Reusable Heavy Cargo and Crew Landing Vehicles for the Moon and Mars

Notional ETLV-4 rendezvous with propellant producing water depot @ EML1 with orbiting solar power plant (where propellant depots dock when converting water into LOX/LH2) in the background.

by Marcel F. Williams

In 2018, NASA will launch the first unmanned test flight of its wide body super heavy lift vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS). That first launch will also test the first uncrewed version of the Orion spacecraft. Coincidentally, 2018 will also be the same year that private companies, thanks to  the  financial help of NASA, will return American astronauts into orbit aboard private spacecraft. Crewed Orion/SLS missions are not scheduled to occur until at least the year 2021.

Congress has directed NASA to reveal the design of a  microgravity Deep Space Habitat (DSH)  by 2018. Unfortunately, the American space agency continues to ignore the use of a DSH as a gateway for crewed missions to the lunar surface while simply ignoring the significant  physiological problems associated with potential multiyear interplanetary missions within a microgravity environment.

Orion MPCV docked @ SLS propellant tank derived Deep Space Habitat (Credit NASA)

 The primary purposes for a  Deep Space Habitat (DSH) should be to:

1. Serve as a gateway to the lunar surface. Astronauts traveling from the Earth or from the lunar surface could dock their spacecraft at an EML1 habitat, taking temporary advantage of the more spacious accommodations before transferring to vehicle fueled destined for the lunar surface.  

2. Serve as a storm shelter during the occurrence of major solar events. This will probably require at least 30 cm of water shielding for the areas within the habitat that the astronauts will be occupying. Major solar events can last for several minutes to several hours.

3. Serve as a maintenance and repair station for reusable lunar shuttles (ETLV) and orbital transfer vehicles. Flex Craft docked at the DSH could also be utilized  for extravehicular repairs to  nearby water/propellant depots and associated solar arrays at EML1.

4. Test the effectiveness of various levels of water shielding required to mitigate cosmic radiation and potentially brain damaging heavy nuclei. In theory, 20 cm of water would be enough shielding to to stop the penetration of the heavy nuclei component of cosmic rays while 30 cm of water would reduce overall  annual cosmic radiation exposure to less than 25 Rem per year during solar minimum conditions. Solar storm events would also be significantly mitigating with 30 cm of water protection. Minimizing the mass of radiation shielding required for safe interplanetary travel would be essential for reducing the amount of propellant required for such missions.

5. Test the integrity and reliability of the pressurized habitat structures that might also be used for habitats on the surface of the Moon and Mars and for rotating  artificial gravity habitats for space stations placed in cis-lunar orbits, Mars orbit, and for crewed interplanetary journeys. 

Of course, a  DSH would be a-- destination to nowhere-- without developing vehicles capable of transporting humans and heavy cargo to the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. And, in my opinion, most Americans and members of Congress will continue to believe that  America's glory years in space are in the past until American astronauts are once again  walking on the surfaces of other worlds-- this time to stay.

NASA's beyond LEO ambitions are severely  hampered by the fact that it continues to operate a relatively expensive (~$3 billion/yr) LEO program (ISS) without a significant increase in the NASA budget for its beyond LEO program. While it has been presumed that much more funding will be provided for NASA's beyond LEO missions once the ISS program comes to an end, there are still efforts to extend the ISS program beyond 2024, again, without increasing the NASA budget in order to pay for its continuation.

Bigelow Aerospace plans to deploy its first private commercial space habitats to LEO  in 2020 aboard the ULA's Atlas V rocket. If this private space company is successful then there's really no reason for NASA to continue the ISS program beyond 2020 since private companies will be able to do  research and development at LEO.   This, of course, would allow NASA to use ISS related funds to develop the cargo and crew landing vehicles, habitats, and related infrastructure for crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.

