Technology Development and Demonstration Concepts for the Space Elevator
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Lunar Space Elevator Infrastructure
Lunar Space Elevator Infrastructure A Cost Saving Approach to Human Spaceflight within a 15-year Constrained NASA Budget White Paper Submitted at the Open Invitation of the National Research Council 2013 Lunar Space Elevator Infrastructure In Response to the National Research Council’s Study on the Benefits, Challenges and Ramifications of America’s Human Spaceflight Program. LiftPort Group presents a Cost-Effective Approach to Human Spaceflight within a 15-year Constrained NASA Budget. | MICHAEL LAINE – PRESIDENT, LIFTPORT GROUP | CHARLES RADLEY MSC., – ADVISOR, LIFTPORT GROUP | MARSHALL EUBANKS MSC., – ADVISOR, LIFTPORT GROUP | JEROME PEARSON MSC., – ADVISOR, LIFTPORT GROUP | PETER SWAN PHD., – ADVISOR, LIFTPORT GROUP | LEE GRAHAM (NASA – HIS VIEWS DO NOT REFLECT HIS EMPLOYER) | | 8 JULY 2013 | LIFTPORT GROUP | 1307 Dogwood Hill RD SW, Port Orchard, WA, 98366 | www.liftport.com | (862) 438-5383 | [email protected] LiftPort’s Lunar Space Elevator Infrastructure: Affordable Response to Human Spaceflight What are the important benefits provided to the United States and other countries by human spaceflight endeavors? The ability to place humans in space is exciting to the public, and demonstrates the technological maturity and stature of each spacefaring nation. Such a visible and peaceful demonstration of cutting edge technology fosters foreign policy by showing Page | 1 strength without engaging in conflicti. Human spaceflight sparks the imagination and serves an instinctive need to explore. Astronauts are ambassadors for all of humanity in a very personal way. Men and women in space suits inspire people – of all cultures and demographics – to achieve excellence, to believe in a common cause and to pursue a noble goal. -
Asteroid Retrieval Feasibility Study
Asteroid Retrieval Feasibility Study 2 April 2012 Prepared for the: Keck Institute for Space Studies California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, California 1 2 Authors and Study Participants NAME Organization E-Mail Signature John Brophy Co-Leader / NASA JPL / Caltech [email protected] Fred Culick Co-Leader / Caltech [email protected] Co -Leader / The Planetary Louis Friedman [email protected] Society Carlton Allen NASA JSC [email protected] David Baughman Naval Postgraduate School [email protected] NASA ARC/Carnegie Mellon Julie Bellerose [email protected] University Bruce Betts The Planetary Society [email protected] Mike Brown Caltech [email protected] Michael Busch UCLA [email protected] John Casani NASA JPL [email protected] Marcello Coradini ESA [email protected] John Dankanich NASA GRC [email protected] Paul Dimotakis Caltech [email protected] Harvard -Smithsonian Center for Martin Elvis [email protected] Astrophysics Ian Garrick-Bethel UCSC [email protected] Bob Gershman NASA JPL [email protected] Florida Institute for Human and Tom Jones [email protected] Machine Cognition Damon Landau NASA JPL [email protected] Chris Lewicki Arkyd Astronautics [email protected] John Lewis University of Arizona [email protected] Pedro Llanos USC [email protected] Mark Lupisella NASA GSFC [email protected] Dan Mazanek NASA LaRC [email protected] Prakhar Mehrotra Caltech [email protected] -
Integrated Lunar Transportation System
Integrated Lunar Transportation System Jerome Pearson1, John C. Oldson2, Eugene M. Levin3, and Harry Wykes4 Star Technology and Research, Inc., Mount Pleasant, SC, 29466 An integrated transportation system is proposed from the lunar poles to Earth orbit, using solar-powered electric vehicles on lunar tramways, highways, and a lunar space elevator. The system could transport large amounts of lunar resources to Earth orbit for construction, radiation shielding, and propellant depots, and could supply lunar equatorial, polar, and mining bases with manufactured items. We present a system for lunar surface transport using “cars, trucks, and trains,” and the infrastructure of “roads, highways, and tramways,” connecting with the lunar space elevator for transport to Earth orbit. The Apollo Lunar Rovers demonstrated a battery- powered range of nearly 50 kilometers, but they also uncovered the problems of lunar dust. For building dustless highways, it appears particularly attractive to create paved roads by using microwaves to sinter lunar dust into a hard surface. For tramways, tall towers can support high- strength ribbons that carry cable cars over the lunar craters; the ribbon might even be fabricated from lunar materials. We address the power and energy storage requirements for lunar transportation vehicles, the design and effectiveness of lunar tramways, and the materials requirements for the support ribbons of lunar tramways and lunar space elevators. 1. Introduction NASA is implementing a plan for a return to the Moon, which will build on and expand the capabilities demonstrated during the Apollo landings. The plan includes long-duration lunar stays, lunar outposts and bases, and exploitation of lunar resources on the Moon and in Earth orbit1. -
Pathways to Colonization David V
