1. Starting Up Space Industry and Solar
System Civilization
Philip Metzger, Ph.D., NASA/KSC/NE-S

2. Surface Systems Office
• Our vision is to be the premiere government laboratory for the
development of surface systems at any space destination
• Our mission is to provide government and commercial space
ventures with the technologies they need for working and
living on the surfaces of the Moon, planets, and other bodies
in our solar system

3. Surface Systems Office
• Applied Chemistry Lab
– Dr. Jackie Quinn
• Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations
(GMRO) Lab
– Dr. Phil Metzger
• Electrostatics and Surface Physics Lab
– Dr. Carlos Calle
• Advanced Life Support Lab
– Dr. Ray Wheeler

4. KSC Swamp Works

5. Quick Attach and LANCE Blade

6. LANCE Blade on the LER

7. RASSOR

8. ISRU Systems

9. RASSOR – Low Gravity Mining Robot

11. Space Mining Companies
• Planetary Resources, Inc.
– Asteroids
– Water
• Shackleton Energy Corp.
– Moon
– Water
• Astrobotic Technologies
– Moon
– Water
• Moon Express
– Moon
– Metals
• New company planning to announce in early December 2012

12. Landing Pads

13. Regolith-Derived Heat Shield

14. Crossing the First 'Kardeshev Barrier' and
becoming a Space-Faring Civilization
Philip Metzger, Ph.D.
NASA/KSC/NE-S

15. The Kardashev Scale of Civilizations
Type 1
Uses the energy
of an entire planet.
Type 2
…of an entire star.
Type 3
…of an entire galaxy.

16. The Kardashev Scale of Civilizations
Type 1
Uses the energy
of an entire planet.
Type 2
…of an entire star.
Type 3
…of an entire galaxy.

17. The Kardashev Scale of Civilizations
Type 1
Uses the energy
of an entire planet.
Type 2
…of an entire star.
Type 3
…of an entire galaxy.

18. The Kardashev Scale of Civilizations
Type 1
Uses the energy
of an entire planet.
Type 2
…of an entire star.
Type 3
…of an entire galaxy.

19. How About some Earlier Categories?
Type 3 …an entire galaxy
Type 2 …an entire star
Type 1 …an entire planet

20. How About some Earlier Categories?
Type 3 …an entire galaxy
Type 2 …an entire star
Type 1 …an entire planet
Type 0 …an entire continent

21. How About some Earlier Categories?
Type 3 …an entire galaxy
Type 2 …an entire star
Type 1 …an entire planet
Type 0 …an entire continent
Type -1 …an entire river valley
Image credit: Eric Desrentes, Panoramio

22. How About some Earlier Categories?
Type 3 …an entire galaxy
Type 2 …an entire star
Type 1 …an entire planet
Type 0 …an entire continent
Type -1 …an entire river valley
Type -2 …an isolated enclave
Image credit: Eric Desrentes, Panoramio
Image credit: Eric Desrentes, Panoramio

23. Some Predictions
We are essentially Type I right now.
For Type II we have a choice:
achieve it in 50 - 100 years,
or possibly never at all.
If we achieve Type II, then Type III will
come easily and fast.

24. Running Into the Planet’s Energy Barrier
Image credit: Wikipedia Image credit: http://gasprices-usa.com/
Image credit: Wikipedia Image credit: Howard Rees

25. We do not have a resource problem.
What we have is an imagination problem.
Philip.T.Metzger@nasa.gov

26. Crossing the Barriers: A New Level of Civilization

28. Inside an O’Neill Cylinder

29. Self Replicating Lunar Factories

31. GAME CHANGERS

36. Lunar Ice
“Now there is nothing that
can’t be made on the Moon” –
Dr. Tony Muscatello

39. PROPOSED NEW APPROACH

40. Key Ideas
• Don’t launch it; evolve it
– Not a simplistic “self-replicator”
– The biosphere and industry are not self-replicators
• Use “Appropriate Technology” at each step
– It doesn’t need to be low mass or high tech
– It needs to be easy to make in space
• The technologies are already being developed
– Simply “spin them in”
• The technologies are advancing exponentially

