COURSE OVERVIEW:
A Capstone Graduate/Professional Course
Spring 2020
Contact: Daniel Britt (dbritt@ucf.edu)
The exploitation and mining of extraterrestrial resources is leaving the domain of visionaries and entering the era of practical applications and business cases. Essential to this industry is to understand the nature of these resources, how they differ from terrestrial ore bodies, the strategies driven by extraterrestrial economic geology, and the physical properties of alien surfaces that will set the context for mining technology development. This course will review in detail the critical economic geological realities of lunar and asteroid resources. Our goal is to capture the basics of extraterrestrial economic geology necessary to support an expanding and vigorous space economy. The core content will be a series of topic-focused lectures given by leaders in the field. The format encourages questions and discussion from the on-line audience. The lectures will be offered on-line through Zoom in real-time and will be recorded for future reference. Lectures will typically be held on Mondays at 10:30 am EDT/EST [50 min lecture + 30 min discussion]. This course is led by the Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) at the University of Central Florida and co-sponsored jointly by the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) and the Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE) at the Lunar and Planetary Institute.
January 6: Lecture - Introduction to the geologic context of space resources, Introduction to the course and the economic geology of extra-terrestrial resources.
January 13: Lecture – Mineral Evolution, Review of the primordial suite of minerals. How minerals evolve on Earth, the Moon, and asteroids.
January 15: Discussion – Mineral Evolution, Review of the primordial suite of minerals. How minerals evolve on Earth, the Moon, and asteroids.
January 20: Lecture – Lunar Geology, Lunar origin, structure, history, surface evolution, units, regolith depth.
January 22: Discussion – Lunar Geology, Lunar origin, structure, history, surface evolution, units, regolith depth.
January 27: Lecture – The Lunar Highlands, History, mineralogy, regolith, PSRs, resource potential.
January 29: Discussion – The Lunar Highlands, History, mineralogy, regolith, PSRs, resource potential.
February 3: Lecture – The Lunar Mare, Emplacement, nature and economic mineralogy of Mare deposits.
February 5: Discussion – The Lunar Mare, Emplacement, nature and economic mineralogy of Mare deposits.
February 10: Lecture – Lunar Polar Water Deposits, Review the data on water deposits, locations, and likely forms and amounts of water.
February 12: Discussion – Lunar Polar Water Deposits, Review the data on water deposits, locations, and likely forms and amounts of water.
February 17: Lecture – The Lunar Surface Environment, Dust, micrometeorites, radiation, solar wind, solar radiation, electrostatics, temperatures.
February 19: Discussion – The Lunar Surface Environment, Dust, micrometeorites, radiation, solar wind, solar radiation, electrostatics, temperatures.
February 24: Lecture – Operating on the Moon, Mobility on the Moon and PSRs, plume ejecta, construction issues, berms, landing pads.
February 26: Discussion – Operating on the Moon, Mobility on the Moon and PSRs, plume ejecta, construction issues, berms, landing pads.
March 2: Lecture – Asteroids: In the Beginning, Accretion, processing, and mineralogy of asteroid resources
March 4: Discussion – Asteroids: In the Beginning, Accretion, processing, and mineralogy of asteroid resources
March 16: Lecture – Physical Evolution of Asteroids, Rubble piles, textures, strength, surfaces, particle movement.
March 18: Discussion – Physical Evolution of Asteroids, Rubble piles, textures, strength, surfaces, particle movement.
March 23: Lecture – Prospecting Asteroid Resources, Remote sensing for high-value asteroids, mineral evolution on asteroids
March 25: Discussion – Prospecting Asteroid Resources, Remote sensing for high-value asteroids, mineral evolution on asteroids
March 30: Lecture – Mining in Microgravity, Material handling in microgravity.
April 1: Discussion – Mining in Microgravity, Material handling in microgravity.
April 6: Lecture – Asteroid Hazards: Dust, Toxic Materials, Electrostatics, Dust charging, dust hazards, dust lifetimes near NEOs, toxic materials in asteroids.
April 8: Discussion – Asteroid Hazards: Dust, Toxic Materials, Electrostatics, Dust charging, dust hazards, dust lifetimes near NEOs, toxic materials in asteroids.
April 13: Lecture – Martian Resources, Mars water and other resources
April 15: Discussion – Martian Resources, Mars water and other resources
April 20: Lecture – Simulating Lunar and Asteroid Regoliths, Requirements and inputs for simulants
April 22: Discussion – Simulating Lunar and Asteroid Regoliths, Requirements and inputs for simulants
April 27: Lecture – Wrap-up: The geologic context for a space gold rush, Economics, exploration, and moving space commerce into the solar system
April 29: Discussion – Wrap-up: The geologic context for a space gold rush, Economics, exploration, and moving space commerce into the solar system
