Advancing utilization of the moon through cryogenic technologies

The next stage of exploration and utilization of the Moon will require us to operate in extremely cold environments well below-180 C. Such capability will enable us to operate in the Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs) of the Moon. In addition, adancing such technology can also proide a multitude of benefits, including in the long-Term preseration of liing cells for safe-keeping on the Moon (a modern Lunar Ark) (Foing, 2004) (Diaz et al., 2021) and long-duration space trael. The objectie of this paper is to explore the use of cryogenic applications and insulation technologies for lunar applications. Such an effort can facilitate the next stage of exploration and utilization of space. Our main applications are the conceptual design and analysis of a Lunar Robotic Ark housed inside a lunar laa-Tube. A Lunar Robotic Ark can presere Earth s rich bio-diersity in a locale that has remained pristine for 3-4 billion years and at a steady state of-25 C. In these conditions, we look to estimate the power required to maintain bio-matter at-196 C and seeds at-180 C. Operating at these frigid temperatures would sound like a burden; howeer, we can exploit unique phenomena such as superconductiity and quantum leitation to minimize material-To-material contact and heat transfer. To further ealuate the feasibility of the lunar robotic Ark, we also need to determine the feasibility of transporting cryo-presered material in transport canisters from Earth to the Moon in at least fie days. As a first step, we wish to determine the feasibility of designing a transport canister that maintains cryo-Temperature for fie days at LEO. For this, we start with a 12U CubeSat that contains a cryo-refrigeration system that uses a Stirling engine and insulation.