ROOM
73
Astronautics
Upper-stage rockets of cargo-carrying spacecraft
could crash on the lunar surface in order to not add
to the space debris cloud that already surrounds
the Earth. However, if the payload mass is chosen
appropriately, the boosters retain enough fuel to
make it possible to lower the speed in perigee after
circling the Moon and on the approach to Earth,
and to enter low Earth orbit. In this case, the low
cost of cargo delivery to the Moon is complemented
by the possibility to use upper-stage rockets
multiple times – it’s cheaper to re-fuel them in low
Earth orbit than to launch new boosters from Earth.
The first stages could thus provide 15-20 repeat
booster trips, with the potential of increasing that
number to 100-200 trips.
The method, called Moontrap Technology,
uses collectors that are not only useful for
transport but also for technological production.
Explosive processes in regolith, when hydrogen,
hydrocarbon, carbon, chloride and fluoride
enter the collector, create a regenerative
reaction that produces iron, titanium, nickel,
other metals and silicon.
Asteroids have their uses too
The regolith on many asteroids, including the
martian moons Phobos and Deimos, is rich in carbon
and possibly hydrocarbon. Carbon is necessary to
release metals and oxygen from regolith.
It is much easier to deliver carbon to
the Moon from Phobos or Deimos or other
asteroids than from the Earth. In some places
where hydrocarbon will fall, gas deposits, such
as CO, CO
2
and H
2
O will also appear along with
metals. These deposits can be used in later
stages as rocket fuel components.
Accordingly, a lunar transfer point would
be beneficial for not only providing resources
for Earth or a base on the Moon but also for
facilitating the delivery of asteroid resources. The
return of derived materials to space (for example,
for building space power stations and refueling
stations) also becomes cheaper thanks to orbitally
based collectors. Orbital collectors will thus
decrease the cost of cargo delivery by 95-99% not
only from the Moon but also from Earth.
About the author
Alexander Mayboroda is director of AVANTA-Consulting, Russia. He is
a former director of Microgravitatcia research and Technology Centre,
which worked under the aegis of the USSR Space Federation and the
Research and Technology Society of the USSR on non-rocket space
transport systems and using microgravity for industrial purposes. He
also holds a number of international patents relating to inventions in
space transport.
at the entry side of the collector container, which
serves as a temporary wall for the regolith inside
the container, goes through the mass of sand and
slows down deep inside the catcher environment.
The explosive evaporation of the cargo is
balanced by the massive and loose regolith. After
this, the quick-acting lock is activated and all
the gaseous product is hermetically sealed. The
gas cools and is pumped out of the container
into the bases’ storage containers. Then, a
new membrane or net is installed instead of
the pierced one (or the existing membrane is
patched up), the regolith is loosened or partially
replaced, the lock is opened, and the collection
container is once again ready for use.
Another type of membrane container is the
mobile container. Such a system can receive cargo
from the space vehicle that throws the cargo out
into a container area with a target error margin
of tens or hundreds of metres. These rods would
have lidar radar detection markings, allowing
the cargo’s location to be calculated as they land
vertically on the Moon. The collector container
will then proceed to move to the landing point for
cargo interception.
This method uses small collectors with the
receiving opening of about half a metre and
water or high-boiling hydrocarbons are used as
the braking environment. A mechanical lock and
an aerodynamic porthole are used for hermetic
sealing. An aerodynamic porthole or window is
a gaseous curtain that prevents the buffer zone
materials, such as gases, aerosols and liquids,
from leaking out into the outside vacuum. At
the same time, the aerodynamic window allows
for raw materials in the form of threads, bands
or thin gas tubes to enter the chamber. Streams
of materials that enter the chamber at the
speed of 1700 to 2000 m/s, interact with the
buffer zone, pulverize, brake and, mixing with
the chamber environment, give off heat, after
which they are separated and pumped into
storage tanks. The window works only when
the cargo arrives in the collection chamber of
the collector, when the mechanical hatch lock
is open.
Cargo-carrying spacecraft that can aim the
cargo with precision from orbit and into the Moon
collectors will naturally be specialised based on
the type of cargo they are transporting. To ensure
a successful delivery, the modules have a guidance
system and a rocket propulsion system to aim the
cargo block at the collector prior to send off, and
to turn the sending block away after the cargo has
been discharged.
Considering
the current
level of
rocket and
other space
technology
development,
it is more
profitable
to create
industrial
facilities on
asteroids
instead of on
the Moon
