HiPotOk1978
ReFuel L.L.C CEO
ReFuel recently launched and flown the first of perhaps a series of missions to the moon for researching an orbit for the building of the Lunar Orbiting Platform (LOP), the 2nd stop in their plan for their Earth/Lunar transfer network.
With a flawless launch into low Earth orbit of just 160km, an Energia HLLV launch vehicle carried the satellite, a ReFuel DGIV, and a Delta Tug into a parking orbit in plane with the Moon. After about 70 minutes in Earth orbit, the Delta Tug fired it engines to send the DGIV and its crew on the way to the Moon. After the Delta Tug carried the crew about 80% of the way, the tug detached and the DGIV fired it's engines to finish the rest of the Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) burn which would send the crew and payload to the moon in less than 3 days. About 8 hours till intercept with the moon, the crew performed a series of burns that would place their approach to the Moon over the northern pole. A series of burns would then place the DGIV into the proper orbit of 800km above the lunar surface at an inclination of 90 degrees. Deploying the satellite was the responsibility of veteran ReFuel space walker Jesus Gomez who was only the 3rd ReFuel employee to perform an EVA around the Moon. Once the satellite was brought on-line, the DGIV did a series of burns for the 2nd part of the mission where the glider itself would act as a second research vehicle at a lower altitude of 500km. Relaying information captured by the DGIV up to the LOGS satellite was an added feature introduced late into the mission planning for LOGS-01. This would allow the satellite to fine tune it's instruments and shorten the time needed for the satellite to tune into the small variations and start producing useful data. The satellite itself will continue to remain in orbit as the construction of the station continues. If the satellite is still functional as LOP comes online, its software will be updated to take on the role of watchdog mapping out the gravity field before LOP flies though it and relaying any important data back to the LOP flight computers.
The total time for the mission was 20 days, and the three astronauts were more than happy to return to ReFuel headquarters after being crammed into a DGIV for that length of time. With the crew home, and the data they collected, the LOGS satellite will remain in orbit relaying its data back to Earth slowing creating a high resolution around the moon gravity map. While the mission planners wait for the Earth Orbiting platform (EOP) station slowly aligns itself for the most fuel efficient trips.
"With the highly irregular gravity field of the Moon, it is essential that we do all our homework before LOP-01 mission is even loaded into the cargo craft. If we get this wrong, we could have a multi-million dollar piece of hardware crashing into the moon, or flying off into space” Lunar Orbiting Platform designer Terry Vance said in his on-line interview. “Also, using old and incomplete maps of the Lunar gravity, is just not an option for ReFuel”
LOP-01 which is scheduled for launch sometime in the summer of 2069 will use its sister station EOP for LEO refueling allowing larger lifts from the Ascension Island space port to lunar orbit. Unlike with the Earth orbiting station, full fuel tanks will not be lifted and installed into the station, nor will the station receive its refueling mission from Earth. All supplies and personal will be orbited and transferred from the lunar surface.
With a flawless launch into low Earth orbit of just 160km, an Energia HLLV launch vehicle carried the satellite, a ReFuel DGIV, and a Delta Tug into a parking orbit in plane with the Moon. After about 70 minutes in Earth orbit, the Delta Tug fired it engines to send the DGIV and its crew on the way to the Moon. After the Delta Tug carried the crew about 80% of the way, the tug detached and the DGIV fired it's engines to finish the rest of the Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) burn which would send the crew and payload to the moon in less than 3 days. About 8 hours till intercept with the moon, the crew performed a series of burns that would place their approach to the Moon over the northern pole. A series of burns would then place the DGIV into the proper orbit of 800km above the lunar surface at an inclination of 90 degrees. Deploying the satellite was the responsibility of veteran ReFuel space walker Jesus Gomez who was only the 3rd ReFuel employee to perform an EVA around the Moon. Once the satellite was brought on-line, the DGIV did a series of burns for the 2nd part of the mission where the glider itself would act as a second research vehicle at a lower altitude of 500km. Relaying information captured by the DGIV up to the LOGS satellite was an added feature introduced late into the mission planning for LOGS-01. This would allow the satellite to fine tune it's instruments and shorten the time needed for the satellite to tune into the small variations and start producing useful data. The satellite itself will continue to remain in orbit as the construction of the station continues. If the satellite is still functional as LOP comes online, its software will be updated to take on the role of watchdog mapping out the gravity field before LOP flies though it and relaying any important data back to the LOP flight computers.
The total time for the mission was 20 days, and the three astronauts were more than happy to return to ReFuel headquarters after being crammed into a DGIV for that length of time. With the crew home, and the data they collected, the LOGS satellite will remain in orbit relaying its data back to Earth slowing creating a high resolution around the moon gravity map. While the mission planners wait for the Earth Orbiting platform (EOP) station slowly aligns itself for the most fuel efficient trips.
"With the highly irregular gravity field of the Moon, it is essential that we do all our homework before LOP-01 mission is even loaded into the cargo craft. If we get this wrong, we could have a multi-million dollar piece of hardware crashing into the moon, or flying off into space” Lunar Orbiting Platform designer Terry Vance said in his on-line interview. “Also, using old and incomplete maps of the Lunar gravity, is just not an option for ReFuel”
LOP-01 which is scheduled for launch sometime in the summer of 2069 will use its sister station EOP for LEO refueling allowing larger lifts from the Ascension Island space port to lunar orbit. Unlike with the Earth orbiting station, full fuel tanks will not be lifted and installed into the station, nor will the station receive its refueling mission from Earth. All supplies and personal will be orbited and transferred from the lunar surface.
