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Three - stage, completely reusable spaceplane, reaching not onlyLEO, but Moon, Mars, asteroids.



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 24th 16, 12:45 PM posted to sci.space.policy
William Mook[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,840
Default Three - stage, completely reusable spaceplane, reaching not onlyLEO, but Moon, Mars, asteroids.

Tank weight as a percentage of the weight of pressurized fuel does not change at all when going from a very small to a very large pressure fed rocket. For composite pressure vessels made of carbon fiber
and epoxy, one estimates the tank mass by using a performance factor, that relates the mass of the tank to the enclosed volume and the enclosed pressure. To a first approximation, tank shape is irrelevant,
as with composite construction the tank wall can be tailored to have only the required strength in each direction. Performance factors values depend on the units used. In SI units, a common factor is expressed in kPa*m^3/kg at tank burst. For graphite/epoxy tanks, a rough number for estimation purposes would be about 300 kPa*m^3/kg. Using a safety factor of 1.5, a working performance factor of about 200 kPa*m^3/kg. This means that 1 kg of tank will enclose 0.1 m^3 at 2 MPa (about 300 psi) etc. Most designs for pressure fed launchers optimize at chamber pressures of 2.0 MPa. A launcher that has a tank pressure of 2 MPa supports a chamber pressure in the vicinity of 1.5 MPa). A 1 cubic meter tank will weigh about 10 kg and hold about 800 kg of kerosene, 1140 kg of liquid oxygen, or 1430 kg of hydrogen peroxide. This scales up linearly - a 100 cubic meter tank will hold 80 metric tons of kerosene etc.

In all sizes therefore, tank mass is about 1 % of propellant mass if the
pressure is at 2 MPa with these propellants. The ideal oxidizer fuel ratio for LH2 and LOX is 5.5 to 1 so, we have

1.0 kg LH2 70 kg/m3 0.01428 m3
5.5 kg LOX 1140 kg/m3 0.00482 m3

6.5 kg total 340 kg/m3 0.01911 m3

Which is a propellant fraction of 2.94%

At 1% of propellant mass, composite pressure fed tanks weight roughly the same as aluminum tanks for a pump fed vehicle. The composite tank for the pressure fed vehicle is running at perhaps 5 to 10 times the pressure of the aluminum tank for the pump fed vehicle (pump fed vehicles also require tank pressurization, to give adequate pressure at the suction side of the pumps). However, for tank construction purposes the composite tank wall material has something like 4 times the strength per unit mass as aluminum. In addition, the stiff, thick walls of the graphite/epoxy tank are self supporting, while
the aluminum tank for the pump fed vehicle requires stiffening ribs of some form on the tank interior, and reinforcements whereever concentrated loads are applied to the tank.

Using composite tanks, it is possible to produce pressure fed liquid propellant rocket stages with propellant fractions in the region of 0.93. Using MEMS components, with Thrust to weight of 1,000 to 1 even LOX/LH2 can achieve this propellant fraction.

As an existance proof, look at the current range of upper stage solid rockets with composite cases. These can have propellant fractions as high as 0..95. While the solid rockets have dense propellants (density about 1.75) they also have a substantial unfilled hole in the middle of the propellant. While pressure fed liquid stages have plumbing and valves that solids do not, solids have internal case insulation which is not present in liquids. Most important, solids typically operate at several times the operating pressure of pressure fed liquids, correspondingly increasing their pressure shell mass.

With MEMS devices, buiilt into the tanks and controlled by solid state electronics and sensing technology, plumbing and piping are reduced.

Overall, we should expect newly designed pressure fed liquid rockets to have roughly the same propellant fraction as has been available with solids for years, to have a higher specific impulse, to have more environmentally friendly propellants (no more HCl in exhaust), and to have throttling, stop and restart capability.

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...0160006525.pdf

The cost of composite tanks are about 1/3 the cost of metal tanks of comparable capacity. Thus the size of a composite External Tank is around $20 million. MEMS rocket arrays produce 344 kPa (50 psi) pressure and cost $23,250 per square meter ($15 per sq inch) so lift costs $67.80 per kN ($0.30 per lbf). The weight of MEMS is 0.1 kg per kN (2 lbs per ton force) - so, 0.93 is easily achieved with a two gee lift off thrust. 14,317.5 kN (3.212 million lbs) thrust 41.74 sq meters of area which is a ring of material 8.2 m in diameter with a 4.2 m diameter hole in the center - 1.5 tonnes attached to a tank massing 21.9 tonnes. The array costs $1 million.

With other hardware, total tank weight is 795.7 tonnes and 730.0 tonnes of propellant. Specific impulse with an aerospike nozzle at sea level is 4 km/sec and it rises to 4.4 km/sec as back pressure drops to vacuum levels.

Seven tanks, equipped with highly thottlable rocket arrays, boosting a 2 gees from 4 tanks and 0.5 gees from 2 tanks - and 0.0 gees from one tank - lifts off with 1.28 gees. The 2 low gee tanks are throttled back as the system burns off propellant, and then throttles back the four tanks as acceleration rises to two gees. As the gravity turn proceeds, acceleration is dropped to 1 gee at horizontal. When the four tanks are empty, they are jettisoned and the two tanks are throttled back up to 1.5 gees and the system accelerates to 1 gee. When they are empty, the central tank is throttled up to 1 gee to attain orbit.

A payload of 567 metric tons is carried to LEO. The first four elements push the other three to a speed of 2.0 km/sec. The next two elements push the final central element to a speed of 4.5 km/sec. The last element pushes the payload to a speed of 7.9 km/sec.

The entire system costs $420 million to BUILD. This is the cost of a single Space Shuttle LAUNCH. Amazing.

