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Lunar Architectures

Paul D. SpudisLunar and Planetary Institute

LEAG Meeting14 October 2013

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What is an architecture?

A series of payloads and missions,laid out in a sequence toachieve some strategic goal orcapability

Design choices are made, at leastat a conceptual level

Should be flexible enough to adaptto changing technicalrequirements, budgetary issuesand political undercurrents

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Previous Lunar Architectures1. Wernher von Braun’s Das Marsprojekt (1950)

Objective: Develop capability forEarth orbital, lunar andplanetary spaceflight

Strategic Approach: Incremental,launch vehicle, Earth orbitalstation, Moon tug with cislunarcapability, interplanetary flight

Tactical implementation: reusablelaunch vehicle, rotating spacestation in 1000 mile polar orbit,lunar tug with lander variant,Mars spacecraft

Alternatives: none

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Previous Lunar Architectures2. The Apollo Program (1961)

Objective: Within current decade,land man on the Moon and returnhim safely to the Earth

Strategic Approach: Build mega-rocket to fly complete mission inone or two launches (specificrefutation of step-wise,incremental approach previouslyadvocated by von Braun)

Tactical implementation: Saturn V(120 mT to LEO), Lunar OrbitRendezvous mission profile (CM-SM-LM)

Alternative: Soviet N-1 and Soyuz,Earth Orbit Rendezvous, one-man LK (failed)

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Previous Lunar Architectures3. Space Exploration Initiative (1989)

Objective: Return to the Moon,“this time, to stay.”

Strategic Approach: Usetechnology and hardware baseof Shuttle and SS Freedom tobuild OTV, staging nodes, lunarlander, lunar base

Tactical implementation: Shuttle-C,SS Freedom modules, OTV(RL-10 based).

Alternatives: Livermore “BrilliantCondoms” - inflatables launchedon EELV and derived vehicles

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Previous Lunar Architectures4. Vision for Space Exploration (2004)

Objective: Return to the Moon withgoal of living and working there forincreasing periods of time; preparefor future human Mars mission

Strategic Approach: Apollo-like: Ares VHLV to deliver fueled transfer stage,Altair lander, EOR with Orion,launched on smaller Ares I

Tactical implementation: Ares V (150mT), Ares I (25 mT), Orion CM,Altair lander (50 mT), multiple lunarsorties, build up to Mars mission(staged from Earth)

Alternatives: Shuttle-derived (SM or in-line), EELV-serviced cislunardepots, robotic-human compositelunar base

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So what are the difficulties?

Understanding the missionBiggest issue with VSE“Consensus is the absence of leadership.”

-- Margaret ThatcherResources - Trying to do too much with

too littleBlank sheet designs vs. adaptation of

existing capabilitiesSchedule pressure

Deadlines or not?Political and technical cycles

Technology fetishismNeed high-tech widget before x can happen

Hyper-conservative design ethicSafety vs. management of reasonable risks

Process valued more than resultsThe Cult of Management

NASA LEAG

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Some architectural principlesMoney

High initial upfront costs are undesirableBut similarly, back-ended mega-liens should

also be avoidedTotal program costs are less important than

rates of expenditureSchedule

In general, the longer an architecture, thegreater the total aggregate cost

However, the rate of expenditure tends to belower

Accomplish milestones at frequent intervalsCapability

Get technology development as a by-productof trying to do something

In broad terms, more new technology meansmore risk, greater aggregate cost, longertimescales (but greater capability at end)

The better is the enemy of the good enough

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Some architectural principles

Goals and ObjectivesWhat are you trying to do and WHY?Multiple objectives make for a more

costly, longer programHowever, architecture focused on some

narrow goal may be optimized forthat goal but will not serve othersadequately

“Destination-centric” is not the problemVariables

Optimizing for one variable (e.g., !v ormass) is a dumb strategy

Minimize number of branch points priorto attaining your objective, maximizethem after you achieve it

Launch vehicle choice dictates strategicapproach (heavy lift vs. depots)

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Re-thinking the architectural problem

Spaceflight is difficultThe Tyranny of the Rocket EquationReaching LEO with empty fuel tanks

Spaceflight is expensiveAccelerating tons of mass to Mach 25, lifting

it hundreds of km up along an extremelynarrow (few meter) path for thousands ofkm downrange is a very hard task

Precision machining, complex avionics,difficult-to-work materials

Spaceflight is barely possibleIf radius of Earth were 50% larger, the energy

in chemical bonds would not be sufficientto reach orbit

The benefits of spaceflight are not intuitivelyobviousHuman destiny, species survival, “Because

it’s there..” are not typical justifications formassive amounts of federal spending

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Or to put it another way….