 Allowing foreign astronauts to participate in NASA's beyond LEO program could provide additional funding for NASA. By 2018, Russia plans to charge NASA,  $81 million per astronaut for transport  to an from the ISS. NASA could charge  foreign space agencies $150 million for each astronaut participating in one of its  beyond LEO missions. The Orion MPCV is capable of accommodating as many as six astronauts. If two of those astronauts were from foreign space agencies paying NASA to join the mission then  NASA could save $300 million per crewed SLS launch.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has estimated that the cost of developing a crewed two stage lunar lander  at approximately $12 billion. Former NASA director,  Charlie Bolden,  estimated the cost of developing a lunar landing vehicle at approximately $8 to $10 billion.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the surface of the Moon just seven years after NASA invited  eleven private firms  to submit proposals for the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) in July of 1962. So if we assume that it will take seven years to develop an extraterrestrial landing vehicle or vehicles ( using a COTS type of funding for more than one vehicle), then annual development cost over the course of seven years might range from approximately $1.1 billion  to $1.7 billion. We can also assume that an additional  $1.1 billion a year to $1.7 billion a year over the course of an additional seven years would then be needed to fund the development of a future Mars landing vehicle.  Such annual funding for  extraterrestrial landing vehicles would still leave ample funds for financing the development of lunar and martian habitats and the associated infrastructure.

Boeing Aerospace 2.4 meter Super Light Weight cryotank (Credit Boeing Aerospace)

However, the development time, cost, and recurring cost  for an extraterrestrial landing vehicle (ETLV) could be substantially reduced if: 

1.  A single stage vehicle, or vehicles,  were developed instead of a-- two stage vehicle

2. An ETLV was developed that was largely derived from technology that either already exist or is currently in development

3. An ETLV was developed that utilized LOX/LH2 common bulkhead propellant tanks instead of two different tanks for liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen

4. An ETLV was developed that were capable of transporting cargo and crews to the surfaces of both the Moon and Mars and back to the orbits of the Moon and Mars

5.  An ETLV was  developed that had pressurized habitat and airlock areas derived from re-purposed ETLV propellant tanks. 

6. An ETLV was  developed that was  capable of being reused for at least for ten round trips to and from their destinations (the surfaces of the Moon or Mars)

7.  An ETLV was  developed that was capable of also being utilized for unmanned robotic and cargo missions

8.  An ETLV was  developed that was capable of also being utilized as a crewed orbital transfer vehicles between LEO, Low Lunar Orbit, and the Earth-Moon Lagrange points

Front view of notional singe stage reusable ETLV-4 derived from 2.4 meter in diameter cryotanks

Side view of notional singe stage reusable ETLV-4 derived from 2.4 meter in diameter cryotanks

ETLV-4 

Up to 40 tonnes of LOX/LH2 propellant in four 2.4 meter in diameter propellant tanks 

Four RL-10 derived CECE engines 

2.4 meter in diameter propellant tank derived central crew habitat area with lower heavy ion shielded storm shelter   

Twin 2.4 meter in diameter propellant tank derived airlocks 

Inert mass without heavy ion water shielded area: ~12 tonnes 

Inert mass with heavy ion water shielded area (22 cm of water): ~17 tonnes 

Gross mass: 57 tonnes 

specific impulse: 445 seconds

   
Due to reduced vehicle mass, reductions in vehicle components, and reduced vehicle complexity, Lockheed-Martin  concluded that the development  cost and recurring cost for a lunar lander could be substantially reduced if a reusable single stage vehicle were developed instead of a two staged spacecraft.   NASA reached a similar conclusion back in the late 1980s when JPL proposed its own single stage LOX/LH2 lunar landing vehicle.  

Boeing developed and tested a 2.4 meter cyrotank as a prelude to its development of a 5.5 meter in diameter, Super Light Weight Tank, that might possibly be used for the 5.5 meter LOX tank for the SLS upper stage (EUS). The 2.4 meter tank was successfully filled with liquid hydrogen chilled at  –423 °F  and cycled through-- twenty-- pressurization and  vent cycles.  If Boeing's 2.4 meter tank were utilized in a common bulkhead configuration for storing LOX/LH2 propellant in an Altair-like vehicle then such tanks could be utilized for a reusable single staged spacecraft. 

Four RL-10 derived CECE (Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine) engines, currently in development by Aerojet Rocketdyne,  could enhance vehicle safety with engine out capability and would be capable of up to 50 restarts. This should enable the vehicle to be used for at least 10 round trips from the surfaces of the Moon or Mars and to various orbital regions near each celestial body.  The CECE engines are also supposed to be designed to have a throttle capability ranging from 104% of thrust down to just 5.6%, which should allow an extraterrestrial landing vehicle to land on worlds as large as the Moon and  Mars or as small as the moons of Mars. However, thrusters near the bottom of an ETLV could also be used to land on the surfaces of the small low gravity martian moons.