The system is reusable! Eugene Sanger showed in 1933 that any object that attains a speed of 2 km/sec is capable of skipping around the world and landing at its launch point. He argued that a mail rocket could be made in 1933! This later became the Sanger bomber under NAZI auspices. However all the elements are easily recovered in less than two hours at the launch center.

The system uses 5,110 metric tons of propellant. This is 786.3 tons of hydrogen and 4,323.9 tons of oxygen from 7,075,400 litres of water using 121,170 giga-joules (33.7 million kWh) electrical power. At $0.11 per kWh this is $3.7 million.

A 900 MW electrical power plant with a combined heat and power output of 1.8 MW can refill an entire 7 element system using high temperature electrolysis process. At a cost of $0.50 per watt, this power plant costs $450 million. About the price of the launcher.

So, with a system that is capable of 1500 launches, and costs $420 million to build, equally spread across all launches, it costs $280,000 per launch. Say, $300,000 per launch. This gives a four year life span, and gives you a rate of production for each flight system launched per day. Add this to the $3.7 million energy cost. This brings the total to $4.0 million. This is $7.06 per kg! ($3.21 per lb).

The capex of the power plant is covered in the sale of electricity. 139.4 tonnes (77,523 gallons) of propane per hour ($976,500 per day at spot prices for propane). So, $0.11 per kWh pays for the equipment and the propane and provides profitability for the plant owner.

In short, the entire system could be dropped in about half to $1.61 per lb ($3.52 per kg) by fine tuning the energy side of the equation.

At 567 tonnes per day the system puts up 206,955 tonnes per year.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...1317/16/10/002

MEMS based cryo-coolers are a reality. Arrays of MEMS based cryocoolers are as highly efficient as MEMS based engine arrays! This means that cryogenic long term storage, for terrestrial as well as deep space applications is easily cheaply, safely and reliably achieved.

So, a 567 tonne payload in LEO can be taken to the moon and returned, or taken to Mars and returned.

Let's look at the moon.

7.9 km/sec to 10.9 km/sec is sufficient to take a payload from LEO to a TLI (trans lunar injection). Done at the right speed and at the right time, the system can execute a Lunar Free Return trajectory. Which brings the system back to Earth in 8 days, and to the moon in 4 days. To impart 3 km/sec to a payload using an exhaust speed of 4.4 km/sec requires a propellant fraction of 49.43% of the take off weight. So, the 567 tonnes must be 280.3 tonnes of propellant. 19.7 tonnes of structure for this stage. A total of 300 tonnes. This leaves 267 tonnes lunar lander payload.

The injection booster flies around the moon, and returns to Earth for reuse in 8 days. The lander, lands on the moon, discharges its payload, and takes on board another payload, and returns to Earth twelve hours later.

A lander that dropped off a payload, without returning another, merely an empty lander, would be capable of putting 112 tonnes on the moon! With inflatable structures, two landings put a 350 room hotel supporting 700 people with a staff of 100 - deployed at a cost of $8 million. The cost of the payloads, about $100 million.

Now, to land on the moon from a LFR trajectory and return to Earth requires a speed of 4.6 km/sec this requires a propellant fraction of 64.85% - 173.2 tonnes of propellant and 12.8 tonnes of structure. A total of 186 tonnes.. This leaves a payload of 81 tonnes! A HUGE payload! About the size of a Boeing 747! The cost per flight is $4 million. About $49.38 per kg. About 20x current air cargo rates! At 250 kg per person, 324 people we have $12,345 per person!

Now, without a hotel, using the lander itself as a hotel, we can enter lunar orbit, and return to Earth with a total delta vee of 0.9 km/sec. This requires 18.50% propellant fraction. 55.0 tonnes of propellant! Leaving 238 tonnes of payload and 4 tonnes of structure.

http://www.wired.com/2013/07/lunar-flying-units-1969/
http://rocketbelt.nl/pogos/nasa-lunar-transport

A passenger in a biosuit and MEMS based life support, masses only 85kg. This means that 102 kg of propellant are used for each astronaut landing on the moon with a 14 kg micro-rocket array.

http://news.mit.edu/2014/second-skin-spacesuits-0918
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f56QRCwpBYI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f-K-XnHi9I

250 kg x 324 passengers = 81,000 kg This leaves 157,000 kg to spare. 1,539 round trips to the lunar surface and return with a rocket belt in a biosuit! That's 4.75 trips to the moon for everyone!

In fact, one landing comes with the trip, and people can buy more landings at a nominal charge until they reach four - and then you auction off the last 243 landings!

This to me is far more exciting than landing at a lunar hotel! I can sleep and eat, plan my adventures and make love in lunar orbit in an inflatable room there - with awesome views of the moon's surface below. Spend 11 hours on the lunar surface - and return, and spend a week on lunar orbit - visit many sites on each trip - humanity visits perhaps 1,500+ different sites every week per lunar lander.

This would crowd source the exploration of the moon very quickly..

With one launch per day, and 8 days out and back, and another 8 days on orbit, we need 16 landers - but its really just an orbiting stage.

So instead of a lunar hotel, a landing rocket and all that, we just enter lunar orbit, and use a high pressure MEMS based rocket belt - and biosuit - and build 16 of these ships - and send 324 people to the moon every DAY. This is 1,500 sites per day 550,000 sites per year!

In four years, 2.2 million sites are visited, one every 4.7 km! lol.

This is a very interesting programme. 118,260 people per year visit the moon, and if a premium of $10,000 is charged, $1.2 billion per year is earned - from one $420 million launcher, a $60 million orbiter- a power plant, etc. An astounding return on investment!

