Goals

The Surface Power focus area will develop technologies to supply continuous power throughout day and night for lunar surface missions. This requires the development of technologies like power generation, such as fission surface power, adaptable lunar lander solar array systems, Chemical Heat Integrated Power Source (CHIPS), and Regenerative Fuel Cell (RFC) energy. The group will conduct a phased, system level assessment of power architecture for lunar surface missions. Additional topics for consideration include surface-to-surface power beaming, advanced rover energy storage technology, radioisotope power systems, and power distribution architectures. To work towards this, we will first focus on connecting power experts to their potential user base, framed by the economic and institutional drivers that set the scale of power demand. This will enable us to identify near-term needs for immediate prioritization and long-term goals that impact early architectural decisions.

Recent Accomplishments

• Held an extended telecon to hear from the Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT) winners and identify next steps in lunar solar array technology.
• Held a Power Beaming Workshop to discuss how the wireless transfer of power on the Moon could be a viable option in regions without direct sunlight and/or for mobile equipment such as rovers.
• Conducted a Power User Survey to capture the power needs of lunar technologies in development by members of the LSIC community. We are close to releasing the findings and recommendations in the form of a report.

Current Efforts

• Modularity & Standards of lunar technology, for power systems as well as the more broad LSIC community
• LSIC Power Roadmap, in the context of technology gaps as defined by NASA
  Subgroup topics identified to work towards STMD priority areas of focus

Surface Power meetings occur on the fourth Thursday of the month at 11:00 AM ET. For meeting information and agendas, please use the LSIC Wiki on Confluence and/or sign-up for the "Surface Power" Listserv.