NASA has bestowed the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) with a prestigious award for its contributions to the organization.
The NASA Group Achievement Award is being given for outstanding efforts in support of the 2010 International Lunar Surface Operations In Situ resource Utilization Test (ILSO-ISRU). According to a news release, the award is given “in recognition of the quality of results and level of impact on NASA programs, effective management of cost and schedule, customer satisfaction, capacity for future contribution and the development of innovative approaches in responding to unforeseen crises.”
During the project NORCAT was responsible for technical contributions, and served as field mission lead and co-ordinator of on-site food preparation, transportation co-ordination, cargo and equipment transport and transfer, basic site camp shelter, Occupational Health and Safety training and management, and maintenance systems and logistics personnel.
“NORCAT's expertise in mining systems served us well when developing the technical contributions to the field test, such as the fuel cell system,” said NORCAT's Dale Boucher in the release. “This system was key to completing the world's first ever demonstration of a complete ISRU cycle.”
The fuel cell was used to power an excavator system, which was used to excavate regolith as a feed to the NASA lunar oxygen plant, and the fuel cell was then refuelled with hydrogen produced as a byproduct from this plant, Boucher explained.
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