looking into interest for a lunar collaboration project

[ADSWNJ]

Good for you, Mortekai. I admire your passion for this project. I love the idea of building a mining colony at a lunar pole and then creating a trading route to bring the products back home. I'm assuming you need vehicles at each end to do the surface-to-orbit trips, then huge freighters to do the trans-lunar legs. You then need something in orbit at each end to corral the containers for pick-up (e.g. some way to strap the containers into long sausage-lines rolling prograde around the moon or earth, and a way to chain / de-chain them efficiently. You'll need a source of fuel for the vehicles: something mineable from the moon maybe? Anyway - real happy to contribute to the missions or planning when you get to that point.

 

[Interceptor]

One reason I was thinking gas cooled is because of the relative abundance of helium in the regolith. Helium is inert and wouldnt corrode the internals of the reactor, and give that splitting water is going to be necessary, it might behoove us to use a high temp output reactor.

Thorium, if i remember correctly, will shut down on its own regardless of the coolant, as thorium is not fissile, and is not critical in the reactor. Therefore, an external neutron source is usually needed anyway.

please correct me if i am wrong on this.

---------- Post added at 10:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:50 PM ----------

Im thinking the UCGO deployable structures and units like the mining units posted above will be perfectly acceptable with one caveat: in order to actually deploy the unit, we actually ship the equivalent materials for the structure or unit being deployed.

Speaking of which, Has anyone used HLV Lunar base v1.2a in 2010p1?

If so, this will take care of most of the surface base building that will be needed.

We might have to create the nuclear reactor, but modelling something like that should be a trivial thing. I will get some reference pictures for some small scale nuclear reactors and see about throwing something together. (i need to do some cleaning before I can run anything, but that shouldnt be too bad.

---------- Post added 10-04-11 at 12:42 AM ---------- Previous post was 10-03-11 at 10:10 PM ----------

I installed the HLV addon, and it seems that I am missing the config file for z14arms. Does anyone have any information concerning this?

Here ya go mortekai, this is what you need for the HLV base,you will find the zl4arms your looking for http://www.orbiterfrancophone.com/index.php?disp=dl&id=28:tiphat:,and good luck sounds like a great idea,I always wanted to put together a minning colony on the moon.

 

[xx_mortekai_xx]

I am currently working on an SLS, so we can use that to launch payloads into parking orbits, and then send them on their way.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System"]This?[/ame]

If so, sounds really good. It has a good deal of capacity, which will be very useful.

---------- Post added at 04:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 PM ----------

Good for you, Mortekai. I admire your passion for this project. I love the idea of building a mining colony at a lunar pole and then creating a trading route to bring the products back home. I'm assuming you need vehicles at each end to do the surface-to-orbit trips, then huge freighters to do the trans-lunar legs. You then need something in orbit at each end to corral the containers for pick-up (e.g. some way to strap the containers into long sausage-lines rolling prograde around the moon or earth, and a way to chain / de-chain them efficiently. You'll need a source of fuel for the vehicles: something mineable from the moon maybe? Anyway - real happy to contribute to the missions or planning when you get to that point.

So far, to get modules into orbit, I have been using the XR5. It has a hell of a capacity, and is fun to fly. I have also been using the Ariane 5 and 6 for oversize payloads.

I was hoping others would want to be involved in this, and if you have ideas you would like to discuss concerning the logistics, I would be happy to include you in the planning and execution.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

If you use the Energia from Kulch, as well as the Buran-T pod from his space tugs addon, you can easily get 100 ton payloads to orbit. Plus, it has an integrated launch autopilot that allows you to select the inclination of your orbit, then launches on the proper heading to achieve that orbit. Just make sure you include an upper stage with your payload to make orbit, as the Energia cannot carry it all the way. Just most of the way.

 

[xx_mortekai_xx]

Here ya go mortekai, this is what you need for the HLV base,you will find the zl4arms your looking for http://www.orbiterfrancophone.com/index.php?disp=dl&id=28:tiphat:,and good luck sounds like a great idea,I always wanted to put together a minning colony on the moon.

I figured out the issue and corrected it a bit ago, but I truly appreciate the help. If you would like to be involved, please say so. I was originally hoping to have a few people working on this instead of just me, and as of now I am simply playing around with station building at present, as a stepping stone to the moon, but I would be completely open to starting from scratch in planning this mission, as I only have a bit built ATM.

While I am constructing a station in LEO, I would like to have the station be usable as a refuel depot (if needed) and possibly a short term habitat. Using the SSBB to do this is proving to be more aggravation than its worth, as the modules act as individual vehicles, but would rather have a single vessel as a station, so that fuel and crew can be more efficiently transferred.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Well, the IMS project can help with that, but it's still under development. The other option is to use Dansteph's modified ISS, which can be refueled and carry crew. make sure you grab the RefuelMFD.

 

[xx_mortekai_xx]

If you use the Energia from Kulch, as well as the Buran-T pod from his space tugs addon, you can easily get 100 ton payloads to orbit. Plus, it has an integrated launch autopilot that allows you to select the inclination of your orbit, then launches on the proper heading to achieve that orbit. Just make sure you include an upper stage with your payload to make orbit, as the Energia cannot carry it all the way. Just most of the way.

ATM, I am using the XR5, which has a payload capacity of 432 metric tons. I like rockets, but I enjoy flying SSTO vehicles so much more (i dont really know why). I also am setting this in a near-mid term future, so SSTO vehicles are more plausible (moreso than today, at least).

If others end up joining this project, I am completely open to using whatever vehicles people want.

---------- Post added at 04:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:21 PM ----------

Well, the IMS project can help with that, but it's still under development. The other option is to use Dansteph's modified ISS, which can be refueled and carry crew. make sure you grab the RefuelMFD.

I have the ISS you mention, but what is the IMS project? And I LOVE the refuel MFD (i tend to be amused by little details like that. I am simpleminded sometimes )

EDIT: I found the IMS listing, and HELL YES. That is EXACTLY what I was hoping for.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Well, like I said, it's still a major WIP. Lots of those little details you like need to be added or debugged.

 

[xx_mortekai_xx]

I see that. I have now volunteered to help with that project, seeing as I really want to see it come to fruition.

 

[xx_mortekai_xx]

Ok, now that ims is coming to a point where it can be used reliably, I am hoping to start this back up in the next month or so. There is still some work that as to be done, but planning can at least commence to a small degree.