Discussion Realistic lunar base "realism check"

[Grover]

hey all, i was thinking about designing a lunar base (possibly with someone's help for land-meshing), but i wanted to keep it mostly realistic; heres my idea:

a modular construction made of self-contained modules, all the same shape and size. although the modules can technically work individually, they are grouped to make power transfer, environmental control and living space more... better.

this is supplemented by external facilities such as power supply, waste disposal and backup environmental systems (if the loud machinery is a vacuum away from the living quarters, it makes them much more hospitable, and perhaps our lunar explorers could get some sleep)

finally, we have our landing point on one side, and a spacecraft "graveyard" on the other side, for any descent stages that get left behind


now, its already unrealistic for a start, because we have no feesable way of transporting those modules (or the heavy lift equipment for moving the descent stages) any further than LEO or possibly HEO, never mind all the way to the lunar surface, but lets imagine that we managed it. now i want to keep it realistic with everything from how many solar panels there are to the size of the modular complex.

firstly, if i were to use cylindrical modules, 3m diameter and 10m long (which would fit horizontally into the bay of an XR5, allowing to carry 5 of them at once) that were elevated slightly to allow for some system housing beneath the floor, and i were to use about 12 of them, each housing lighting, redundant life support, energy for living (powering the 12-16 astronauts' TVs laptops, tools etc), how much solar panel do i need to safely power it with some safety margin? assuming we're also charging electric rovers, comm equipment etc

next, is it ideal to place the habitable modules in the shadow of a land formation (as done in NASAs Moonbase Alpha) for heating purposes? or is it fine to just put it in the sun and save on heating?

and finally, would anyone be willing to help model some landscaping for me? i can do structures and modules myself but i dont have the skill (or software as far as i know) for natural formations

thanks guys!

 

[N_Molson]

What do you call "realism" ? If we assume the technology of the XR5 is available, then almost anything is possible.

Else you need HLVs that carry a module + a descent stage. That should be possible to simulate with Velcro Rockets. The Saturn-V sent more than 40 tons on trans-lunar trajectory, that's not nothing. You don't even need to achieve lunar orbit to land your modules ; if your timing is good a "direct descent" is possible.

You could start by estimating the empty mass of your core component. It would be a good thing to have a first autonomous module, like it was done for the ISS. So that a small team of astronauts can live in, and perform the complex operations required to expend the base.

Some kind of vehicle with a robotic arm would be good, too, to catch modules on their landing site and bring them back to the base (for safety reasons, you don't want to land a 15-tons modules 500 meters away from the base !).

Remember that the Sun moves in the lunar sky as it does on Earth. The difference is that the lunar day lasts 14 Earth days (28/2). Depending of your position on the Moon, your bace will spend roughly 14 days under the Sun and 14 days in the cold night. Polar locations can be interesting for that matter, but you will probably need more rocket power to send module on high-latitude locations.

For the setup, I'd say : do it like the ISS. Start small, with just enough to allow 3 'nauts to spend a few months there, and expand step by step.

And of course, you will need some lander to ferry crews from the Earth. Maybe a small lunar orbital station could be practical.

Good luck, I think you can have a lot of fun with this.

 

[Kendo]

Is it feasable to actually make the modules in situ. But of course you need machinary to make them, so I suppose it isn,t. The computers and all nessesery electronics etc could be transported from Earth, and put together in the modules. Alternatively, as the ISS is near its sell by date, what about towing individual ISS modules to use as the base to the moon somehow.? I,m just dreaming I guess.

 

[Grover]

perhaps i confused with the module thing, its not actually gonna be launched, ill just create the base. the modules will be added as buildings, not actually placed. i just want some realism guides on how to put my plan together

 

[Kendo]

I presume you mean 'modules' as living quarters.

 

[Grover]

indeed, kind of cylindrical MODULES, each of which can be placed individually, or linked to other module(s), sharing infrastructure

 

[n0mad23]

If you're interested I could send you links to essays and articles I've collected about this kind of stuff.

I'd suggest going for the shadows, and even going somewhat underground as well. In terms of "cheap" solutions, I think your best form of protection from radiation and micrometeorites is regolith. Since you're already considering doing some landscape meshing, I don't think it'd add much to the workload.

Running with N_Molson's thoughts about Lunar days and nights, I'd also really consider making your base either at the North Pole or the South one to try to minimize this restriction. Personally I'd go for the Malapert Mountain area as it looks like there are places that get almost no darkness in the course of a Lunar day. Also there's a lot of ice trapped in the perpetual shadow areas throughout the Aitkens Basin area, and that's certainly a resource worth pursuing with a base.

The biggest problem here though is the requirement of circumpolar orbits and the additional fuel cost needed in plane changes.

 

[Kendo]

Realistically, will the base be made no matter what it costs?

 

[Wonderer]

I think there was a thread in this forum about developing russian lunar modules (based on sketches from astronautix and Salyut stations (for textures)) for the Vulcan rocket (never released by kulch). Might be worth digging through the pages to try and find it, it contained a lot of useful information.

EDIT: Found it:
http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=3169&highlight=russian+lunar