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Shuttle based lunar vehicle
I have a feeling that now that we have had a couple of shuttle
accidents we are moving away from the shuttle too eagerly. If I had to go to the Moon today, I would try to work as much as possible with the systems we have, like for example the shuttle. It would probably make sense to build a lunar access vehicle that would be launched from the shuttle's cargo bay and would go to the moon and land, then come back. The mass ratio requirement for such a vehicle is such that it is doable in a single stage. Since this is done in space, perhaps ion engines could be used for orbital changes, like trans lunar injection. This would involve spiraling out to get to the Moon's orbit. A mass ratio of 5 would be enough to land on the Moon and take off to lunar orbit. Existing expandables could be used to launch supplies habitats etc in the same general area on the surface of the Moon. These supplies could also be flown with ion engines. The astronauts could gather the supplies from the neighborhood of the lunar base using rover vehicles. I guess my point is that once we have people in orbit it is not such a big deal to put them onto the Moon. The mass ratio/delta V requirements are reasonable. We would just need to design something like a LEM. Zoltan |
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Shuttle based lunar vehicle
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#3
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Shuttle based lunar vehicle
Zoltan Szakaly wrote:
I have a feeling that now that we have had a couple of shuttle accidents we are moving away from the shuttle too eagerly. If I had to go to the Moon today, I would try to work as much as possible with the systems we have, like for example the shuttle. It would probably make sense to build a lunar access vehicle that would be launched from the shuttle's cargo bay and would go to the moon and land, then come back. The mass ratio requirement for such a vehicle is such that it is doable in a single stage. Since this is done in space, perhaps ion engines could be used for orbital changes, like trans lunar injection. This would involve spiraling out to get to the Moon's orbit. A mass ratio of 5 would be enough to land on the Moon and take off to lunar orbit. Existing expandables could be used to launch supplies habitats etc in the same general area on the surface of the Moon. These supplies could also be flown with ion engines. The astronauts could gather the supplies from the neighborhood of the lunar base using rover vehicles. I guess my point is that once we have people in orbit it is not such a big deal to put them onto the Moon. The mass ratio/delta V requirements are reasonable. We would just need to design something like a LEM. Zoltan You aren't the first one to consider such an approach (which also made the cover of Aviaition Week, at the time).... http://www.abo.fi/~mlindroo/Station/Slides/sld051e.htm ...and I wonder if elements of this proposal are part of current offical thinking? Certainly the capsule seems sufficently similar to the ballistic OSP. -- You know what to remove, to reply.... |
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Shuttle based lunar vehicle
For a Space Shuttle (Space Transportation System) variation to be used
for a moon mission, I suggest on not using the Orbiter part, considering that there are only three orbit capable Orbiters left anyway, and the plans for now is to use them to finish and service the ISS. Instead, I suggest one to focused more on the boosters and the core stage, in other words, working on something like the Ares launch vehicle or the Energia launch vehicle. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/ares.htm http://www.energia.ru/english/energi...e_energia.html The Solid Rocket Boosters can be refined so that they would be more powerful or maybe more controllable. Advanced Solid Rocket Motor, Liquid Rocket Booster, or even the Energia strap-on / Zenit can also be used instead. The amount of strap-on boosters can be adjusted according to the cargo's need. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/shueasrm.htm http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/shulelrb.htm http://www76.pair.com/tjohnson/zenit.html The Main External Tank should be modified also. While attaching the shuttle engines at the side of the tank wouldn't cause much modification, it's much more preferable to attach the engines at bottom of the tank, much like the Energia. Besides, if the main cargo will be put in top of the tank instead at its side, it would be much preferable to have the engines at the bottom. As for ion engines. These days ion engines are only used for probes, as for using on manned spacecraft, it's preferable to use them only for long range mission. For close range mission like to the moon, it's better to use convetional rocket engines. |
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