Montreal Space Symposium 2019

The lunar environment is very challenging with extreme temperatures, no atmosphere, and a very abrasive dust that is pervasive.  Composite materials could be a material of choice to lower the mass of the rover, but also provide the right protection to allow survival of the instruments during the lunar night, where temperatures can drop to -200˚C and remain such for the equivalent of two weeks on Earth.

A large multidisciplinary team funded by CREPEC groups professors and students from Polytechnique Montréal, École de technologie supérieure, Université Laval, and the Canadian Space Agency and aims at developing a thermoplastic composite rover that is 3D printed to save on mass, prevent heat loss, and provide dust protection.  The use of space compatible thermoplastic composite material will allow for repair using induction methods.

This talk will present the challenges brought the lunar environment from a material, but also system point of view, the design strategies usually considered and the material options, and finally, the innovations this research group will bring forward.

Mohammad Rafiee, PHD, Clément Broggi, MSc
Design and 3D printing of a high performance thermoplastic lunar rover
3D printing is on verge to become a powerful way of manufacturing. Using a printer, one is able to produce complex parts, optimized for a specific application and thus with a lower mass. The Fused Deposition Modelling process is cheap and allow to produce parts it would be impossible to manufacture using traditional means. However, thermoplastics -commonly used material- do not possess, most of the time, the mechanicals properties required to 3D print structural parts and to be of interest for space applications. Some new high-performance thermoplastic composites could be a game changer.
This talk focus on the design and manufacturing of a lunar rover, printed in a high-performance thermoplastic, in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency. Lunar rovers and space parts in general, are made from aluminium because of its mechanical, thermal, and radiation properties. Composites could be a material of choice to lower the mass of the rover, provide better thermal insulation, and tailor properties to the requirements of the mission.   3D printing could allow designing a structure capable of surviving to the moon environment by reducing the amount of inserts and bolts, therefore reducing mass, but also reducing potential path of heat loss.
After a quick presentation of 3D printing, the design strategy will be explained. Finally, the up to date rover concept will be presented.

Arthur Lassus, Teodora Gancheva, Nick Virgilio and B.D. Favis

CREPEC, Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal

High-Performance Thermoplastics for Lunar Exploration

Over the last decade, advanced engineering thermoplastics (polyether ether ketones (PEEKs), polyetherimides (PEIs), etc.) have received increased attention and interest for automotive, energies, aeronautic and aerospace applications. In these domains, high-performance thermoplastics are being developed to bring lightness in combination with exceptional mechanical, thermal and chemical properties. For spatial and/or lunar environment applications, various parameters should be considered when developing material formulations, including tolerance to extreme temperature changes (- 200° C to + 100° C), resistance to abrasive and electrostatic nanoscale dust, adequate outgassing properties, and resistance to high-energy radiations.

The main objective of this work is to develop high-performance polymer blends/nanocomposites materials for the design of the next generation of lunar rovers. This work is part of a multidisciplinary project made possible by the cooperation between the Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC), a FRQ-NT Strategic Cluster, and the Canadian Space Agency.

In June 2019, the Canadian Space Agency deployed its JUNO rover on a five day simulated lunar sample return mission. This deployment is an interdisciplinary process, requiring collaboration between teams from government, industry, and academia, composed of engineers, scientists, project managers, and robotic operators, all with a diverse set of skills and experience. Testing a rover prototype for a long-term mission in an analogue lunar environment on Earth is cheaper, faster, and less risky than testing on the moon – but that doesn’t mean it’s easy! We’ll share the challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned from planning and deploying a rover prototype in a simulated moon mission. Uniting disparate objectives, generating realistic mission scenarios, and physically transforming a quarry into a lunar analogue terrain are just some of the many challenges that must be tackled to ensure the mission is a success.