Here's a viable approach to Mars;

http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/t..._company.shtml

This requires suspended animation to maintain numbers or advanced virtual reality and fewer passengers - but it can be done. The cool part is that with ice found on Diemos, we don't have to carry as much propellant, and we can visit Mars as often as we like - all we need is a solar power system adequate to the task.

Here is a list of mars mission plans;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mission_to_Mars

Here's comments on Mars government;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am2NySewXsM
http://www.redcolony.com/art.php?id=0208210





  #2  
Old June 26th 16, 03:27 AM posted to sci.space.policy
William Mook[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,840
Default Three - stage, completely reusable spaceplane, reaching not onlyLEO, but Moon, Mars, asteroids.

***LUNAR TOURISM***

A 4.5 km/sec exhaust speed in vacuum imparting a 3.0 km/sec delta vee to get to the moon and 0.8 km/sec to enter lunar orbit and 1.0 km/sec to leave lunar orbit and return to Earth - requires a 66.4% propellant fraction. This is 28.2 tonnes of propellant in the single element launcher and 129.4 tonnes of propellant in the three element launcher. The vehicle is 2 tonnes and 9 tonnes respectively. The useful load is 12.2 tonnes and 56.4 tonnes respectively. Enough for 24 passengers and 112 passengers respectively and rocket belt and fuel - for tourist flights.

They use rocket belts and biosuits to land five times each and return from the lunar surface during their stay in the orbiting hotel.

http://rocketbelt.nl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRqnTODwvEA

An inter-tank region between the LOX tank forward and the LH2 tank aft, is not the most efficient propellant tank, but it does leave a space between the tanks that you can put the payload. The payload is ejected on orbit and carries out its deep space operations and returns separately from the booster.

A 42.4 tonne payload nestled between these two tanks, with 28.2 tonnes of propellant and room for 24 passengers, and the fuel they use loading up their rocket belts and so forth. An 8.2 meter (14 ft) diameter section that's 15 meters long is adequately sized to hold the lunar stage described above.. A 5.6 meter diameter sphere, with another 3.42 meter diameter sphere within, with the inner sphere holding 23.9 tonnes of LOX and the space between the inner and outer sphere holding 4.3 tonnes of LH2 - contains enough for the maneuvers called for.

So, there's a 5.6 meter diameter sphere inside a 8.4 diameter cylinder. So, at the LH2 upper bulkhead of the booster there's a 5.6 meter diameter sphere. Just above the equator of the sphere there is a 2 meter wide shelf that's the floor of the lower deck and there is a 2.2 m cabin height to the floor above. The upper deck is far wider. Both decks have 12 seats facing radially outward each through its own bubble canopy. Each acts as a cabin and may be accessed from behind or from the outside by opening the canopy. Each is air tight and can operate as an airlock to the rest of the ship. Travellers were biosuits, throughout the trip, and the suits maintain passenger comfort safety and cleanliness automatically through micro devices built into the suit. The suits are lightweight, powered, and very comfortable. The seats are equipped with individual supplies of hydrogen and oxygen, have their own power supply and their own food supply, custom made for each traveller. The life support units are compact and built into the suit - made of MEMS devices. Hydrogen and oxygen is used as a propellant for personal rocket belts as well as used to produce power, and water. Water is recycled and mains power aboard the ship recycles reclaimed water into hydrogen and oxygen. Mechanical areas are behind the upper deck, and a MEMS rocket array is below the lower deck.

Above the passenger decks is the common area, and above that, command and service cabins.

Suits are easy to get into and out of and all passengers are well trained in their use. While the suits maintain bodily functions - suits can be gotten out of and a jump suit worn - and there are steam showers and toilets of conventional design available as well as a bar and restaurant. Seat and suit (and rocket belt) can be stowed in flight to make a sizeable private cabin in zero gee. Though during launch all seats can be ejected and flown using an AI expert piloting system to a safe landing in an emergency.

After launch and orbit is attained, the oxygen tank disconnects from the ship and the ship disconnects from the LH2 tank. The oxygen tank connects with the hydrogen tank and the reconfigured booster slows for re-entry, moving gracefully away.

As the booster falls back to Earth, all passengers are in their seats and the ship is rolled slowly so all passengers can see the view.

It is several hours before the ship is in its position relative to the moon to boost along its trans lunar trajectory.

Service Crew Members leave the ship for a space walk after checking the interior, and take passengers from the vacuum side a few at a time, on a space walk for a final check out and test of their capacities.

This is not only interesting to do, but it serves as a final training exercise and check out, so they can become familiar with their suit and rocket belt operation.

Once all 24 check out, they return to their cabin, secure the vacuum door, remove their suit and stow it along with the acceleration couch, and the interior door is opened.

As the passengers were outside, a meal was prepared in the common room. They are well into their meal when the thrusters fire to propel the ship at low gee into a trans lunar orbit. Boost time is such that when the burn is over, its time for everyone to bed down in their cabin for the night.

The next morning the Earth is visibly farther away - and people have breakfast in their cabin, though, they also have a continental breakfast in the common bar/restaurant area. Those who wish to schedule it, may also take a space walk again.

Couples pair up in one cabin where things are kept stowed, and unstow their suit and hardware in the second cabin. The cabins are large enough to admit two fully suited people at once, if the acceleration couch is stowed. So, couples can spread out and easily enter and exit the ship.

Singles, who don't pair up, are not that bad off. The stowage area for personal articles is pressurised during blow down of the airlock.

Every passenger has a state of the art tablet computer with autostereoscpic screen. Each cabin's canopy can be made opaque and operate as a wall sized heads up display with an autosterescopic projection system with face voice and motion recognition.