Pathways To Colonization David V. Smitherman, Jr. NASA, Marshall Space F’light Center, Mail CoLFDO2, Huntsville, AL 35812,256-961-7585, Abstract. The steps required for space colonization are many to grow fiom our current 3-person International Space Station,now under construction, to an inhstmcture that can support hundreds and eventually thousands of people in space. This paper will summarize the author’s fmdings fiom numerous studies and workshops on related subjects and identify some of the critical next steps toward space colonization. Findings will be drawn from the author’s previous work on space colony design, space infirastructure workshops, and various studies that addressed space policy. In cmclusion, this paper will note that siBnifcant progress has been made on space facility construction through the International Space Station program, and that si&icant efforts are needed in the development of new reusable Earth to Orbit transportation systems. The next key steps will include reusable in space transportation systems supported by in space propellant depots, the continued development of inflatable habitat and space elevator technologies, and the resolution of policy issues that will establish a future vision for space development A PATH TO SPACE COLONIZATION In 1993, as part of the author’s duties as a space program planner at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, a lengthy timeline was begun to determine the approximate length of time it might take for humans to eventually leave this solar system and travel to the stars. The thought was that we would soon discover a blue planet around another star and would eventually seek to send a colony to explore and expand our presence in this galaxy. -
Iac-04-Iaa.3.8.3.07 the Lunar Space Elevator
IAC-04-IAA.3.8.3.07 THE LUNAR SPACE ELEVATOR Jerome Pearson, Eugene Levin, John Oldson, and Harry Wykes STAR Inc., Mount Pleasant, SC USA; [email protected] ABSTRACT This paper examines lunar space elevators, a concept originated by the lead author, for lunar development. Lunar space elevators are flexible structures connecting the lunar surface with counterweights located beyond the L1 or L2 Lagrangian points in the Earth- moon system. A lunar space elevator on the moon’s near side, balanced about the L1 Lagrangian point, could support robotic climbing vehicles to release lunar material into high Earth orbit. A lunar space elevator on the moon’s far side, balanced about L2, could provide nearly continuous communication with an astronomical observatory on the moon’s far side, away from the optical and radio interference from the Earth. Because of the lower mass of the moon, such lunar space elevators could be constructed of existing materials instead of carbon nanotubes, and would be much less massive than the Earth space elevator. We review likely spots for development of lunar surface operations (south pole locations for water and continuous sunlight, and equatorial locations for lower delta-V), and examine the likely payload requirements for Earth-to-moon and moon-to-Earth transportation. We then examine its capability to launch large amounts of lunar material into high Earth orbit, and do a top-level system analysis to evaluate the potential payoffs of lunar space elevators. SPACE ELEVATOR HISTORY The idea of a "stairway to heaven" is as as the rotation period of the body. -
Today's Space Elevator
International Space Elevator Consortium ISEC Position Paper # 2019-1 Today's Space Elevator Space Elevator Matures into the Galactic Harbour A Primer for Progress in Space Elevator Development Peter Swan, Ph.D. Michael Fitzgerald ii Today's Space Elevator Space Elevator Matures into the Galactic Harbour Peter Swan, Ph.D. Michael Fitzgerald Prepared for the International Space Elevator Consortium Chief Architect's Office Sept 2019 iii iv Today's Space Elevator Copyright © 2019 by: Peter Swan Michael Fitzgerald International Space Elevator Consortium All rights reserved, including the rights to reproduce this manuscript or portions thereof in any form. Published by Lulu.com [email protected] 978-0-359-93496-6 Cover Illustrations: Front – with permission of Galactic Harbour Association. Back – with permission of Michael Fitzgerald. Printed in the United States of America v vi Preface The Space Elevator is a Catalyst for Change! There was a moment in time that I realized the baton had changed hands - across three generations. I was talking within a small but enthusiastic group of attendees at the International Space Development Conference in June 2019. On that stage there was generation "co-inventor" Jerome Pearson, generation "advancing concept" Michael Fitzgerald and generation "excited students" James Torla and Souvik Mukherjee. The "moment" was more than an assembly of young and old. It was also a portrait of the stewards of the Space Elevator revolution -- from Inventor to Developer to Innovators. James was working a college research project on how to get to Mars in 77 days from the Apex Anchor and Souvik (16 years old) was representing his high school from India. -
Critical Technologies for the Development of Future Space Elevator Systems