Our ultimate goal in space is to goanywhere, anytime with asmuch capability as we need

Spacecraft are mass- and power-limited and thus, capability-limited

They will remain so as long as weare restricted to what can belifted out of Earth’s gravity well

This restriction negatively impactsscientific capabilities,economic health, and nationalsecurity

To extend reach and capability, we must learn to usewhat we find in space to create new space faring

capabilities

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Cislunar Space: A New Strategic Arena?

Cislunar: the volume of spacebetween Earth and Moon

Zones of cislunar spaceLEO, MEO, GEO, HEO, L-

pointsDifferent assets located at

different levels of cislunarNeed freedom of movement for

machines, peopleModern national strategic needs

depend critically upon ability touse our satellite assets

Space power projection involvesboth protection of assets anddenial of assets to an adversary

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Lessons from Shuttle and Station ProgramsLarge, distributed systems too big

to be launched from Earth canbe assembled in space

Humans and machines workingtogether can assemble, serviceand maintain complex spacesystems

Applying this paradigm to trans-LEO (cislunar) space requiresdevelopment of a transportationsystem that is affordable,extensible, and reusable

Developing the resources of the Moon enables thecreation of such a system (if you can reach the Moon,

you can access any other point in cislunar space)

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The Value of SpaceModern industrial civilization depends

critically on numerous satellite assetsin high orbits above LEO:GPS and navigationGlobal communicationsRemote sensing, weatherSurveillance and national security

assetsWe cannot access those satellites to

maintain them or to build large,distributed space systems

If we could access those satellites withhumans and robots, new capabilitiesfrom space assets could be created,ensuring ourselves a better quality oflife, a bigger and stronger economy,and a more secure world

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Space faring: Changing the RulesCurrent template

Custom-built, self-contained, mission-specific spacecraft

Launch on expendable vehiclesOperate for set lifetimeAbandon after useRepeat, repeat, repeat

New templateIncremental, extensible building

blocksExtract material and energy

resources of space to use in spaceLaunch only what cannot be

fabricated or built in spaceBuild and operate flexible, modular,

extensible in-space systemsMaintain, expand and use indefinitely

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Goals and PrinciplesExtend human reach beyond LEO by

creating a permanent, extensiblespace faring infrastructure

Use the material and energy resourcesof the Moon to create this system

Lunar return by small, incremental,cumulative steps

Proximity of Moon permits progressprior to human arrival via roboticteleoperations

Innovative space systems: fuel depots,robotics, ISRU, reusable spacecraft,staging nodes

Schedule is free variable; constant,steady progress but no deadlines

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Architectural ImplicationsUse robotic flights to acquire strategic

knowledge and emplace assetsrobotic missions are not just for

scienceCommonality of hardware, systems,

procedures between robotic andhuman flight elementstest human flight components on

robotic missionsLocate “high grade” lunar resources

and build human habitats nearbyconcentrated resources (e.g., polar

ice) are easiest to use; focus onthem first

Build up infrastructure in a singlelocation to create capability rapidlyForget sorties: pick the site and build

up an outpost

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MissionCreate a permanent human-tended lunar outpost

to harvest water and make propellantApproach

Small, incremental, cumulative stepsRobotic assets first to document resources,

demonstrate production methodsAssume water abundance of 10 wt.%Teleoperation of robotic mining equipment from

Earth. Emplace and build outpost assetsremotely

Use existing LV, HLV if it becomes availableCost and Schedule

Fits under existing run-out budget (< $7B/year, 16years, aggregate cost $88 B, real-yeardollars)

Resource processing outpost operational halfwaythrough program (after 18 missions); endstage after 30 missions: 150 mT water/yearproduction (break-even)

BenefitsPermanent space transportation systemRoutine access to all cislunar space by people

and machinesExperience living and working on another world

An Affordable Lunar Return ArchitectureP.D. Spudis and A.R. Lavoie (2011) Using the Resources of the Moon to Create a Permanent Cislunar Space

Faring System. Space 2011 Conf, Long Beach CA, AIAA 2011-7185, 24 pp.

