PISCES: Developing Technologies for Sustained Human Presence on the Moon and Mars

Abstract

PISCES, the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, has been established on the Big Island of Hawai'i as an integrated research facility and simulated lunar settlement, developing new technologies needed for a sustained human presence on the Moon and Mars. PISCES was created by the University of Hawai'i under the auspices of the Japan-US Science, Technology and Space Applications Program (JUSTSAP), and has recently been funded by the State of Hawai'i through the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT). This new center is being built on partnerships between industry, academia and the governments of spacefaring nations, adopting a model that has seen wide success in such programs as the NASA Research Partnership Centers (RPCs) and numerous programs within the National Science Foundation. In addition to its research and development mission, PISCES will function as an education and training center for astronauts, scientists, K-12 and university students, and a public outreach resource for local residents and tourists to experience the multitude of scientific, educational and economic benefits that space exploration will bring to Hawai'i, the United States and, indeed, all of humankind. PISCES will further space exploration in response to Congress's call for ground-based analog facilities in Public Law 109-155 (2005), and will position Hawai'i as a major player in the coming space exploration era. It will benefit the people of Hawai'i by creating new jobs and enhancing the State's educational institutions. PISCES is administratively based in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. Laboratories and field operations will be located on the Big Island of Hawai'i, taking advantage of volcanic soil and crater-filled terrain similar to that found on the Moon. This paper describes the PISCES development plans, particularly in the areas of In-Situ Resource Utilization, Robotics and Education and Outreach.