Utilizing Integrated Vehicle Fluid (IVF) technology currently being developed by the ULA, helium and hydrazine would no longer be required for an extraterrestrial spacecraft with some ullage gases even being utilized for  attitude control. With the addition of  NASA emerging cryocooler technology, solar powered cryocoolers could reliquify some ullage gases, eliminating the  boil-off of hydrogen and oxygen.

Pressurized crew areas and airlocks derived from re-purposed ETLV propellant tanks, could further reduce development and recurring cost.  The twin cryotank derived airlocks allows more room within the cabin while allowing astronauts to leave the vehicle without having to decompress and then re-pressurize the crew cabin.  With the airlocks positioned just a few meters above the landing pods, pressure suited astronauts could depart the vehicle just few meters above a planetary surface, reducing the difficulty and risks associated with exiting and entering the spacecraft.   The low position of the airlocks should also make it convenient for mobile robotic vehicles to be deployed to the surface of a the Moon or Mars or the moons of Mars for robotic exploration and potential sample  returns to orbit.

NASA's ADEPT deceleration shield concept (Credit NASA)

Developing a  landing vehicle that could be used for crewed missions to both the lunar and martian surfaces would, of course, substantially reduce development cost.  A spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts from surface of Mars to Low Mars Orbit (~4.4 m/s delta-v)  would also be easily capable of transporting astronauts from the surface of the Moon to Low Lunar Orbit or to any of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points (less than 2.6 m/s delta-v).

Landing such an extraterrestrial landing vehicle on the surface of Mars, however, would require the development of a deceleration shield. NASA is currently doing research on two types of deceleration shields: HIAD and ADEPT. The rigid ADEPT deceleration shield could allow spacecraft to deploy up to  40 tonnes of payload  practically anywhere on the surface of Mars. After the ADEPT deceleration shield was discarded, a delta-v of less than 0.6 meters per second would only be required to land the vehicle on the martian surface

 

Notional ADEPT deployment of 40 tonnes of cargo to the martian surface (Credit NASA)

An extraterrestrial landing vehicle capable of transporting astronauts from the surface of Mars to low Mars orbit would also be capable of transporting astronauts from LEO to Low Lunar Orbit or to any of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points. Utilizing the ETLV in such a manner, however,  could make the Orion MPCV obsolete,  allowing astronauts to be transported into orbit by Commercial Crew vehicles and then transferred to a propellant depot fueled  ETLV  for easy access to the Earth-Moon Lagrange points and Low Lunar Orbit and to the lunar surface.

Notional CLV-7B cargo lander derived from 2.4 meter diameter cryotanks

A cargo lander (CLV) derived from the crew version of the ETLV could easily be derived using all seven 2.4 meter in diameter pressurized tanks to carry propellant. With a  diameter of at least 7.2 meters, such a cargo transport could deploy large and heavy structures as large as 8.6 meters in diameter to the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. Pressurized habitats derived from an SLS propellant tank technology with diameters up to 8.4 meters  could easily be deployed to the surfaces of the Moon and Mars by such an ETLV derived CLV. 

ATLETE robots could be used  for offloading heavy cargo to the surfaces of the Moon and Mars aboard a notional CLV-7B (Credit: NASA)

CLV-7B

Up to 35 tonnes of LOX/LH2 propellant in seven 2.4 meter in diameter propellant tanks 

Four RL-10 derived CECE engines 

Specific impulse: 445 second

Inert mass without payload: ~8 tonnes 

Gross mass without payload: ~43 tonnes 

Capable of accommodating cargo with diameters as large as 8.6 meters 

Notional SLS propellant tank derived  regolith shielded habitat for the Moon and Mars with an 8.4 meter in diameter pressurized habitat area that could be deployed to the lunar or martian surface using the CLV-7B and ATHLETE technologies. 

