Mobile lunar base concepts

This paper presents a review of design concepts over three decades for developing mobile lunar and planetary bases. The idea of the mobile base addresses several key challenges for extraterrestrial surface bases. These challenges include moving the landed assets a safe distance away from the landing zone; deploying and assembling the base remotely by automation and robotics; moving the base from one location of scientific or technical interest to another; and providing sufficient redundancy, reliability and safety for crew roving expeditions. The objective of the mobile base is to make the best use of the landed resources by moving them to where they will be most useful to support the crew, carry out exploration and conduct research. This review covers a range of surface mobility concepts that address the mobility issue in a variety of ways. These concepts include the Rockwell Lunar Sortie Vehicle (1971), Cintala's Lunar Traverse caravan, 1984, First Lunar Outpost (1992), Frass...

2000

The development, design, and construction of a lunar base will be an extremely complex technical task. It will be even more challenging to set up the funding scheme and the international cooperative structures that will be required to establish humankind's first outpost on another planetary body. This paper provides a summary of development issues, technology requirements, and research needs of a lunar base program. Non-technical aspects covered include the rationale for installing a lunar base, financing, cost, management, and legal issues, as well as general development aspects. Technical aspects discussed include the impact of the lunar environment on base design and development, Earth-Moon transportation, and site selection. The specific requirements of habitat design, thermal control, power supply, life support, communications, lunar surface transportation, extra-vehicular activities, and in-situ resources utilization are discussed, as well as logistics, cost, and modeling aspects. Also, it is outlined that a lunar base may very well serve as a testbed for technologies required for human Mars missions. The contents of this paper are based on countless lunar base-related studies that have been conducted in the past four decades and The Lunar Base Handbook that has been published recently and is also introduced here.

IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 1970

Many devices for lunar surface mobility have been proposed and some are currently being developed. This paper briefly describes the various concepts, presents expected performance capabilities, and discusses characteristics peculiar to each mobility system. The lunar environment in which transporters must operate is also described. Of principal interest are roving, flying, and hopping devices. Current activities and expected future developments are outlined. A comparison based on vehicle weights and excursion durations is made, and predictions on implementation of flight models are given.

2015

Cargo Transport System and the Lunar Exploration Surface Infrastructure and discusses some of the critical challenges faced, alternatives considered, and Orbital’s solution for these challenges. In addition to presenting a Lunar Surface Exploration architecture that fits within program constraints and highlighting the architecture defining trade studies, e.g. habitat geometry, habitat radiation shielding, lunar surface power, and cargo delivery system, a launch manifest and strategy for lunar base expansion are also discussed.

Strojniški vestnik – Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2014

In this paper, the design of a prototype system developed for a rover intended for the removal and transport of rocks on lunar soil is reported. The part of the rover dedicated to some of the main tasks, i.e. the lifting of objects and moving on rugged terrain, while controlling of the balance of the vehicle, is considered. These tasks are accomplished through the mechanical components assembled in a column connected to wheels. The study has been conducted with the aim of obtaining a simple and lightweight structure satisfying the requirements necessary to operate on the lunar soil.

1990

The students of the FMU/FSU College of Engineering continued their design from 1988-1989 on a first generation lunar transportation vehicle for use on the surface of the Moon between the y t. n 2010 and 2020. Attention is focused on specific dc3ign details on all components of the I.unar Articulated Remote Transportation System (Lunar ARTS). The I.unar ARTS will be a three-cart, six-wheeled articulated vehicle. Its purpose will be the transportation of a5tronauts and/or materials for excavation purposes at a short distance from the hase (37.5 km). Thc power system includes fuel cells for both the primary sytem and the backup system. The vehicle has the option of being operated in a manned or unmanned mc~le. .the unmanned mode includes stereo imaging with signal pnxessing for navigation. For manned missions the display console is a digital readout displayed on the inside of the astronaut's helmet. A nlicroprwessor is alu) on board the vehicle. Other components of the vehicle include a double wishbone/ flcxiblc hemispherical wheel suspension; chawis; a steering s p e m ; moton; seat restraints; hrat rejection :ysten1$ solar flare protection; dust protection; and meteoroid protection. A one-quarter wdc d)namic miklel has been built to study the dynamic behavior of the vehicle. The dynamic model closely capt11re.s the mechanical and electrical details the total design.