A complete entertainment system with the entire corpus of human film books and magazines video games are available.

There is also a mission planning software suite that each passenger can access to plan and rehearse their own personal exploration of the moon. The system is also equipped with cameras and facial recognition software.

So, appropriate visual data is recorded for each passenger and made available to their own personal database of the mission. These cameras exist in the suits, and outside the ship, and autonomous cameras, similar to advanced camera drones today, built into each suit. So, people can share their experience

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vGcH0Bk3hg

Much smaller and more capable than the drones of today, all this hardware merges with AI expert editing suite software that allows passengers to compose videos, magazine articles, books, narratives, as they wish. These two pieces of software, in combination with the broadband open optical data link with Earth giving internet connectivity to the passengers, is the principal activity other than eating, drinking, space walking and conoodling during the four day journey to the moon.

At the moon the vehicle enters a low lunar orbit above the poles only 50 miles above the lunar surface. On the third day out from Earth, a dozen drone cameras that link optically back to the ship, are released in sequence, and take up positions ahead of and behind the ship. These return to the ship before departure for Earth.

This camera array provides a real time high resolution view of the moon coming up in each two hour orbit. In the 8 days this ship stays on orbit, the moon rotates over 90 degrees, so travellers can vist any spot on the moon they choose.

The entire moon is mapped with a high precision, and that provides an update to the growing data base in the mission planning software. This mission planning tool by the way is the principal means by which serious buyers are attracted to the service. The data is also scientifically useful and has commercial use for developers as well.

When the ship enters lunar orbit, after several days of training, passengers who have attained excellence are released for autonomous flight to anywhere on the moon they wish to go, after the first group landings.

Those few who need assistance, receive it from the service crew during their visits. The command crew are free to travel as they wish to the lunar surface - a perk of the job.

The passengers are broken up into four teams of six each, and the first flight to the moon is a group affair. Each visits an historic site and are shown around. They also do a final check out of their capabilities in the lunar environment.

It takes about 100 kg of propellant to land on the moon and return. Each person is equipped with their suit and rocket belt, and an inflatable tent that can be pressurised from the suit's life support.

Sufficient surplus fuel is carried for 5 trips per passenger. Three trips are included in your ticket. One is a group visit. Two are privately planned with your mission planner on the way out from Earth, and before launch.

Additional trips are purchased through a bidding system on flight for the fuel which has an element of risk - so 'the game' is also another entertainment exercise during the orbital stay.

The suit acts as a sleeping bag. Though couples can set down on the moon and share a pressurised 'tent'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YnKoLnw9V0

The ability to recover objects from the surface exists, though capacity in terms of mass and volume is strictly limited. However, trading can take place on the way back to Earth, of collected objects, and objects are offered for sale by the crew and this is an interesting exercise as well.

So, what's all this cost?

Well, a $20 million booster rocket and a $30 million lunar passenger rocket - and $7.6 million worth of other hardware - flown twice a month - with a ten year life - 240 trips with 24 people each. 5,760 people $10,000 per person. Another $10,000 for the suit - they're standardised in different sizes and are articulated and powered so adjust easily to custom fit.

The suits may be rented. They may be purchased. They may also be customised at additional charge.

The 800 tons of propellant at $150 per ton is $120,000 - divided by 24 is $5,000. Food consumables and personnel, another $2,500 per person, but this can be customised as well at added cost.

Base price, $17,500 per trip - Selling price? Well, I would invest $57.6 million in the hardware, and likely double that to get all the details right and build all the support infrastructure. Say $180 million.

If it takes three years to do that - at $5 million per month - I need to create a revenue stream worth $347 million per year to earn VC rates of return (41.2% per year).

With a 10 year life span and an 8.5% discount rate, we must generate an EBITDA of $52.89 million per year.

24 flights per year that's $2.20 million per flight - or $91,700 per passenger. Now add this to the $17,500 - $109,200 base price. Extras are available! You will note I've counted hardware costs twice, well, that's because over time, we'll spend that much on insurance and maintenance.

With selling costs, and commissions, say $150,000 per flight. About 2x to 3x the cost of high end tickets from one spot on Earth to another.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/tr...-revealed.html

Its easy to get 576 passengers each year for each of the ships.

* * *

***SOLAR POWER SATELLITE***

42.4 tonne inflatable concentrator powering a solar pumped thin film multi-spectral laser array that is 80% efficient yields 22 megawatts of usable power on the ground for every tonne in orbit. 932.8 MW per satellite. At $0..18 per kWh the system earns $167,904 per hour. Earning $1.47 billion per year. Its worth $9.65 billiion the day it switches on, with a 8.5% discount rate over a 10 year life span. The cost is $108 million to build each unit, with a $324 million development and production cost for the first one. A three year development project $9 million per month. This must return $674.21 million the day it switches on to achieve VC rates of return (41..2% APR). You must sell of $102.75 million in revenue per year over 10 years to attain this valuation with a 8.5% discount rate. A small proportion of the total revenue at $0.18 per kWh.

* * *

***COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK***

42.4 tonnes payload consisting of 53 satellites of 800 kg each - using an inflatable concentrator for a solar panel and an inflatable phased array antenna, with a MEMS based ion rocket with 54 km/sec, and inflatable optics for open optical satellite to satellite communications. The system provides 300 Terabytes/second which is larger than the 88.4 terabytes/second internet bandwidth in 2012.

This has the potential to produce $2.8 trillion per year from the satellite array, for 10 years. A tremendous return on investment for a single launch!