Once the cargo lander is  on the surface of the Moon and after its payload is deployed,  water bags could be securely attached to the top of the  CLV-7B. This could allow the CLV to be reused as a water transport tanker capable of transporting  at least 35 tonnes of water from the surface of the Moon to EML1. Using its CECE engines for ten round trips could enable the CLV to  deliver more than 300 tonnes of water to   propellant producing water depots located at EML1.

With the capability of landing crews and payloads on the Moon and Mars, the ETLV-4 crew lander and the CLV-7B cargo lander should also be capable of  someday landing crews and cargo on the surfaces of the planet Mercury and on Jupiter's moon, Callisto, two other viable worlds for potential commercialization and human settlement. Within Jupiter space, automated unmanned ETLV-4 spacecraft operated from an outpost on Callisto could transport mobile robotic vehicles to the Jovian moons within Jupiter's deadly radiation belt (Ganymede, Europa, and Io) for continuous robotic exploration and sample returns from these interesting but heavily radiation inundated  worlds.


Links and References

Composite Cryotank Technologies; Demonstration


CECE (Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine)


An Integrated Vehicle Propulsion and Power System for Long Duration Cryogenic Spaceflight (ULA)


 The SLS and the Case for a Reusable Lunar Lander

Finally, some details about how NASA actually plans to get to Mars

 

Private Space Habitat to Launch in 2020 Under Commercial Spaceflight Deal

Russia is squeezing NASA for more than $3.3 billion — and there's little anyone can do about it

Apollo Lunar Module

Substantially Enhancing the Capability of the SLS Architecture by Utilizing EUS Derived Propellant Depots and Reusable Orbital Transfer Vehicles

ADEPT Technology for Crewed and Uncrewed Missions to the Planets

 

Landing on Mars with ADEPT Technology

 

Inflatable Biospheres for the New Frontier 

 

Living and Reproducing on Low Gravity Worlds

Reusable Hoppers and Orbiters for Rapid Lunar Transportation and Exploration

by Marcel F. Williams

For NASA and its future SLS program,  developing  a reusable single staged extraterrestrial  landing vehicle (ETLV) could allow America to send astronauts  to the surface of the Moon, Mars, and even to the surfaces of the moons of Mars. Such an ETLV could be used to conveniently transport astronauts from EML1 (Earth-Moon Lagrange point 1) to the surface of the Moon and back to EML1 on a single fueling of LOX/LH2 propellant. NASA astronauts could reach EML1 and return to the Earth via an SLS launched Orion spacecraft.

Eventually, by deploying ETLV derived orbital propellant depots at points of departure and destination, such a reusable spacecraft could also be used as an orbital transfer vehicle, transporting astronauts between LEO and the Earth-Moon Lagrange points. This would allow Commercial Crew vehicles to shuttle NASA astronauts to LEO to dock with an ETLV destined for EML1 or to return astronauts from an ETLV returning from EML1. 


ETLV-2 (Extraterrestrial Landing Vehicle)

Inert weight with cargo and  crew (8 passengers): 10 tonnes

Maximum amount of propellant:  24 tonnes of  LOX/LH2

Maximum fueled weight: 34 tonnes

Specific Impulse of LOX/LH2 engines: ~ 450 seconds 

Top: ETLV-2 reusable lunar crew lander and lunar hopper; Bottom: CTLV-5B reusable LOX/LH2 cryotanker.

CTLV-5B (Cryotanker Landing Vehicle)

Inert weight: 8 tonnes

Maximum amount of propellant: 30 tonnes

Maximum fueled weight: 40 tonnes

Specific Impulse of LOX/LH2 engines: ~ 450 seconds


By utilizing  ADEPT  deceleration shields, such an ETLV could also be used to transport humans from low Mars orbit to the surface of Mars and back into  Mars orbit  on a single fueling.  With an ADEPT decelerator, the delta-v requirement to land on the lunar surface from orbit is only 0.51 km/s. The delta-v to travel from the surface of Mars back to Mars orbit is 4.4 km/s. Propellant depot located in Low Mars Orbit would allow the vehicle to refuel in order to travel to orbital habitats or interplanetary vehicles located in High Mars Orbits. Traveling between High Mars Orbit and the Earth-Moon Lagrange points has the lowest delta-v requirements between Mars orbit and cis-lunar space.