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Initial Steps

1. Communication/navigation satellitesPolar areas out of constant Earth LOS;

need comm, positional knowledge2. Polar prospecting rovers

Study and characterize water deposits,other substances, environment

3. ISRU demoHeat icy regolith to extract water; purify

and store as ice in cold traps4. Digger/Hauler rovers

Excavate regolith, transport feedstock tofixed stations for water extraction

5. Water tankersPurify and store extracted water

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Next Steps

6. Electrolysis unitsCrack water into hydrogen and oxygen;

liquefy into cryogens7. Supporting equipment

Robotic Landers - medium (500 kgpayload), heavy (2 mT payload)

Power plants - extendable solar arrays,steerable on vertical axis to track sun atpoles

Cryo storage - store LOX, LH2 (use coldtraps, 25 K)

Material Fabricators - Process regolith forrapid prototype products and parts

8. Space-based assetsLEO depot - fuel lunar departure stagesLLO depot - staging node for reusable

cargo and human landers

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HumanLander (HL) Zone

Blast Berm

Blast Berm

Beacons

Beacons

HL SupportCart

RWTL SupportCart

Portable Communication Terminal

Habitation Zone

RWTL Zone

Pressurized Transfer Vehicle

Unpressurized ISRU Lab

Living Cluster

Regolith Waste

Outpost Layout Concept

PropellantManufacturing Zone

Water Ice Deposit

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Manifest and Schedule

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Augustine run-out budget

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Program SummaryCreate a permanent, cislunar space

transportation system based upon theharvest and use of lunar water

Most infrastructure is emplaced andoperated robotically; people comewhen facilities and budgets are ready

Small incremental steps that build uponeach other and work together

Progress continually made, regardless ofbudgetary issues in any given year

Incremental approach greatly facilitatesboth commercial and internationalparticipation

Cislunar system created here is a“transcontinental railroad” in space,opening up the space frontier

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Value Returned for Money SpentCreate an extensible, reusable cislunar

space transportation system basedaround the use of the resources of theMoon

Such a space transportation system has theinherent capability to take us to theplanets

Obtain a permanent foothold on anotherplanetary body (the Moon) for the firsttime in human history

Develop the means to build large, high-power distributed space systems toserve a variety of national andinternational economic, scientific andsecurity objectives

Become a true space-faring species;learning to use off-planet resources isthe first step of settlement

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Is it possible to devise a sustainablearchitecture for lunar return?

YesIncremental approach that reaches notable milestones on a recurring, continuous

basisAchieves some capability of recognized societal valueLeads logically to next step (no isolated accomplishments)

NoPolitical system makes space goals beyond 3-4 year time horizon untenableShrinking fraction of federal budget available for spacePanem et circenses mentalityAgency is not configured for a long-range, strategic program

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What Kind of Space Program?Two Visions

“A spectacular series of space ‘firsts’”(Augustine report, 2009)Launch, use and discardEverything comes up from EarthOne-off, PR “stunt” missionsAccomplish the feat and cancel the programFlags and footprints foreverCostly and subject to political and fiscal

winds of changeBecome a true space faring species

Reusable, maintainable, extensible spacesystems

Incremental, cumulative, steady progressionoutward

Fit under any budget envelope; return valuefor money spent

Government develops and demostechnology; commerce follows

Create a permanent and expanding spacetransportation infrastructure

Less glitter, more substance

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Space – A New Rationale“If God wanted man to become a space-faring species, He would have given man a Moon.”

Krafft Ehricke

Explore to broaden ourknowledge andimagination base

Prosper by using theunlimited energy andmaterials of space toincrease our wealth

Secure our nation andthe world by using theassets of space toprotect the planet andourselves