Front and Center

Newsletter providing "a lighter, human interest side of the news" from the Boston University Medical Campus

Commercialization and Human Settlement of the Moon and Cislunar Space A Look Ahead at the Possibilities over the Next 50 Years

Over 50 years have passed since the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey debuted in April 1968. In the film, Dr. Heywood Floyd flies to a large artificial gravity space station orbiting Earth aboard a commercial space plane. He then embarks on a commuter flight to the Moon arriving there 25hours later. Today, on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the images portrayed in 2001 still remain well beyond our capabilities. This paper examines key technologies and systems (in-situ resource utilization, fission power, advanced chemical and nuclear propulsion),and orbiting infrastructure elements (providing a propellant depot and cargo transfer function),that could be developed by NASA and the private sector in future decades allowing the operational capabilities presented in 2001 to be achieved, albeit on a more spartan scale. Lunar derived propellants (LDPs) will be essential to reducing the launch mass requirements from Earth and developing a reusable lunar transportation system (LTS) that can allow initial outposts to evolve into settlements supporting a variety of commercial activities like in-situ propellant production. Deposits of icy regolith found within permanently shadowed craters at the lunar pole scan supply the feedstock material to produce liquid oxygen (LO2) and hydrogen (LH2) propellan tneeded by surface-based lunar landing vehicles (LLVs) using chemical rocket engines. Along the Moon's nearside equatorial corridor, iron oxide-rich volcanic glass beads from vast pyroclasticdeposits, together with mare regolith, can provide the materials to produce lunar-derived LO2plus other important solar wind implanted (SWI) volatiles, including H2 and helium-3. Mega watt classfission power systems will be essential for providing continuous "24/7" power to LLVs will provide cargo and passenger "orbit-to-surface" access and willalso be used to transport LDP to Space Transportation Nodes (STNs) located in lunar polar(LPO) and equatorial orbits (LLO). Spaced-based, reusable lunar transfer vehicles (LTVs),operating between STNs in low Earth orbit (LEO), LLO, and LPO, and able to refuel with LDPs,can offer unique mission capabilities including short transit time crewed cargo transports. Even acommuter shuttle service similar to that portrayed in 2001 appears possible, allowing 1-way trip times to and from the Moon as short as 24 hours. The performance of LTVs using both RL10B-2chemical rockets, and a variant of the nuclear thermal rocket (NTR), the LO2-Augmented NTR(LANTR), are examined and compared. The bipropellant LANTR engine utilizes its divergent nozzle section as an afterburner into which oxygen is injected and supersonically combusted with reactor-heated hydrogen emerging from the engine's sonic throat. If only 1% of the LDP obtained from icy regolith, volcanic glass, and SWI volatile deposits were available for use in lunar orbit,such a supply could support routine commuter flights to the Moon for many thousands of years!This paper provides a look ahead at what might be possible in the not too distant future,quantifies the operational characteristics of key in-space and surface technologies and systems,and provides conceptual designs for the various architectural elements discussed

Key Technologies, Systems, and Infrastructure Enabling the Commercialization and Human Settlement of the Moon and Cislunar Space

Over 50 years have passed since 2001: A Space Odyssey debuted in April 1968. In the film, Dr. Heywood Floydflies to a large artificial gravity space station orbiting Earth aboard a commercial space plane. He then embarks on acommuter flight to the Moon arriving there 25 hours later. Today, in this the 50th anniversary year of the Apollo 11lunar landing, the images portrayed in 2001 still remain well beyond our capabilities. This paper examines keytechnologies and systems (e.g., in-situ resource utilization, fission power, advanced chemical and nuclearpropulsion), and supporting orbital infrastructure (providing a propellant and cargo transfer function), that could bedeveloped by NASA and industry over the next 30 years allowing the operational capabilities presented in 2001 to beachieved, albeit on a more spartan scale. Lunar-derived propellants (LDPs) will be essential to developing a reusablelunar transportation system that can allow initial outposts to evolve into settlements supporting a variety ofcommercial activities. Deposits of icy regolith discovered at the lunar poles can supply the feedstock material neededto produce liquid oxygen (LO2) and hydrogen (LH2) propellants. On the lunar nearside, near the equator, iron oxiderichvolcanic glass beads from vast pyroclastic deposits, together with mare regolith, can provide the feedstockmaterials to produce lunar-derived LO2 plus other important solar wind implanted (SWI) volatiles, including H2and helium-3. Megawatt-class fission power systems will be essential for providing continuous "24/7" power toprocessing plants, human settlements and commercial enterprises that develop on the Moon and in orbit. Reusablelunar landing vehicles will provide cargo and passenger "orbit-to-surface" access and will also transport LDP to Space Transportation Nodes (STNs) located in lunar polar (LPO) and equatorial orbits (LLO). Reusable space-based,lunar transfer vehicles (LTVs), operating between STNs in low Earth orbit, LLO, and LPO, and able to refuel with LDPs, offer unique mission capabilities including short transit time crewed cargo transports. Even commuter flights similar to that portrayed in 2001 appear possible, allowing 1-way trip times to and from the Moon as short as 24hours. The performance of LTVs using both RL10B-2 chemical rockets, and a variant of the nuclear thermal rocket(NTR), the LO2-Augmented NTR (LANTR), are examined and compared. If only 1% of the LDP obtained from icyregolith, volcanic glass, and SWI volatile deposits were available for use in lunar orbit, such a supply could support routine commuter flights to the Moon for many thousands of years. This paper provides a look ahead at what might be possible in the not too distant future, quantifies the operational characteristics of key in-space and surface technologies and systems, and provides conceptual designs for the various architectural elements discussed