A reusable  ETLV located at propellant producing  lunar outpost that utilizes a reusable CTLV (Cryotanker Landing Vehicle) could also allow humans to continuously explore practically every region on the lunar surface without the need of any additional SLS launches from Earth-- dramatically reducing the cost of the human exploration of the Moon

Once a permanent outpost is established on the surface of the   Moon, the entire lunar surface, including its craters, could be continuously explored by robotic lunar rovers tele-operated from Earth. Such solar and nuclear powered mobile robots could also retrieve regolith samples  for return to the outpost for study and, eventually, transported back to Earth. Such mobile robots could also be used to  locate interesting sites for future human exploration.

Because annual levels of cosmic  radiation on the lunar surface can range from 11 Rem during solar maximum conditions to as high as 38 Rem during solar minimum conditions, astronauts living on the Moon for several months or several years will have to minimize their radiation exposure by mostly living inside regolith shielded habitats to reduce annual radiation exposure to less than 5 Rem (the maximum level of radiation exposure for radiation workers on Earth) during solar maximum and minimum conditions. This can easily be done by landing  habitats on the lunar surface that can automatically deploy regolith walls that can be easily filled with approximately 2 meters of lunar regolith.

If astronauts spend about 10% of their time outside of their shielded habitats  (2.4 hours per day or 16.8 hours per week), their additional exposure after a year would only range from 1.1 Rem to 3.8 Rem. A 25 year old female could live and work on the Moon for a decade and still not exceed her maximum lifetime limit of 100 Rem. Astronauts minimizing their radiation exposure by  exploring the lunar surface for just  four to eight hours per week could, therefore,  explore various regions on the Moon on a weekly basis-- if they could have easy access to such regions.

Since ground vehicles transporting crews across the lunar surface are not likely to exceed 20 km per hour in average speed, the maximum area that could be explored by pressure suited astronauts is not likely to exceed a distance of more than 80 kilometers away from a shielded lunar  outpost.

However, rocket powered sub-orbital Lunar Hoppers hurtling along parabolic arcs have long been advocated as a way for humans to explore more distant regions on the Moon-- far beyond a permanent lunar outpost. But such missions would require the reusable vehicle to have-- enough propellant-- to:

1. take off from the outpost on a suborbital trajectory,

2. land at the site intended to be explored,

3. take off again on a suborbital trajectory,

and,

4. land back at the lunar outpost.

The delta-v and travel times for possible crewed suborbital hops on the lunar surface.

David Hop, on his popular space blog, has done some interesting calculations, suggesting  that lunar hoppers could transport humans anywhere on the lunar surface in less than an hour with a maximum delta-v of only 1.68 km/s. So  transportation between lunar outpost and lunar cities could be conveniently fast and easy-- as long as every lunar outpost or  lunar city can refuel the Hopper for its next suborbital destination.  

An ETLV fueled with a maximum of 24 tonnes of LOX/LH2 propellant (originally designed for round trips between EML1 and the lunar surface) could transport astronauts within a 1300 kilometer radius from a lunar outpost and back.  Beyond 1300 kilometers (45 degrees), however, such an ETLV  would not have enough propellant for its return trip to the lunar outpost.

Since the distance from the poles to the lunar equator would be 2700 kilometers away and to  the opposite pole, more than 5400 kilometers away,  a single polar outpost would pretty much  confine  human exploration via Hoppers mostly to it's polar region.

One way to overcome such geographical limitations would be to launch crewed ETLVs to EML1.  There it would add additional rocket fuel  from a  propellant depot (WPD-OTV-5A) located at EML1 for a round trip mission from the Lagrange point to the lunar site chosen to be explored. After the completion of the exploratory mission, the ETLV would return to EML1 to add propellant for its return trip to its original lunar outpost.


Lunar Exploration via lunar outpost and EML1 propellant depot

1. Crewed ETLV-2 launched from lunar outpost to EML1 (less than 12 hours at high delta-v or two days at a lower delta-v))

2. ETLV-2 rendezvous with WPD-OTV-5A adding enough propellant for a round trip from the lunar surface and back to EML1

3. ETLV-2 travels to lunar orbit and lands at lunar site (~2 days of travel) for a few hours or a few days of exploration

4. ETLV-2 launches itself back to EML1 (~2 days of travel) and rendezvous with WPD-OTV-5A to refuel for trip back to lunar outpost

5. ETLV-2 departs from EML1 to return to lunar outpost (less than 12 hours or up to two days)

This scenario requires only one vehicle (ETLV-2). In theory, it would  allow sorties to be conducted practically anyplace on the lunar surface on a weekly basis.  This method, however,  would require at least five to eight days of travel time-- excluding the time spent exploring the region on the lunar surface. So each lunar sortie would expose astronauts to five to eight continuous  days cosmic radiation outside of a regolith shielded outpost-- for perhaps just a few hours or a few of days of exploration at a particular lunar site.

