BY NORM TOLLINSKY
In 10 or 15 years, when a manned NASA mission to the South Pole of the moon prepares for blast-off, there’s a good chance that mining technology developed in the Sudbury area will be on board, said Dale Boucher, manager of prototype development with the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT).
The Sudbury-based product development and innovation centre, in partnership with private sector mining supplier Electric Vehicle Controllers Ltd. (EVC), has won several NASA and Canadian Space Agency contracts to develop drilling technology for the moon and Mars, and hosts an annual symposium to foster collaboration between the space and mining industries.
The third annual Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium, scheduled for June 4 –7, will serve as an opportunity for mining suppliers “to market ideas and capabilities into the space sector,” said Boucher.
“The space industry bought into the idea of collaboration with the mining industry wholeheartedly because they believe they can learn from us.”
A proposed 14-day mission to the moon, tentatively planned for 2018 or 2020, would be man’s first attempt at space colonization and would require the mining of the lunar soil, or regolith, to produce oxygen and water for a four or five-man crew as well as fuel for their return to Earth.
Another, earlier unmanned mission to the South Pole of the moon, planned for 2011, could also carry a Sudbury-designed drill to confirm the presence of water beneath the lunar surface and determine the feasibility of extracting or manufacturing oxygen and fuel from the regolith.
NORCAT and EVC just wrapped up a contract with the Canadian Space Agency for the development of a drill capable of penetrating the Martian surface to a depth of up to 20 metres. A second contract for NASA focused on the development of a sample acquisition and processing system consisting of an integrated drill and crusher plant for a lunar mission.
NORCAT and EVC are now negotiating with NASA to develop a flight prototype unit of the size and shape required to go the moon.
Space scientists may also be keen to learn about mining industry techniques for wear-resistant bucket lips and bulldozer blades, and have expressed interest in a cassette system for underground utility vehicles developed by Sudbury-based Marcotte Mining Machinery Services Inc.
“The cassette changeout capability is the exact architecture that’s needed for the lunar rover. Nobody else has it,” said Boucher
The Marcotte cassette system consists of a series of special purpose cassettes that can be quickly and easily mounted on a single carrier. One minute the vehicle is a fuel/lube truck, the next it’s a scissor lift.
The need for underground habitats on the moon will also require space scientists to learn about ground control technologies, said Boucher.
“When you go underground, chances are a chunk of rock is going to fall on your head, so you better start thinking about stabilizing that ground. This is something the mining industry in Sudbury knows very well.”
Guest speakers lined up for the June symposium include Dr. Roger Quinn, director of the Biologically Inspired Robotics Laboratory at Case Western Reserve University, who designs and builds cockroach-like robots capable of traversing irregular terrain.
Also scheduled to speak are Dr. Erick Dupuis, manager of the robotics group in the Canadian Space Agency’s space technologies group, and Dave Willis, who is responsible for logistics, procurement and warehousing, at the Falconbridge Limited Raglan Mine in northern Quebec.
Willis will provide visiting space scientists with some insights into the logistics of operating a mine in a remote location.
The symposium is expected to attract approximately 100 delegates, including members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astrophysics working groups on space colonization and space resources who have scheduled their own meetings to coincide with the event.
To register for the symposium, call NORCAT at 705-521-8324 or go online at www.ptmss.com.