Commercial and Human Settlement of the Moon and Cislunar Space A Look Ahead at the Possibilities over the Next 50 Years

Over 50 years have passed since the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey debuted in April 1968. In the film, Dr. Heywood Floyd flies to a large artificial gravity space station orbiting Earth aboard a commercial space plane. He then embarks on a commuter flight to the Moon arriving there 25 hours later. Today, on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the images portrayed in 2001 still remain well beyond our capabilities. This paper examines key technologies and systems (in-situ resource utilization, fission power, advanced chemical and nuclear propulsion), and orbiting infrastructure elements (providing a propellant depot and cargo transfer function), that could be developed by NASA and the private sector in future decades allowing the operational capabilities presented in 2001 to be achieved, albeit on a more spartan scale. Lunar-derived propellants (LDPs) will be essential to reducing the launch mass requirements from Earth and developing a reusable lunar transportation system (LTS) that can allow initial outposts to evolve into settlements supporting a variety of commercial activities like in-situ propellant production. Deposits of icy regolith found within permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles can supply the feedstock material to produce liquid oxygen (LO2) and hydrogen (LH2) propellant needed by surface-based lunar landing vehicles (LLVs) using chemical rocket engines. Along the Moons nearside equatorial corridor, iron oxide-rich volcanic glass beads from vast pyroclastic deposits, together with mare regolith, can provide the materials to produce lunar-derived LO2 plus other important solar wind implanted (SWI) volatiles, including H2 and helium-3. Megawatt-class fission power systems will be essential for providing continuous 24/7 power to processing plants, evolving human settlements, and other commercial activities that develop on the Moon and in orbit. Reusable LLVs will provide cargo and passenger orbit-to-surface access and will also be used to transport LDP to Space Transportation Nodes (STNs) located in lunar polar (LPO) and equatorial orbits (LLO). Spaced-based, reusable lunar transfer vehicles (LTVs), operating between STNs in low Earth orbit (LEO), LLO, and LPO, and able to refuel with LDPs, can offer unique mission capabilities including short transit time crewed cargo transports. Even a commuter shuttle service similar to that portrayed in 2001 appears possible, allowing 1-way trip times to and from the Moon as short as 24 hours. The performance of LTVs using both RL10B-2 chemical rockets, and a variant of the nuclear thermal rocket (NTR), the LO2-Augmented NTR (LANTR), are examined and compared. The bipropellant LANTR engine utilizes its divergent nozzle section as an afterburner into which oxygen is injected and supersonically combusted with reactor-heated hydrogen emerging from the engines sonic throat. If only 1% of the LDP obtained from icy regolith, volcanic glass, and SWI volatile deposits were available for use in lunar orbit, such a supply could support routine commuter flights to the Moon for many thousands of years! This paper provides a look ahead at what might be possible in the not too distant future, quantifies the operational characteristics of key in-space and surface technologies and systems, and provides conceptual designs for the various architectural elements discussed

Key Technologies, Systems, and Infrastructure Enabling the Commercialization and Human Settlement of the Moon and Cislunar Space

Over 50 years have passed since 2001: A Space Odyssey debuted in April 1968. In the film, Dr. Heywood Floydflies to a large artificial gravity space station orbiting Earth aboard a commercial space plane. He then embarks on acommuter flight to the Moon arriving there 25 hours later. Today, in this the 50th anniversary year of the Apollo 11lunar landing, the images portrayed in 2001 still remain well beyond our capabilities. This paper examines keytechnologies and systems (e.g., in-situ resource utilization, fission power, advanced chemical and nuclearpropulsion), and supporting orbital infrastructure (providing a propellant and cargo transfer function), that could bedeveloped by NASA and industry over the next 30 years allowing the operational capabilities presented in 2001 to beachieved, albeit on a more spartan scale. Lunar-derived propellants (LDPs) will be essential to developing a reusablelunar transportation system that can allow initial outposts to evolve into settlements supporting a variety ofcommercial activities. Deposits of icy regolith discovered at the lunar poles can supply the feedstock material neededto produce liquid oxygen (LO2) and hydrogen (LH2) propellants. On the lunar nearside, near the equator, iron oxiderichvolcanic glass beads from vast pyroclastic deposits, together with mare regolith, can provide the feedstockmaterials to produce lunar-derived LO2 plus other important solar wind implanted (SWI) volatiles, including H2and helium-3. Megawatt-class fission power systems will be essential for providing continuous "24/7" power toprocessing plants, human settlements and commercial enterprises that develop on the Moon and in orbit. Reusablelunar landing vehicles will provide cargo and passenger "orbit-to-surface" access and will also transport LDP toSpace Transportation Nodes (STNs) located in lunar polar (LPO) and equatorial orbits (LLO). Reusable space-based,lunar transfer vehicles (LTVs), operating between STNs in low Earth orbit, LLO, and LPO, and able to refuel withLDPs, offer unique mission capabilities including short transit time crewed cargo transports. Even commuter flightssimilar to that portrayed in 2001 appear possible, allowing 1-way trip times to and from the Moon as short as 24hours. The performance of LTVs using both RL10B-2 chemical rockets, and a variant of the nuclear thermal rocket(NTR), the LO2-Augmented NTR (LANTR), are examined and compared. If only 1% of the LDP obtained from icyregolith, volcanic glass, and SWI volatile deposits were available for use in lunar orbit, such a supply could supportroutine commuter flights to the Moon for many thousands of years. This paper provides a look ahead at what mightbe possible in the not too distant future, quantifies the operational characteristics of key in-space and surfacetechnologies and systems, and provides conceptual designs for the various architectural elements discussed