Prof. Kevin Cannon from the Space Resources Program was awarded a $2 million grant as Principal Investigator over two years to advance technology for extracting aluminum from lunar soil. The Molten Aluminum Generation for Manufacturing Additively (MAGMA) project, funded under the Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) solicitation will will advance molten regolith electrolysis (MRE), one of the leading processes for extracting oxygen and metal from the lunar regolith, by developing a tapping system to siphon off molten metals from the MRE reactor. The system will be integrated with an aluminum-refinement reactor and a wire-casting system to create high-purity aluminum wire that can be used as feedstock for additive manufacturing on the surface of the Moon. Collaborating on the project are Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Professors Zhenzhen Yu, Jihye Kim, and Geoff Brennecka, as well as Mechanical Engineering Professors Craig Brice and Chris Dreyer. Industry partner Lunar Resources will provide the MRE reactors and casting technology for turning the extracted molten aluminum metal into a wire. The two-year project will culminate in end-to-end testing at Lunar Resources’ Texas facility.