Alternatively, pre-deploying a mobile propellant depot (MCT) at the site intended to be explored could minimize astronauts radiation exposure during a lunar sortie.

 ETLV-2 lands near a pre-deployed mobile cryotanker (MCT) after it's suborbital flight to a predetermined lunar exploratory site. The MCT will provide the ETLV-2 with additional LOX/LH2 for its return flight to a polar outpost.

 Lunar exploration utilizing mobile cryotankers

1. A solar and fuel cell powered mobile cryotanker (MCT) with up to 12 tonnes of propellant is sent to a lunar exploratory site (distance traveled: 300 km/day) in less than a month

2.  Crewed ETLV-2 launched from lunar outpost to lunar exploratory site (less than an hour)  with a few tonnes of extra fuel for the return trip to the outpost. 

3. MCT adds enough additional  fuel to the ETLV-2 for it to return to the lunar outpost

4. With added fuel, the ETLV-2 launches itself back to lunar outpost in less than an hour of travel time

5. The mobile MCT returns to the lunar outpost after a few weeks of travel time.

This scenario dramatically reduces  astronaut's travel time  to less than two hours of continuous radiation exposure. Preparing for such lunar sorties, however, would require a mobile cryotanker to be deployed to the exploratory site a few weeks before the crewed mission. And then a few weeks would have to be allowed for the cryotanker's return to the lunar outpost.


However, there is another way that lunar sorties from a lunar outpost could be conducted on a daily basis while also minimizing cosmic radiation exposure. This scenario would require an ETLV to be launched in an orbital plane above the intended site to be explored  along with a reusable  CTLV (Cryotanker Landing Vehicle).

Crewed ETLV-2 rendezvous with an unmanned CTLV-5B cryotanker in the same orbital plane as the intended  lunar exploratory site and the lunar outpost. After the lunar exploratory mission is completed, both the ETLV-2 and the CTLV-5B will return to the lunar outpost to be used again for future lunar exploratory missions.

 Lunar exploration utilizing an ETLV-2 and CTLV-5B in lunar orbit

1. CTLV-5B launched from lunar outpost into an orbital plane directly above the intended landing site

2. Crewed ETLV-2 launched from lunar outpost  into the same orbital plane

3. ETLV-2 rendezvous with CTLV-5B adding enough propellant for a round trip from the lunar surface and back into orbit

4. ETLV-2 lands at lunar exploratory site for a few hours or a few days of exploration

5. ETLV-2 launches itself back into orbit along the same orbital plane

6. ETLV-2 rendezvous with CTLV-5B adding enough propellant to return to the lunar outpost

7. CTLV-5B uses the its remaining amount of propellant to land back at the lunar outpost to be eventually refueled to assist in the next sortie mission on the lunar surface

ETLV-2 at an exploratory site on the lunar surface. Distances exceeding  1300 kilometers away from a propellant producing lunar outpost will require the ETLV-2 to use its remaining fuel to launch itself back into the same orbital plane as an orbiting CTLV-5B cryotanker, in order to add the needed fuel necessary for it to return to the lunar outpost.

The CTLV is simply the CLV (Cargo Landing Vehicle) without the cargo. So no new extraterrestrial vehicle would have to be developed in order to utilize the CLV as a reusable propellant vehicle (CTLV).

While this scenario requires two reusable launch vehicles (ETLV-2 and the CTLV-5B), it has the advantage of being able to  deploy astronauts quickly to an exploration site in just a few hours. Most of the few hours of travel time for astronauts would be spent in lunar orbit while rendezvousing with the CTLV-5B propellant  depot to add more propellant.