c . d 8# CRITICAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE SPACE ELEVATOR SYSTEMS David V. Smitherman, Jr., Architect Technical Manager, Advanced Concepts Office NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA E-mail: David.Smitherman@,nasa.gov ABSTRACT: A space elevator is a tether structure extending through geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) to the surface of the earth. Its center of mass is in GEO such that it orbits the earth in sync with the earth’s rotation. In 2004 and 2005, the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Institute for Scientific Research, Inc. worked under a cooperative agreement to research the feasibility of space elevator systems, and to advance the critical technologies required for the future development of space elevators for earth to orbit transportation. The discovery of carbon nanotubes in the early 1990’s was the first indication that it might be possible to develop materials strong enough to make space elevator construction feasible. a This report presents an overview of some of the latest NASA sponsored research on space elevator design, and the systems and materials that will be required to make space elevator construction possible. In conclusion, the most critical technology for earth-based space elevators is the successful development of ultra high strength carbon nanotube reinforced composites for ribbon construction in the lOOGPa range. In addition, many intermediate technology goals and demonstration missions for the space elevator can provide significant advancements to other spaceflight and terrestrial applications. INTRODUCTION length of about 100,OOOkm. Its center of mass would be in GEO such that it would orbit the During the past year, through a cooperative earth in sync with the earth’s rotation. -
Space Elevators: an Advanced Earth-Space Infrastructure for the New Millennium
National Aeronautics and NASA/CP—2000–210429 Space Administration AD33 George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama 35812 Space Elevators An Advanced Earth-Space Infrastructure for the New Millennium Compiled by D.V. Smitherman, Jr. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama This publication is based on the findings from the Advanced Space Infrastructure Workshop on Geostationary Orbiting Tether “Space Elevator” Concepts, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, June 8–10, 1999. August 2000 The NASA STI Program Office…in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected the advancement of aeronautics and space papers from scientific and technical conferences, science. The NASA Scientific and Technical symposia, seminars, or other meetings sponsored Information (STI) Program Office plays a key or cosponsored by NASA. part in helping NASA maintain this important role. • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, technical, or historical information from NASA programs, The NASA STI Program Office is operated by projects, and mission, often concerned with Langley Research Center, the lead center for subjects having substantial public interest. NASA’s scientific and technical information. The NASA STI Program Office provides access to the • TECHNICAL TRANSLATION. NASA STI Database, the largest collection of English-language translations of foreign scientific aeronautical and space science STI in the world. The and technical material pertinent to NASA’s Program Office is also NASA’s institutional mission. mechanism for disseminating the results of its research and development activities. These results Specialized services that complement the STI are published by NASA in the NASA STI Report Program Office’s diverse offerings include creating Series, which includes the following report types: custom thesauri, building customized databases, organizing and publishing research results…even • TECHNICAL PUBLICATION. -
Arxiv:1908.09339V1 [Astro-Ph.IM] 25 Aug 2019 the Necessary Length
Draft version Preprint typeset using LATEX style AASTeX6 v. 1.0 In preparation for submission to Acta Astronautica. Questions and suggestions welcome. THE SPACELINE: A PRACTICAL SPACE ELEVATOR ALTERNATIVE ACHIEVABLE WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGY Zephyr Penoyre1 and Emily Sandford2 1Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, United Kingdom and 2Dept. of Astronomy, Columbia University, 550 W. 120th Street, New York NY 10027, USA ABSTRACT Perhaps the biggest hurdle to mankind's expansion throughout the Solar System is the prohibitive cost of escaping Earth's gravitational pull. In its many forms the space elevator provides a way to circumvent this cost, allowing payloads to traverse along a cable extending from Earth to orbit. However, modern materials are not strong enough to build a cable capable of supporting its own weight. In this work we present an alternative to the classic space elevator, within reach of modern technology: The Spaceline. By extending a line, anchored on the moon, to deep within Earth's gravity well, we can construct a stable, traversable cable allowing free movement from the vicinity of Earth to the Moon's surface. With current materials, it is feasible to build a cable extending to close to the height of geostationary orbit, allowing easy traversal and construction between the Earth and the Moon. 1. INTRODUCTION geostationary orbit to counteract Earth's gravitational For a vehicle travelling in empty space it's momen- pull. These competing forces put the cable in a large tum, as well as it's energy, comes from it's fuel. It must amount of tension ,and even when the cable has a ta- push heavy material behind it to propel itself forward. -
