Conceptual Design of Unpressurized Shelters on Lunar Surface
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 22, Issue 4
Abstract
Three concepts for the shelters on the moon are presented here. It is envisaged that the first robots will land on the moon and start preparing sites for advanced bases and also for future human presence. These robots will encounter severe radiation and micrometeor hits when they are exposed to the lunar atmosphere. During the period of intense solar radiation these robots have to be temporarily sheltered, since shielding on the robots may not be adequate to protect the instruments. The construction of these shelters has to be performed with very little equipment support. This paper presents concepts and their feasibility analysis for the fabrication of shelters under such stringent constraints.
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Acknowledgments
The writer acknowledges the NASA Summer Faculty program under which this project was undertaken. Special thanks to David Smitherman, Future Concepts Office, with whom this work was done. Thanks also are due to Michael Dunn, summer student, who worked on the Mission Architecture. Thank to Dennis Tucker Advanced Optical Systems Branch and Mike Fiske, Chief Technologist, ISFR for valuable discussions.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 22 • Issue 4 • October 2009
Pages: 396 - 402
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 3, 2008
Accepted: Jun 11, 2008
Published online: Sep 15, 2009
Published in print: Oct 2009
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