In the early 2030s, I imagine that most of the water produced at a lunar outpost  would probably be exported to one of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points to provide water for future interplanetary missions to Mars, Venus, ESL4, ESL5, and the NEO asteroids: water for drinking, washing, the production of air, radiation shielding, and LH2/LOX propellant.

But some of the water derived from the lunar poles could also be used for the production of lunar propellant intended for the domestic human exploration of the lunar surface.  This could allow reusable Extraterrestrial Landing Vehicles to  cheaply and conveniently transport astronauts to practically every region on the lunar surface for a few hours or even a few days of exploration. So the production and export of lunar water could not only greatly enhance NASA's ability to send humans to Mars but it could also usher in a new renaissance of human exploration-- on the lunar surface.

Links and References


Trajectory Optimization for Adaptive Deployable Entry and Placement Technology (ADEPT)

Lunar Hopper

Travel on airless worlds 

Lunar pogo hopper

Drones on the Moon
Is it possible to explore the Moon with low-altitude flying spacecraft?

Lunar Lander Designs for Crewed Surface Sortie Missions in a Cost Constrained Environment

The SLS and the Case for a Reusable Lunar Lander

An SLS Launched Cargo and Crew Lunar Transportation System Utilizing an ETLV Architecture

Utilizing the SLS to Build a Cis-Lunar Highway

Cosmic Radiation and the New Frontier

Utilizing Lunar Water Resources for Human Voyages to Mars

At EML4, an OTV-400 interplanetary booster  undocks with a fuel depot (WPD-OTV-400) before proceeding to dock with the  Odyssey interplanetary spacecraft. 

by Marcel F. Williams

Long interplanetary journeys to  Mars, or to the orbit of Venus, or even to some of  the NEO asteroids could take several months or even years before their human occupants finally return to the relative safety of the Earth's surface. Such interplanetary voyages will require a substantial tonnage of water  for drinking, washing, the preparation of food,  the manufacturing of oxygen for air,  the production of  liquid oxygen and hydrogen for propellant, and for appropriately shielding humans inside of  habitat modules from the dangers of cosmic radiation and major solar events.

NASA delta-v estimates for  achieving Mars Transfer Orbits from LEO during the 2030s range above 3.8 km/s to just below 5 km/s-- just to reach the vicinity of Mars. Additionally,  a LEO departure for Mars would require launching the huge amounts of water and propellant for the voyage out of the Earth's enormous gravity well. This would require a delta-v ranging from 9.3 to 10 km/s.

However, if  crewed interplanetary vehicles are launched from an Earth-Moon Lagrange point, the delta-v requirements to achieve a Mars Transfer Orbit would be substantially lower. The delta-v requirements for departing cis-lunar space from one of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points could be less than 2 km/s-- especially if an Earth flyby or an Earth and Moon flyby (even better) are taken advantage of during the initial trajectory burns.

Providing water and propellant for  crewed interplanetary mission from the lunar surface to an Earth-Moon Lagrange point would also have a substantially lower delta-v requirement.  A  delta-v of less than  2.6 km/s would only be required to supply water and propellant to an interplanetary gateway at an  Earth-Moon Lagrange point. Contrast that with the  enormous  9.3  to 10 km/s delta-v that is need to  supply propellant and water to an interplanetary vehicle located at LEO.  The lunar supply of water and propellant to an interplanetary spacecraft at an  Earth-Moon Lagrange point would also have the additional economic advantage of being able to use single stage reusable vehicles. 

Earth-Moon Lagrange Points, the optimal gateways to interplanetary space within cis-lunar space.

So  launching  crewed interplanetary space craft to Mars from one of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points (L1, L2, L4, or L5) has a substantial delta-v advantage over launching crewed interplanetary spacecraft from LEO--  if such spacecraft are supplied with fuel and water from the surface of the Moon. 

During the 2030s, entering High Mars Orbit during a Conjunction Class Mission (330 to 560 day stays) would require an additional delta-v of 0.9 to 1.9 km/s, while entering High Mars Orbit during  Opposition Class Missions (60 day stay)  would require an additional delta-v trajectory burn ranging from  0.9 to 3.8 km/s. The additional delta-v requirements for reaching High Mars Orbit adds further support for minimizing the initial delta-v requirements when departing from cis-lunar space. So, again, supply fuel and water from the Moon from an Earth-Moon Lagrange point gateway would appear to be the optimal way to begin crewed interplanetary journeys. 

