Study on Alternative Cargo Launch Options from the Lunar Surface

Blomberg, Cheryl A.; Zulkefli, Zamir A.; Rich, Spencer W.; Howe, Steven D.

Title: Study on Alternative Cargo Launch Options from the Lunar Surface

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Abstract

In the future, there will be a need for constant cargo launches from Earth to Mars in order to build, and then sustain, a Martian base. Currently, chemical rockets are used for space launches. These are expensive and heavy due to the amount of necessary propellant. Nuclear thermal rockets (NTRs) are the next step in rocket design. Another alternative is to create a launcher on the lunar surface that uses magnetic levitation to launch cargo to Mars in order to minimize the amount of necessary propellant per mission. This paper investigates using nuclear power for six different cargo launching alternatives, as well as the orbital mechanics involved in launching cargo to a Martian base from the moon. Each alternative is compared to the other alternative launchers, as well as compared to using an NTR instead. This comparison is done on the basis of mass that must be shipped from Earth, the amount of necessary propellant, and the number of equivalent NTR launches. Of the options, a lunar coil launcher had a ship mass that is 12.7% less than the next best option and 17 NTR equivalent launches, making it the best of the presented six options.

Authors:: Blomberg, Cheryl A.; Zulkefli, Zamir A.; Rich, Spencer W.; Howe, Steven D.

Publication Date:: Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013

Research Org.:: Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1097142

Report Number(s):: INL/CON-13-29026

DOE Contract Number:: DE-AC07-05ID14517

Resource Type:: Conference

Resource Relation:: Conference: Joint Propulsion Conference,San Jose, CA,07/15/2013,07/17/2013

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS; electromagnetic launch; lunar architecture

Citation Formats


                    Blomberg, Cheryl A., Zulkefli, Zamir A., Rich, Spencer W., and Howe, Steven D. Study on Alternative Cargo Launch Options from the Lunar Surface.  United States: N. p., 2013. 
        Web.

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                    Blomberg, Cheryl A., Zulkefli, Zamir A., Rich, Spencer W., & Howe, Steven D. Study on Alternative Cargo Launch Options from the Lunar Surface.  United States.

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                    Blomberg, Cheryl A., Zulkefli, Zamir A., Rich, Spencer W., and Howe, Steven D. 2013.  
        "Study on Alternative Cargo Launch Options from the Lunar Surface".  United States.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1097142.

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@article{osti_1097142,

  title        = {Study on Alternative Cargo Launch Options from the Lunar Surface},

  author       = {Blomberg, Cheryl A. and Zulkefli, Zamir A. and Rich, Spencer W. and Howe, Steven D.},

  abstractNote = {In the future, there will be a need for constant cargo launches from Earth to Mars in order to build, and then sustain, a Martian base. Currently, chemical rockets are used for space launches. These are expensive and heavy due to the amount of necessary propellant. Nuclear thermal rockets (NTRs) are the next step in rocket design. Another alternative is to create a launcher on the lunar surface that uses magnetic levitation to launch cargo to Mars in order to minimize the amount of necessary propellant per mission. This paper investigates using nuclear power for six different cargo launching alternatives, as well as the orbital mechanics involved in launching cargo to a Martian base from the moon. Each alternative is compared to the other alternative launchers, as well as compared to using an NTR instead. This comparison is done on the basis of mass that must be shipped from Earth, the amount of necessary propellant, and the number of equivalent NTR launches. Of the options, a lunar coil launcher had a ship mass that is 12.7% less than the next best option and 17 NTR equivalent launches, making it the best of the presented six options.},

  doi          = {},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1097142},
  journal      = {},
number       = ,

  volume       = ,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013},

  month        = {Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013}

}

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