A similar array of satellites launched into Lunar Orbit during a cruise to the moon testing the lunar operations described above - links with the Earth orbiting array - to Earth.

http://ipnsig.org

* * *

  #3  
Old June 28th 16, 05:16 PM posted to sci.space.policy
William Mook[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,840
Default Three - stage, completely reusable spaceplane, reaching not onlyLEO, but Moon, Mars, asteroids.

On Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 2:27:42 PM UTC+12, William Mook wrote:
***LUNAR TOURISM***

A 4.5 km/sec exhaust speed in vacuum imparting a 3.0 km/sec delta vee to get to the moon and 0.8 km/sec to enter lunar orbit and 1.0 km/sec to leave lunar orbit and return to Earth - requires a 66.4% propellant fraction. This is 28.2 tonnes of propellant in the single element launcher and 129.4 tonnes of propellant in the three element launcher. The vehicle is 2 tonnes and 9 tonnes respectively. The useful load is 12.2 tonnes and 56.4 tonnes respectively. Enough for 24 passengers and 112 passengers respectively and rocket belt and fuel - for tourist flights.

They use rocket belts and biosuits to land five times each and return from the lunar surface during their stay in the orbiting hotel.

http://rocketbelt.nl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRqnTODwvEA

An inter-tank region between the LOX tank forward and the LH2 tank aft, is not the most efficient propellant tank, but it does leave a space between the tanks that you can put the payload. The payload is ejected on orbit and carries out its deep space operations and returns separately from the booster.

A 42.4 tonne payload nestled between these two tanks, with 28.2 tonnes of propellant and room for 24 passengers, and the fuel they use loading up their rocket belts and so forth. An 8.2 meter (14 ft) diameter section that's 15 meters long is adequately sized to hold the lunar stage described above. A 5.6 meter diameter sphere, with another 3.42 meter diameter sphere within, with the inner sphere holding 23.9 tonnes of LOX and the space between the inner and outer sphere holding 4.3 tonnes of LH2 - contains enough for the maneuvers called for.

So, there's a 5.6 meter diameter sphere inside a 8.4 diameter cylinder. So, at the LH2 upper bulkhead of the booster there's a 5.6 meter diameter sphere. Just above the equator of the sphere there is a 2 meter wide shelf that's the floor of the lower deck and there is a 2.2 m cabin height to the floor above. The upper deck is far wider. Both decks have 12 seats facing radially outward each through its own bubble canopy. Each acts as a cabin and may be accessed from behind or from the outside by opening the canopy. Each is air tight and can operate as an airlock to the rest of the ship. Travellers were biosuits, throughout the trip, and the suits maintain passenger comfort safety and cleanliness automatically through micro devices built into the suit. The suits are lightweight, powered, and very comfortable. The seats are equipped with individual supplies of hydrogen and oxygen, have their own power supply and their own food supply, custom made for each traveller. The life support units are compact and built into the suit - made of MEMS devices. Hydrogen and oxygen is used as a propellant for personal rocket belts as well as used to produce power, and water. Water is recycled and mains power aboard the ship recycles reclaimed water into hydrogen and oxygen. Mechanical areas are behind the upper deck, and a MEMS rocket array is below the lower deck.

Above the passenger decks is the common area, and above that, command and service cabins.

Suits are easy to get into and out of and all passengers are well trained in their use. While the suits maintain bodily functions - suits can be gotten out of and a jump suit worn - and there are steam showers and toilets of conventional design available as well as a bar and restaurant. Seat and suit (and rocket belt) can be stowed in flight to make a sizeable private cabin in zero gee. Though during launch all seats can be ejected and flown using an AI expert piloting system to a safe landing in an emergency.

After launch and orbit is attained, the oxygen tank disconnects from the ship and the ship disconnects from the LH2 tank. The oxygen tank connects with the hydrogen tank and the reconfigured booster slows for re-entry, moving gracefully away.

As the booster falls back to Earth, all passengers are in their seats and the ship is rolled slowly so all passengers can see the view.

It is several hours before the ship is in its position relative to the moon to boost along its trans lunar trajectory.

Service Crew Members leave the ship for a space walk after checking the interior, and take passengers from the vacuum side a few at a time, on a space walk for a final check out and test of their capacities.

This is not only interesting to do, but it serves as a final training exercise and check out, so they can become familiar with their suit and rocket belt operation.

Once all 24 check out, they return to their cabin, secure the vacuum door, remove their suit and stow it along with the acceleration couch, and the interior door is opened.

As the passengers were outside, a meal was prepared in the common room. They are well into their meal when the thrusters fire to propel the ship at low gee into a trans lunar orbit. Boost time is such that when the burn is over, its time for everyone to bed down in their cabin for the night.

The next morning the Earth is visibly farther away - and people have breakfast in their cabin, though, they also have a continental breakfast in the common bar/restaurant area. Those who wish to schedule it, may also take a space walk again.

Couples pair up in one cabin where things are kept stowed, and unstow their suit and hardware in the second cabin. The cabins are large enough to admit two fully suited people at once, if the acceleration couch is stowed. So, couples can spread out and easily enter and exit the ship.

Singles, who don't pair up, are not that bad off. The stowage area for personal articles is pressurised during blow down of the airlock.

Every passenger has a state of the art tablet computer with autostereoscpic screen. Each cabin's canopy can be made opaque and operate as a wall sized heads up display with an autosterescopic projection system with face voice and motion recognition.

A complete entertainment system with the entire corpus of human film books and magazines video games are available.

There is also a mission planning software suite that each passenger can access to plan and rehearse their own personal exploration of the moon. The system is also equipped with cameras and facial recognition software.

