/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201cWe could potentially use this technology to hop on the Moon, … Pluto, the poles of Mercury, asteroids /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2014 anywhere there is water and sufficiently low gravity./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201d /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2013 Phil Metzger, UCF scientist/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201cIt/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2019s awesome,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201d Metzger says of the demonstration. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201cWINE successfully mined the soil, made rocket propellant, and launched itself on a jet of steam extracted from the simulant. We could potentially use this technology to hop on the Moon, Ceres, Europa, Titan, Pluto, the poles of Mercury, asteroids /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2014 anywhere there is water and sufficiently low gravity./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
WINE, which is the size of a microwave oven, mines the water from the surface then makes it into steam to fly to a new location and repeat. Therefore, it is a rocket that never runs out of fuel and can theoretically explore /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201cforever./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
The process works in a variety of scenarios depending on the gravity of each object, Metzger says. The spacecraft uses deployable solar panels to get enough energy for mining and making steam, or it could use small radiosotopic decay units to extend the potential reach of these planetary hoppers to Pluto and other locations far from the sun./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
Metzger spent three years developing technology necessary to turn the idea into reality. He developed new equations and a new method to do computer modeling of steam propulsion to come up with the novel approach and to verify that it would actually work beyond a computer screen./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/nBy using steam rather than fuel, the World Is Not Enough (WINE) spacecraft prototype can theoretically explore “forever,” as long as water and sufficiently low gravity is present/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/nThe development of this type of spacecraft could have a profound impact on future exploration. Currently, interplanetary missions stop exploring once the spacecraft runs out of propellant./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201cEach time we lose our tremendous investment in time and money that we spent building and sending the spacecraft to its target,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201d Metzger says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201cWINE was designed to never run out of propellant so exploration will be less expensive. It also allows us to explore in a shorter amount of time, since we don/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2019t have to wait for years as a new spacecraft travels from Earth each time./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
The project is a result of the NASA Small Business Technology Transfer program. The program is designed to encourage universities to partner with small businesses, injecting new scientific progress into marketable commercial products./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201cThe WINE-like spacecrafts have the potential to change how we explore the universe./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201d /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2013 Kris Zacny, vice president of Honeybee Robotics/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201cThe project has been a collaborative effort between NASA, academia and industry; and it has been a tremendous success,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201d says Kris Zacny, vice president of Honeybee Robotics. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201cThe WINE-like spacecrafts have the potential to change how we explore the universe./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
The team is now seeking partners to continue developing small spacecraft./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
Metzger is an associate in planetary science research at UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2019s Florida Space Institute. Before joining UCF, he worked at NASA/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2019s Kennedy Space Center from 1985 to 2014. He earned both his master/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2019s (2000) and doctorate (2005) in physics from UCF. Metzger/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2019s work covers some of the most exciting and cutting-edge areas of space research and engineering. He has participated in developing a range of technologies advancing our understanding of how to explore the solar system. The technologies include: methods to extract water from lunar soil; 3D printing methods for structures built from asteroid and Martian clay, and lunar soil mechanic testers for use by gloved astronauts./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/nHoneybee Robotics, a subsidiary of Ensign Bickford Industries, focuses on developing drilling tools and systems for finding life as well as for space mining for resources. Honeybee has previously deployed and operated Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) on Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), Icy Soil Acquisition Device (ISAD) on Mars Phoenix, and Sample Manipulation System (SMS) for the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The MSL also has Honeybee/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/u2019s Dust Removal Tool. Current flight and R&D projects include systems for Mars, the Moon, Europa, Phobos, Titan, and others./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By using steam rather than fuel, the microwave-size spacecraft prototype can theoretically explore celestial objects “forever.”/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":93622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,23,24,27],"tags":[982,1775,15551,4361],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-93601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-research","category-science-technology","category-student-life","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-florida-space-instit","tag-phil-metzger","tag-space"],"yoast_head":"/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n
Steam-Powered Asteroid Hoppers Developed through UCF Collaboration/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/93601/n