NORCAT moot attracts NASA, CSA officials: conference focused on convergence of mining, space technologies.

Greater Sudbury- Jim Richard is fast becoming an expert on lunar regolith.

That's the space term for the layer of loose material, or overburden, found on top of the moon's bedrock.

When the next wave of NASA space flights to the moon and Mars takes place sometime after 2010, resource extraction to find extraterrestrial reserves of water, oxygen and hydrogen in preparation for colonizing and travelling in space, will likely be part of the mission profiles.

That's why in early June, space agency officials gathered with representatives from various technology companies at a former producing Falconbridge Mine in Onaping, northwest of Sudbury, to tap into the region's expertise in deep hard-rock mining and mineral processing.

The second annual Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium, hosted by Cambrian College's NORCAT (Northern Centre for Advanced Technology), attracted visitors from NASA's Glenn Research Center and the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Canadian Space Agency and a number of North American robotics, engineering and telecommunications firms.

Among the attendees was Richard, vice-president of Electric Vehicle Controllers (EVC), a Sudbury mining supplier, who is collaborating with the University of New Brunswick and NORCAT in developing what he describes as a "lunar playground" to duplicate the physical properties of the moon's surface.

In order to do the preparatory test drilling and excavating on Earth, NASA needs simulated extraterrestrial environments, known as lunar simulants, to determine if a drill can operate under such conditions.

Richard's involvement in the project has gone light years beyond installing control systems for underground mining locomotives.

As part of a NORCAT development team, Richard has helped build various prototypes of a lightweight electric drill, known as the CanaDrill, which could be part of Canada's contribution to future NASA missions.

"As mining equipment developers, it's necessary to simulate conditions that these pieces of equipment will operate under as closely as we can," says Richard, whose company has secured contracts revolving around drilling and excavating with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.

"We want to know what impact that's going to have on the equipment that we're proposing to develop for lunar excavation."

From what scientists say, most of the moon's resources--hydrogen and oxygen--can be extracted from the regolith, which can be used for fuel and life support. "If they find it in a water form, that's the holy grail."

Orbiter studies indicate there are very strong hydrogen indicators.

On top of operating a drill in a cold, microgravity environment, the moon's loose surface material poses its own unique set of design challenges.

Modifications will have to be made to the design of the core capture devices because of the soil.

"With traditional diamond drilling, you're extracting solid cores. If not ... we have to develop technologies to capture an unconsolidated core. There will be some impact on the drill bit design and I suspect differences in the drilling approach."

Though not willing to disclose what his company's contracts are worth, he says they are part of a larger $24 million project involving a number of companies looking at various experiments associated with excavating equipment.

While the contract is subject to NASA review next January, he's optimistic the space exploration business will have a positive impact for EVC. He has had discussions with NORCAT about gearing up a workforce for the project.

"Without blowing our own horn, people are starting to take us seriously."

Gerry Sanders, the head of NASA's Propulsion and Fluid Systems Branch, says the space agency is delving into new capabilities for upcoming moon missions that they've never done before. Sudbury's knowledge in mining is key for long-term space exploration.

NASA is looking at funding a mission to the moon's polar region and doing some excavating and prospecting there. Sander is the principal technology investigator for that experiment.

"What I'm looking for are mechanical engineers and geologists associated with digging up and processing hard material," says Sander.

He came back to Sudbury after attending last year's inaugural symposium.

NORCAT is one of NASA's partners on the excavation project to gather lunar samples down to a depth of one metre.

Last year, they answered NASA's external call for proposals, which resulted in 80 projects and released a tremendous amount of research toward space technology preparation programs.

www.norcat.org

www.space.gc.ca

www.nasa.gov

By IAN ROSS

Northern Ontario Business