How to transport regolith on the Moon? AGH UST students work on specialised solutions for the space mining sector

In June, SpaceTeam AGH will compete with five teams from the United States, Canada, Australia, and Germany. The SpaceTeam AGH is the only one from Poland. 16 teams, including 5 from Europe, have taken their chances in Phase 1 of the competition.

‘In October 2021, we took the gauntlet and decided to compete in the international ‘Over the Dusty Moon Challenge’, organised by the Colorado School of Mines. For two months, we’ve been intensively developing a concept for a regolith transport system on the Moon. In January 2022, we were qualified to the grand finale, which will take place at the beginning of June in Denver, USA. The final phase of the competition will see only six teams from around the world, including our Student Research Club SpaceTeam AGH, the only one from Poland. It’s a great distinction and elevation for us. The fact that we were even able to compete with our friends from the US, Australia, or Canada motivates us greatly,’ explains Martyna Rojczyk, a student at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics.

‘The participation of our students in such a prestigious international competition opens the path to extensive cooperation with companies in the space sector. Thanks to this project, our students will certainly be prepared to work in the space industry, especially in the field of extraterrestrial resource exploration’, explains Professor Piotr Kulinowski, the supervisor of the SpaceTeam Club, operating by the AGH UST Space Technology Centre.

The team is currently working on building a prototype model and subsequently a ready-to-use solution, which will be transported to the competition venue in June to compete with systems created by other teams. During the grand finale, the systems developed by individual teams will perform transport tasks prepared by the organisers.

The student project revolves around a system of conveyors for regolith transport on the Moon. The main challenge that the competitors face is to design, build, and present a system for regolith transport on the Moon. Regolith is a blanket of loose, unconsolidated superficial deposits that cover the Earth and other rocky worlds. The task is difficult because of the specific property of regolith, that is, its dusty quality, which interacts negatively with all mechanical solutions, as well as the possibility of conveying electrical charges.

The Over the Dusty Moon Challenge is organised by the Colorado School of Mines in the United States of America, and the competition’s sponsor is Lockheed Martin, an American company recently specialising in solutions for the space engineering sector.

SpaceTeam AGH was initiated by the AGH UST Space Technology Centre. It gathers students who are passionate about space technologies and resources.

Detailed information about the challenge is available at: overthedustymoon.com.