So, appropriate visual data is recorded for each passenger and made available to their own personal database of the mission. These cameras exist in the suits, and outside the ship, and autonomous cameras, similar to advanced camera drones today, built into each suit. So, people can share their experience

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vGcH0Bk3hg

Much smaller and more capable than the drones of today, all this hardware merges with AI expert editing suite software that allows passengers to compose videos, magazine articles, books, narratives, as they wish. These two pieces of software, in combination with the broadband open optical data link with Earth giving internet connectivity to the passengers, is the principal activity other than eating, drinking, space walking and conoodling during the four day journey to the moon.

At the moon the vehicle enters a low lunar orbit above the poles only 50 miles above the lunar surface. On the third day out from Earth, a dozen drone cameras that link optically back to the ship, are released in sequence, and take up positions ahead of and behind the ship. These return to the ship before departure for Earth.

This camera array provides a real time high resolution view of the moon coming up in each two hour orbit. In the 8 days this ship stays on orbit, the moon rotates over 90 degrees, so travellers can vist any spot on the moon they choose.

The entire moon is mapped with a high precision, and that provides an update to the growing data base in the mission planning software. This mission planning tool by the way is the principal means by which serious buyers are attracted to the service. The data is also scientifically useful and has commercial use for developers as well.

When the ship enters lunar orbit, after several days of training, passengers who have attained excellence are released for autonomous flight to anywhere on the moon they wish to go, after the first group landings.

Those few who need assistance, receive it from the service crew during their visits. The command crew are free to travel as they wish to the lunar surface - a perk of the job.

The passengers are broken up into four teams of six each, and the first flight to the moon is a group affair. Each visits an historic site and are shown around. They also do a final check out of their capabilities in the lunar environment.

It takes about 100 kg of propellant to land on the moon and return. Each person is equipped with their suit and rocket belt, and an inflatable tent that can be pressurised from the suit's life support.

Sufficient surplus fuel is carried for 5 trips per passenger. Three trips are included in your ticket. One is a group visit. Two are privately planned with your mission planner on the way out from Earth, and before launch.

Additional trips are purchased through a bidding system on flight for the fuel which has an element of risk - so 'the game' is also another entertainment exercise during the orbital stay.

The suit acts as a sleeping bag. Though couples can set down on the moon and share a pressurised 'tent'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YnKoLnw9V0

The ability to recover objects from the surface exists, though capacity in terms of mass and volume is strictly limited. However, trading can take place on the way back to Earth, of collected objects, and objects are offered for sale by the crew and this is an interesting exercise as well.

So, what's all this cost?

Well, a $20 million booster rocket and a $30 million lunar passenger rocket - and $7.6 million worth of other hardware - flown twice a month - with a ten year life - 240 trips with 24 people each. 5,760 people $10,000 per person. Another $10,000 for the suit - they're standardised in different sizes and are articulated and powered so adjust easily to custom fit.

The suits may be rented. They may be purchased. They may also be customised at additional charge.

The 800 tons of propellant at $150 per ton is $120,000 - divided by 24 is $5,000. Food consumables and personnel, another $2,500 per person, but this can be customised as well at added cost.

Base price, $17,500 per trip - Selling price? Well, I would invest $57.6 million in the hardware, and likely double that to get all the details right and build all the support infrastructure. Say $180 million.

If it takes three years to do that - at $5 million per month - I need to create a revenue stream worth $347 million per year to earn VC rates of return (41.2% per year).

With a 10 year life span and an 8.5% discount rate, we must generate an EBITDA of $52.89 million per year.

24 flights per year that's $2.20 million per flight - or $91,700 per passenger. Now add this to the $17,500 - $109,200 base price. Extras are available! You will note I've counted hardware costs twice, well, that's because over time, we'll spend that much on insurance and maintenance.

With selling costs, and commissions, say $150,000 per flight. About 2x to 3x the cost of high end tickets from one spot on Earth to another.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/tr...-revealed.html

Its easy to get 576 passengers each year for each of the ships.

* * *

***SOLAR POWER SATELLITE***

42.4 tonne inflatable concentrator powering a solar pumped thin film multi-spectral laser array that is 80% efficient yields 22 megawatts of usable power on the ground for every tonne in orbit. 932.8 MW per satellite. At $0.18 per kWh the system earns $167,904 per hour. Earning $1.47 billion per year. Its worth $9.65 billiion the day it switches on, with a 8.5% discount rate over a 10 year life span. The cost is $108 million to build each unit, with a $324 million development and production cost for the first one. A three year development project $9 million per month. This must return $674.21 million the day it switches on to achieve VC rates of return (41.2% APR). You must sell of $102.75 million in revenue per year over 10 years to attain this valuation with a 8.5% discount rate. A small proportion of the total revenue at $0.18 per kWh.

* * *

***COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK***

42.4 tonnes payload consisting of 53 satellites of 800 kg each - using an inflatable concentrator for a solar panel and an inflatable phased array antenna, with a MEMS based ion rocket with 54 km/sec, and inflatable optics for open optical satellite to satellite communications. The system provides 300 Terabytes/second which is larger than the 88.4 terabytes/second internet bandwidth in 2012.

This has the potential to produce $2.8 trillion per year from the satellite array, for 10 years. A tremendous return on investment for a single launch!

A similar array of satellites launched into Lunar Orbit during a cruise to the moon testing the lunar operations described above - links with the Earth orbiting array - to Earth.

http://ipnsig.org

* * *



The trouble I have with long-duration interplanetary travel is the impact it has on brain function.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...14552414000339

GCR causes a reduction in brain cells by about 4% per year. This is equivalent to that of a severe alcoholic. A few years of that, and you have a very diminished capacity for thought.

Solutions:

This may be addressed through suspended animation after treatment with anti-radiation drugs similar to Ex-Rad - and housing the astronauts in a 'storm shelter' during transit.

