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Reusable NewSpace: Lunar Vehicle [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-06-28  

“Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me.”

– Pete Conrad

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ARCHITECTURE

The lunar lander is the vehicle that will (obviously) transport humans and cargo from lunar orbit down to the lunar surface and back up again to lunar orbit.

Image 1: NASA Space Tug in the lunar lander configuration

The 1970s NASA design for a lunar lander had built–in landing legs that would extend for trips to the lunar surface and back (Image 1).

The disadvantage to this idea was that the orbital vehicle had to carry the extra mass of the legs whether they were need or not.

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LV AIRFRAME

The Lunar Vehicle (LV) is a variant of the Orbital Vehicle (OV), just like the NASA vehicle, except that our vehicle will have lunar landing legs attached to the spacecraft instead of built–in (Image 2 [Larger Image]).

Image 2: The Lunar Vehicle exterior view

The Lunar Lander Kit consists of the landing legs and an Above Ground Level (AGL) radar. The legs would have liquid springs and landing discs to absorb shock and to act as a leveling mechanism. The kit will be attached to the LV whilst in Earth Orbit.

The rocket nozzle extension is not used to allow more clearance between the bottom of the nozzle and the lunar surface. The lack of an extension will cost the rocket 3 seconds of specific impulse.

The Table below summarizes the LV inert mass.

Top Unpressurized Docking Ring 48 kg OV Tank Structure 1,178 kg OV Core Orbital Unit 749 kg RL10C–2–1 Rocket Engine 276 kg Rocket Nozzle Extension 0 kg Lunar Lander Kit 599 kg Lunar Vehicle Inert Mass 2,850 kg

Stage Mass = Inert Mass + Propellant Mass

= 2850 + 18053

= 20,903 kg

Mass Ratio = Propellant Mass / Stage Mass

= 18053 / 20903

= 0.864

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LV COMMAND AND CONTROL

The LV will be controlled remotely like any other drone aircraft. Command and Control will look no different than the trenches at Mission Control Center at NASA. There will, however, be one glaring difference: the existence of what looks to be a static simulator of the LV cockpit.

The layout has one pilot, with a glass cockpit and what looks like large screen TVs in the place of windows in front and on the sides of the pilots. The crew operates the LV spacecraft remotely, from undock to redocking.

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LV LIFETIME

The LV will be operated the same 96 sorties in a four year period of time as the OV. The lander will then be replaced, with the old LV deleted from the fleet.

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LV DISPOSAL

Once the LV has reached its operational lifetime, it will need to be properly disposed of.

The LV can also be refilled one last time as sent to a particular location on the lunar surface on a one-way mission carrying the latest in scientific equipment.

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