The future of human space exploration relies on many different requirements that must be fulfilled to expand human presence beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Indeed, a major factor affecting deep space mission architectures resides in the ability to cope with a hostile environment, which is very different from the one found in LEO. With the ultimate goal of taking humans to Mars, several technological limitations need to be overcome in order to sustain human life in such harsh conditions. In the context of an evolutionary path, which would see the incremental employment, testing, and validation of new elements for future Mars expeditions, a lunar mission can be considered as an inevitable and paramount milestone. Even though several astronauts have already set foot on our natural satellite, it was only for short sorties, whose architectures would need to be radically altered for long stays to be envisioned. The present paper investigates enabling factors related to long permanence on the lunar surface, and proposes solutions to support human life. The main aspects to be tackled include crew size, tasks analysis, outpost location, habitable and laboratory modules, and the feasibility of a lunar greenhouse. The crew is sized starting from the analysis of tasks and activities to be performed, as well as accounting for psychological and social aspects. For the assessment of habitat location and configuration, particular attention has been given to geography and illumination of the site. Moreover, the aim is indeed to respond to the need of a self-sustaining lunar outpost, where most of the consumables necessary for life support, such as oxygen, water and food, are produced in-situ: this is why in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and greenhouse technologies are at the core of our investigation. Additionally, ISRU is also taken into account for radiation shielding purposes: covering the modules with regolith or burying them is in fact the best way to reduce launch masses from the Earth.

1984

Workshop attendees generally believe that a lunar base goal has a high enough potential payoff that it should be adopted by NASA in the near future. Potential gains include new possibilities for scientific investigation, utilization of the natural resources of the moon to benefit lunar and space operations, and development of a long-term capability for human self-sufficiency on another planet. To reduce the risk that near-term decisions will be made that result in future difficulties or additional unnecessary costs to a lunar base program, we must consider near-term development issues, such as the Space Station and the orbital transfer vehicle technology, in light of their potential application to a lunar base program. The lunar base program is envisioned as being less of a technological challenge and less expensive annually than Apollo was.

Acta Astronautica, 2007

The study Lunar exploration architecture-deployable structures for a lunar base was performed within the Alcatel Alenia Space "Lunar Exploration Architecture" study for the European Space Agency. The purpose of the study was to investigate bionic concepts applicable to deployable structures and to interpret the findings for possible implementation concepts. The study aimed at finding innovative solutions for deployment possibilities. Translating folding/unfolding principles from nature, candidate geometries were developed and researched using models, drawings and visualisations. The use of materials, joints between structural elements and construction details were investigated for these conceptual approaches. Reference scenarios were used to identify the technical and environmental conditions, which served as design drivers. Mechanical issues and the investigation of deployment processes narrowed the selection down to six chosen concepts. Their applicability was evaluated at a conceptual stage in relation to the timescale of the mission.

Space 2006, 2006

This study presents an architectural analysis of the base configuration concepts and options for the Habot Mobile Lunar Base. "Habot" is a contraction of Habitat and Robot. The analytical technique consists of a systematic comparison of the various configurations at several scales. These scales include the overall configuration of the base cluster; the architectural plan and sections of the Habot modules; the pairing and adjacency relationships among modules; the implications for structural details of the module pressure vessels; and the thermal control/heat rejection system. The evaluation criteria include complexity; mass of redundant overhead hardware; efficient use of floor area; useful allocation of equipment volume; and effectiveness of the circulation pattern. A major consideration is that the functional purposes of each Habot unit pose different demands and implications for the design. The minimum set of Habot unit functional types are: living/habitat unit, laboratory unit, logistics unit, EVA access/ airlock/ excursion port, and excursion Habot. The key finding of the study is that a simple linear arrangement of Habot units, with the EVA Access/ excursion port units at either end, is the most efficient. It is the most efficient at nearly all levels of the analysis, but most especially in the advantages for useable floor area, equipment volume, and avoidance of excessive circulation area and unnecessary design complications.