Extra-Terrestrial Space Elevators and the Nasa 2050 Strategic Vision T
Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop 2017 (LPI Contrib. No. 1989) 8172.pdf EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL SPACE ELEVATORS AND THE NASA 2050 STRATEGIC VISION T. Marshall Eubanks1, C.F. Radley1, 1Asteroid Initiatives LLC, Clifton, VA 20124 USA; [email protected]; Introduction: Extra-terrestrial space elevators can provide a transportation network to help fulfill NASA’s Counterweight strategic exploration goals for the next three decades. 15000 Probe While a terrestrial space elevator is not currently pos- 10000 5000 sible without developments in material science, space Moon elevators for the Moon and Mars are possible with ex- 0 isting and commercially produced tether material. El- -5000 evators for Ceres and other asteroids are also techn- -10000 cially feasible and may become relevant within the next -15000 Earth Perpindicular to Lunar orbital plane (km) -30000 -20000 -10000 0 10000 20000 30000 three decades. We have proposed a Deep Space Tether Earth-Moon Radial Direction (km) Pathfinder (DSTP) to provide a solid scientific return while testing tether engineering in deep space, a Lu- nar Space Elevator (LSE) Infrastructure (LSEI) for de- ployment as a functional lunar transport system, and a Figure 1: Trajectories of the two tips of the DSTP during Phobos-Anchored Mars Space Elevator (PAMSE) for a sample collection from the Lunar South Pole, as seen delivery of material to and from the Martian surface. from a selenocentric reference frame [2]. The counter- This paper discusses how these elevators can be inte- weight is considerably more massive than the probe and grated into the NASA Strategic Vision for 2050. is thus closer to the tether center-of-mass, which exe- cutes a smooth ballistic motion. -
Project Divinity
Project Divinity 1 Authors and Affiliation Instructor: KangSan Kim Students: SeungHyeon Do (Kongju High School, 12), JaeHun Jang (Korea Science Academy, 12), DongHyun Kim (Korea Science Academy, 12), YongSung Park (GwangJu Munsung High High School, 11), HwanSung Jang (Korean Minjok Leadership Academy, 11) 2 Table of Contents Authors and Affiliation .......................................................................................................................... 2 List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ 8 List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Abbreviations and Terminology .......................................................................................................... 11 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 12 1.1. Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 12 1.2. Background ........................................................................................................................... 13 1.2.1. Location ........................................................................................................................ 13 1.2.1.1. Orbit...................................................................................................................... -
Scientific Return of a Lunar Elevator
Scientific Return of a Lunar Elevator T.M. Eubanksa, C.F. Radleya aAsteroid Initiatives LLC, P.O. Box 141, Clifton Virginia 20124 Abstract The concept of a space elevator dates back to Tsilokovsky, but they are not commonly considered in near-term plans for space exploration, perhaps because a terrestrial elevator would not be possible without considerable improvements in tether material. A Lunar Space Elevator (LSE), however, can be built with current technology using commercially available tether polymers. This paper considers missions leading to infrastructure capable of shortening the time, lowering the cost and enhancing the capabilities of robotic and human explorers. These missions use planetary scale tethers, strings many thousands of kilometers long stabilized either by rotation or by gravitational gradients. These systems promise major reduction in transport costs versus chemical rockets, in a rapid timeframe, for a modest investment. Science will thus benefit as well as commercial activities. Keywords: space elevator, lunar exploration, large space structures 1. Introduction tether deployed as a static or orbiting struc- ture stretching from a celestial body out The long term exploration and develop- into space [2]. In order for a space elevator ment of space would greatly benefit from to remain static (stationary with respect to the use of planetary-scale tethers, both the surface of the body it is attached to) its as dynamic tools and for space elevators center of mass must be in a stationary orbit, [1, 2, 3]. with the force of gravity on the tether be- Free-flying tethers must rotate to stay in ing balanced by either the centrifugal force tension.