NASA/USRA advanced design program activity 1990/1991

Four problems were defined which had aspects which would be reasonably assigned to an interdisciplinary design team. The design problems are: (1) design of a thermal shield for a lunar telescope (thermal protection for a lunar telescope); (2) selenotextile shielding structure (a structure to protect a lunar habitat from intense solar radiation of tubes of woven polytetrafluoroethylene coated fiberglass fabric); (3) pneumatically assisted elbow joint design for the NASA Zero-prebreathe suit (will allow astronauts to make the transition from a high pressure internal environment to a lower pressure suit without spending time in an air lock); and (4) electrochemical system to power assist an astronaut's finger joints (assist in the movement of an astronaut's distal and proximal interphalangeal finger joints)

Lunar preform manufacturing

A design for a machine to produce hollow, continuous fiber reinforced composite rods of lunar glass and a liquid crystalline matrix using the pultrusion process is presented. The glass fiber will be produced from the lunar surface, with the machine and matrix being transported to the moon. The process is adaptable to the low gravity and near-vacuum environment of the moon through the use of a thermoplastic matrix in fiber form as it enters the pultrusion process. With a power consumption of 5k W, the proposed machine will run continuously, unmanned in fourteen day cycles, matching the length of moon days. A number of dies could be included that would allow the machine to produce rods of varying diameter, I-beams, angles, and other structural members. These members could then be used for construction on the lunar surface or transported for use in orbit. The benefits of this proposal are in the savings in weight of the cargo each lunar mission would carry. The supply of glass on the moon is effectively endless, so enough rods would have to be produced to justify its transportation, operation, and capital cost. This should not be difficult as weight on lunar mission is at a premium

NASA/USRA advanced design program activity

Issued as Final report, Project no. E-27-609Final report has title: NASA/USRA advanced design program activit

Textile/Mechanical design, NASA/USRA advanced design program

Issued as Memorandum, and Final reports [nos. 1-5], Project no. E-27-654Final reports has title: Textile/Mechanical design, NASA/USRA advanced design progra