Framlingham inventor in final of £1.2 million moon base UK Space Agency competition
An inventor for an award-winning design company has become a finalist in a £1.2 million competition which could help put people permanently on the Moon.
Dr Andrew McCulloch, who is also a director for Minima Design in Framlingham, has become one of 10 making the final cut for the UK Space Agency’s Aqualunar Challenge, which is in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency.
The task is to design technologies that can purify water frozen as ice in the Moon’s soil.
This would be crucial in establishing a permanently-crewed base on the Earth’s only natural satellite by 2030.
Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency, said: “The ambition to build a sustainable human presence on the Moon through the NASA-led Artemis Missions will only succeed if we have ways of generating a reliable supply of clean water.
“The Aqualunar Challenge showcases a range of innovative ideas from UK teams and individuals to tackle this challenge, while strengthening ties with our Canadian partners.
“Space exploration pushes our knowledge to its limit and spurs innovation, resulting in new products and services that can also benefit citizens on Earth. Congratulations to all the finalists.”
The doctor’s design is a cyclic volatile extractor system which uses a unique closed chamber to heat dirty ice on the Moon and release volatile contaminants contained within. The chamber’s volume can then be adjusted to control internal pressure.
By managing temperature and pressure, different contaminants could then be vaporised, collected, and stored separately.
It is estimated that 5.6 per cent of the soil around the lunar south pole is ice.
For a permanently-crewed base on the Moon to be possible, astronauts will need a reliable supply of water for drinking and growing food, as well as oxygen for air and hydrogen for fuel.
If the ice can be successfully extracted, separated from the soil and purified, it makes NASA’s goal of establishing a base on the Moon by the end of the decade viable.
The Artemis campaign, as it is known, is supported by the UK Space Agency through its membership of the European Space Agency.
Meganne Christian, UK Space Agency reserve astronaut and chairwoman of the Aqualunar Challenge judging panel, said: “It is expensive and risky to send a continuous convoy of rockets from Earth to the Moon to keep a base supplied.
“This is why we need to develop the technologies that can purify the water that is already there.
“The lunar environment is unforgiving. With no atmosphere and parts of the surface having never seen sunlight, the ice in the soil is as hard as steel and heavily contaminated with lunar dust – known as regolith – which forms a grinding paste when wet.
“It is no small feat to melt the ice, separate it from the dust and other elements and make it usable.”
Dr McCulloch’s team has now been awarded £30,000 to develop their technology, along with expert mentoring, in pursuit of the grand prize that will be awarded in March 2025.
To find out about the finalists and their ideas, go to Aqualunar Challenge UK website.
