Lunar Surface Sieve

Engineering a regolith separation system for lunar resource extraction

R&D

Engineering

AstroPort Space Technologies Center for Innovation Industry Lab

Team

Daena Holbrook
Leo Martins
Cailan Fleming

Mentor

Michael Mason, Senior Project Manager, Engineer Matias Soto, PhD Gunnar Lovhoiden, PhD

Partner

AstroPort Space Technologies Center for Innovation Industry Lab

The Challenge

Astroport Space Technologies needed innovative solutions for separating lunar regolith particles for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) on the Moon.

Our Solution

Designed and prototyped a vibrating sieve system optimized for low-gravity environments, incorporating electrostatic separation and particle sizing algorithms.

Results

Prototype successfully separated regolith particles with 94% efficiency in simulated lunar gravity, attracting additional NASA funding for phase 2 development.