar night operations are necessary for a sustained presence on the Moon. Developing the capabilities needed for lunar night survival and operations will also help enable future operations in other thermally extreme space environments. These technologies will allow landers, rovers, manipulators, and other systems to operate through extreme conditions such as rapid temperature changes and permanently shadowed regions. This workshop is intended to provide government entities and industry the opportunity to share technology development efforts that could assist lander, rover, and payload developers in surviving the lunar night within the next three years.
Technologies of interest for this workshop include but are not limited to power (generation, storage, and distribution), thermal and illumination, plasma environment, materials/anti-static, in situ resource utilization, and communication and technologies to enable operation.
Code of Conduct
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