Another way to address this is improved propulsuion. Fusion rockets or positronium energised inert material ejected at very high speeds exceeding that of fusion or positronium stored at the density of iron aboard ship, producing collimated neutrino beams for propulsion, allow constant gee acceleration between worlds. This reduces travel to Mars to a few days and permits very large payloads, which carry adequate shielding. (10 tons per sq meter of outer surface to match Earth's atmosphere)

http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/14613.pdf
http://www.eichrom.com/PDF/gamma-ray...d.m.-rev-4.pdf
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...0130014272.pdf

Though radiation exposure can be reduced with as little as 1 ton per sq meter of atmosphere according to this last model.

600 kg per square meter of tungsten carbide embedded in polymer, a sheet 32 mm (1.25 inches) thick, should provide adequate protection. A cylinder 4 meters in diameter and 40 meters long (about the size of an A320 cabin) 502..7 sq m - mass 301.6 tonnes. Not including end caps, which add another 25..1 sq m (15.1 tonnes) This is about 5x the max landing weight of an A320!

A sphere 9.87 m in diameter has the same volume as the cylinder above - and only 305.7 sq m of area massing only 183.4 tonnes. Nearly half the weight..

So, something like this

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...7b364aca8f.jpg

Excepting a very powerful engine.


  #4  
Old July 15th 16, 09:42 AM posted to sci.space.policy
William Mook[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,840
Default Three - stage, completely reusable spaceplane, reaching not onlyLEO, but Moon, Mars, asteroids.

http://www.jeccomposites.com/news/co...ressure-vessel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNXqK_bpE4s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkGI6JeNY0E

A 600 kg composite cryogenic tank carries 3,349 kg of liquid hydrogen in 47,843 cubic meter composite tank with a common bulkhead separating it from a LOX tank 16,158 cubic meters in size carrying 18,420 kg of LOX. A total propellant weight of 21,769 kg. 2.76% structure weight. At 21 bar pressure.

The tank is 2,257mm in diameter (7.40 ft) and 17,147 mm (56.25 ft) long. A hemispherical end, separated by 672 mm from an opposite facing hemispherical common bulkhead, separated by a 11,961 mm long cylinder with another hemispherical end facing the same way as the bulkhead.

http://www.astronautix.com/a/aerospi...arbooster.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Y0FS8Z1Qk

A pressure fed annular aerospike engine on this composite tank produces 28,470 kgf of thrust and weighs 406 kg. Added to the composite tank produces an inert stage weight of 22,775 kg and the system produces 1.25 gees at take off and the system rises at 2.45 m/s2 at take off, and accelerates as propellant is burned off.

The system produces 120% maximum thrust at lift off, and scales back to maintain 1.25 gees - even with full payload - for a short period of time. It then flies an optimal Goddard trajectory from surface to its desired orbit during ascent.

Seven tanks, equipped with cross-feed between tanks, creates a three-stage system;

(1) (2)
(3) (4) (5)
(6) (7)

Where 6 and 1 feed 3 and 3 feeds 4
and 7 and 2 feed 5 and 5 feeds 4.

1,2,6,7 burn off first.
3,5 burn off next
4 burns off last.

Now, a single stage to orbit is possible with this system, when carrying 2200 kg payload. A three element two stage to orbit system is possible as well, when carrying 7900 kg payload. A seven element three stage to orbit system carries 19,300 kg payload to orbit.

In its three stage configuration the first four tanks separate at 2.25 km/sec, the two second stage tanks separate at 4.95 km/sec, and the payload and third stage, achieve 7.95 km/sec - after air drag and gravity losses are taken into account. (when launched from 45 degrees north or south latitude into an easterly direction.

The equivalent of two composite tanks, made into a lifting body shape 2,257 mm in height and 4,514 mm in width, and 18,000 mm long, displace a volume of 128,000 litres (128 m3, 4,517.8 cubic feet) whilst massing 1,300 kg - leaving 18,000 kg payload capacity.

The value of this is $50.0 million per launch.

Hybrid carbon fibre composites are extremely strong, lightweight, and capable of being shaped into aerodynamic shapes and maintain their strength and performance when exposed to extreme re-entry conditions.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jcomp/2014/825607/

Ultra lightweight inflatable lifting surfaces, that deploy at subsonic speeds, give tremendous glide and maneuverability as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ11l9F3sNY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SBi9Bffbb4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3a19wDzSwU

Any flight system that attains speeds of 2.25 km/sec or more is capable of flying back to its launch centre.

http://ufxufo.org/german/antiplofer.html

Landing of the tanks takes place by climbing to a vertical attitude, and landing on the rocket thrust - like the tail-sitter aircraft of the 1950s and 60s updated with today's technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-T_-4nEA_M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZcpg70Ewbw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_01KpRCdGA

Lifting body shape of the payload section;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-8AQnBR1tg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50dDWT48b9M

* * *

A lunar upper stage on this system, consists of a lifting body just described, carries 11,878 kg of propellant masses 1,422 kg empty and carries 6,000 kg of payload. The propellant tanks occupy 35 cubic meters and leave 93 cubic meters for payload. The system boosts from low earth orbit to a translunar trajectory by applying 2.9 km/sec to its 7.95 km/sec orbital speed. This puts it into a trans-lunar free return trajectory that arrives at the moon in 3.7 days. It enters low lunar orbit, and has sufficient propellant once in low lunar orbit, to exist low lunar orbit and return to Earth in 3..7 days, re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, and glide to the launch center for a powered touchdown.