41. America, 1620
Europe, 1620

42. Appropriate Technology Water Pumps

43. Generations of Industry (Notional)
Gen Human/Robotic Artificial Scale of Industry Materials Source of Electronics
Interaction Intelligence Manufactured
1 Teleoperated Insect-like Imported, small-scale, limited Gases, water, crude Import fully integrated
and/or locally- diversity alloys, ceramics, machines
operated by a solar cells
human outpost
2 Teleoperated Lizard-like Crude fabrication, inefficient, (Same) Import electronics boxes
but greater throughput than 1.0
2.5 Teleoperated Lizard-like Diversifying processes, Plastics, rubbers, Fabricate crude components
especially volatiles and metals some chemicals plus import electronics boxes
3 Teleoperated with Lizard-like Larger, more complex Diversify chemicals, Locally build PC cards, chassis
experiments in processing plants Simple fabrics, and simple components, but
autonomy eventually polymers. import the chips
4 Closely supervised Mouse-like Large plants for chemicals, Sandwiched and Building large assets such as
autonomy with fabrics, metals other advanced lithography machines
some teleoperation material processes
5 Loosely supervised Mouse-like Labs and factories for Large scale Make chips locally. Make bots
autonomy electronics and robotics. production in situ for export to asteroid
Shipyards to support main belt belt
6 Nearly full Monkey-like Large-scale, self-supporting Makes all necessary Makes everything locally,
autonomy industry, exporting industry to materials, increasing increasing sophistication
asteroid main belt sophistication
X.0 Autonomous Human-like Robust exports/imports through Material factories Electronics factories in various
robotics pervasive zones of solar system specialized by zone locations
throughout solar of the solar system
system enabling
human presence

44. Baseline values for Generation 1.0 in
Bootstrapping Model
Asset Qty. per Mass minus Mass of Power (kW) Feedstock Input Product Output
set Electronics Electronics (kg) (kg/hr) (kg/hr)
(kg)
Power Distrib & Backup 1 2000 – – – –
Excavators (swarming) 5 70 19 0.30 20 –
Chem Plant 1 – Gases 1 733 30 5.58 4 1.8
Chem Plant 2 – Solids 1 733 30 5.58 10 1.0
Metals Refinery 1 1019 19 10.00 20 3.15
Solar Cell Manufacturer 1 169 19 0.50 ~0.3 –
3D Printer 1 – Small parts 4 169 19 5.00 0.5 0.5
3D Printer 2 – Large parts 4 300 19 5.00 0.5 0.5
Robonaut assemblers 3 135 15 0.40 – –
Total per Set ~7.7 MT 64.36 kW 20 kg 4 kg
launched to Moon regolith/hr parts/hr

45. •Simplistic Modeling
•Not intended to be
definitive
•Explores some of the
key parameters
•Attempt to
demonstrate basic
feasibility
•Intends to generate
interest and further
investigation
•Needs a much larger
study with a much
larger group of
contributors

46. Additional Production
• Gen 3.0
– 80 MT construction equipment
• Gen 4.0
– Dust Free Laboratory Facilities
• Gen 5.0
– 120 MT materials stockpiled to send industry to
asteroid main belt
• Gen 6.0
– Fleet of 6 spacecraft (20 MT plus 12 MT payload, each
plus propellants)
– Takes industry to Main Belt

53. Minimizing Launch Mass

54. Scenarios
• Global Relief Effort
• The Great Migration
• The Foundation
• The Space Endowment
• Anti Virus
• National Defense

55. Cost/Benefit
• Cost:
– Develop and launch 12 to 60 tons to Moon and operate it
for 20 years
– Launch costs will be negligible using newer capabilities
– Should be less expensive than ISS
• Most mass will be redundant hardware, not unique items
• Benefit
– Move from being a Type-1 to a Type-2 civilization
• Solve world economic problems
• Make our existence safe in the solar system
• Brilliant possibilities for the future
– Move toward a Type-3 civilization
• Extend human presence through the Milky Way

56. Smaller Steps to Further Reduce
the Cost
• Technologies developed for terrestrial usage
– E.g., Caterpillar
– Then spin them in to space usage
• Commercial Space activities drive technology
forward
– Tourism, Novelties – Not a large economic
contributor
– Satellite launching & servicing
• Orbiting Spaceport

57. INTERNATIONAL SPACE UNIVERSTIY
AND OASIS

68. Space commerce is taking off:
tourism, launch services, and mining
Space technology is advancing rapidly
Robotics can revolutionize the human condition
via space resources in just one generation
There is already a business case for an expanding
network of spaceports

69. We are near the limits of a Type 1 world
There is a barrier at the end of the world
The barrier is starting to hurt
We can leap that barrier!