When in low lunar orbit, 8 passengers and 4 crew members, each wearing a long duration biosuit and equipped with a MEMS based rocket belt, jumps down to the lunar surface and returns. An adult male in a biosuit, with sufficient supplies for 36 hours, masses 90 kg. A 6 kg MEMS based rocket belt and high pressure tank set, three tanks carrying 243 litres of liquid hydrogen and 81 litres of LOX in a single tank. All tanks being 537 mm diameter and carrying 81 litres of liquid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbazOdEQxuE
http://www.wired.com/2013/07/lunar-flying-units-1969/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaJPtxK9wzs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P58b0qaFPnk

Travellers fly individually on their own rocket belts to the lunar surface and return to the orbiting spacecraft. Guidance systems are built into their suits, heads up displays in the helmet, with voice interaction and gesture and facial recognition, control. They document the journey of each user as they explore the lunar surface.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/641...-degree-camera
http://www.wired.com/2015/05/lily-robotics-drone/

A half dozen small self propelled camera sets that give 4K HD views all around and software provides editing into a superior travel film for each user..

The cost of each ticket for the eight passengers is $6.3 million. Cost of suit and other hardware, an additional $0.7 million.

* * *

A launch every 56 hours - 2d 8h - 7 shifts - produces 3 flights per week and 156 flights per year. $7800 million at $50 million per flight. Four lifting bodies and eight tanks are required. These cost $8 million each, and altogether $96 million.

* * *

Solar ion booster - an 18,000 kg solar power ion system that produces 22,000 Watts/kg - generates 396 MW and when using a 54 km/sec exhaust speed. It consists of four 305 m diameter inflatable concentrators, that power a 748 kgf thrust ion engine.

https://tec.grc.nasa.gov/past-projec...concentrators/
http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/labs/spl/research_ieps.htm

A delta vee of 4.12 km/sec - lifting 16,000 kg to GEO from LEO, and bringing the 18,000 kg ion booster back using 2,022 kg of propellant. Using Liquid Hydrogen and the 2,257 mm diameter cylinder with spherical end caps, this is a 300 kg tank that's 7,974 mm long with a 5,717 mm long cylindrical section. A total of 22,868 litres. This leaves over 125,000 litres of volume (125 cubic meters) for a payload.

So, $50 million to send 18,000 kg (39,700 lbs) to Low Earth Orbit. In conjunction with the solar ion stage, we offer 16,000 kg to Geosynchronous Orbit, with return of the ion stage - for $60 million.

* * *

The ion booster with 2,880 kg of hydrogen is also adapted to take 15,120 kg of payload to LLO and return to Earth! Another 1,084 kg of hydrogen brakes the ion booster - a total that's equal to the hydrogen tank alone in the all chemical system above, and the hydrogen booster tank described for the GEO mission. The lifting body payload enters the Earth's atmosphere as it separates from the ion booster, which slows into parking orbit again.

This increases the payload on Low Lunar Orbit by 9,000 kg! Sufficient to add 18 passengers! A total of 26 passengers and 4 crew members. Dividing 26 passengers into $60 million obtains $2.3 million per passenger plus $0.7 million for suit and services. $3.0 million for a trip to the moon. Each passenger gets one landing, and sufficient propellant for another 20 landings are carried along and auctioned off on lunar orbit.

Five ion engines
Five shuttles
Seven boosters
Seven transfer tanks

Give mastery over the space launch business - and capture $8 billion per year.

* * *

Communications satellite network - five 3.6 ton satellites - per launch - at $10 million per launch, and $20 million per satellite - with 22 MW of power - per satellite - provide 720 satellites that

* a global wireless hotspot for 20 billion broadband channels,
* live google earth feed - high resolution - with memory,
* cloud processing and storage,
* global financial services,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2mGhfZCemg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP6pBS6uptE

This will permit secure and free communications that generates $2.4 trillion per year. Well worth the 144 launches and $21.6 billion in overall cost.

* * *

Power satellite network, at 396 million watts per satellite - at $100 million per satellite and $50 million per launch - $150 million per satellite - beaming solar pumped lasers to receivers on Earth at $0.11 per kWh this produces $381 million per year. This adds 61.2 GW per year - per launcher - and as power supplies are added, launchers are purchased and enlarged.

https://vimeo.com/37102557

With copious amounts of laser energy beamed from space, we are then able to revamp the construction of spacecraft - separating the power generation portion from the accelerated payload - and radically improving efficiencies.

http://ykbcorp.com/downloads/Bae_pho...ulation..pd f

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhUasBcoj-Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33_-teBjZ4w

We use laser thermal jet to energise air when rising in the troposphere, and stratosphere, and use laser thermal rocket to energise propellant in the exosphere, and photonic thruster, recycling photons when we attain orbit. In this way we only use propellant to impart 6 km/sec whilst ejecting it at 12 km/sec. So, only 39.4% take off weight is propellant to get to orbit from Earth.

Given the atmosphere of Mars and its lower lapse rate, it takes no propellant since we can use the atmosphere through orbital velocity and photonic thrusting thereafter.

Given the low surface gravity of the Moon and asteroids and the moons of Mars, we can use photonic thrusting throughout!

Awesome!

Inert fluids, like water, which is abundant across the solar system, can be used with lasers to provide high thrust where its needed. So, its not really a problem.

* * *

Putting very large power satellites near or on the solar surface, radically improves performance of laser based systems, making it possible to gather sufficient energy to make sensible quantities of positronium - which transforms the efficiency of space travel yet again!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140...e-in-our-reach

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/indus...mp-reader-card

* * *

Fifty years back from 2019 - man first landed on the moon. Fifty years forward from 2019 - a century after man landed on the moon - we will have left the solar system by and large and the present world situation will be radically transformed with fewer than 500 million living on Earth and over 10 billions traveling among the stars!


 




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