But how much water is there on the lunar surface? And how technologically difficult would it be  to extract large quantities of water from the lunar regolith?

A spectral analysis of the ejecta plume from the impact of  a Centaur upper stage  into the  Cabeus crater at the lunar south pole was conducted in 2009.  The analysis indicated that the lunar regolith in the shadowed crater contained water ice with concentrations ranging from 2.7% to 8.5% by mass. This suggest that  in some of the permanently shadowed craters at the southern pole, the lunar regolith there may contain as much as  27 to 85 kilograms of ice per tonne. 

The dark purple and blue areas represent neutron emissions from the Moon's polar regions that indicate  hydrogen-rich regions on the lunar surface covered by desiccated regolith (Credit: NASA) .  

In the Moon's northern polar region, the Mini-RF on board the Chandrayaan-1 orbiting probe strongly suggest that 40  craters in the northern polar region my contain as much as 600 million tonnes of water-ice. So there is clearly no shortage of  water resources on the lunar surface.

In order to provide enough water for human activities at a lunar outpost, a cis-lunar transportation system, and to supply propellant and mass shielding for five Conjunction or Opposition Class missions to Mars during the 2030s: 2030, 2033, 2035, 2037, and 2039, at least 500 to 1000 tonnes of water is going to have to be annually manufactured on the lunar surface.

A lunar water and fuel manufacturing depot along side of mobile LOX and LH2 storage tanks and a mobile microwave water extraction robot (Water Bug).

NASA researchers have demonstrated that a simple one kilowatt microwave oven could extract as much as a tonne of water from the regolith at the lunar poles over a one year period. A single mobile robot with a 100 kw powered microwave oven, therefore, should be  able to annually extract 100 tonnes of water from the regolith from the shadowed areas at the lunar poles. Ten such mobile microwave units might be able to extract 1000 tonnes of water per year from lunar polar regolith resources.

Solar extraction of water from lunar regolith brought from permanently shaded lunar craters at the lunar poles. Transparent domes allows sunlight to heat a layer of lunar regolith from the top while solar heated metal tubes below filled with methanol heat the regolith from below. Water vapor is deposited within regolith insulated cold trap canisters.

However, a simpler method may only require sunlight to passively extract water from the lunar regolith. If one tone of regolith from the shadowed areas of the  lunar poles is composed of  approximately 5% water ice then mobile lunar excavators capable of digging up and depositing at least one tonne of regolith into a solar heater could produce at least 50 kg of water per day (18 tonnes of water per year). Just a few electric powered or fuel cell powered excavation robots on the lunar surface could, in theory,  deposit at least one ton of icy regolith to a solar heater per hour (more than 400 tonnes of water per year).

A reusable water tanker shuttle on a microwave sintered launch pad after being loaded with lunar water and lunar fuel for its flight to a water and propellant depot at one of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points.

The Odyssey interplanetary vehicles would be crewed spacecraft capable of transporting 12 astronauts to High Mars Orbit and back to cis-lunar space using solar photovoltaic powered propellant producing water depots supplied with water from the lunar surface. The Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV-400) and the IAGH (Interplanetary Artificial Gravity Habitats) would both be derived from the SLS fuel tank technology.

 The OTV-400 would use  a common bulk-head LOX/LH2 fuel tank derived from the SLS fuel tank technology. An IVL(Integrated Vehicle Fluids) type of technology would be used to utilize ullage gases for attitude control. Space Works has proposed a similar type of OTV using IVL technology that would store more than 450 tonnes of LOX/LH2 fuel. However, the OTV-400 would also use photovoltaic powered cryocoolers to  virtually eliminate any hydrogen and oxygen boil-off.
 
The twin habitat modules of the IAGH would rotate to produce a 0.5g simulated gravity for the six humans inside each module. The IAGH would also  be  appropriately water shielded to protect  its most radiation vulnerable occupants (25 year old female astronauts) from excessive exposure to  cosmic radiation and its  heavy nuclei component in a addition to major solar events-- for up to four years-- during solar minimum conditions. 50 cm of water shielding would be required to appropriately shield the light weight twin SLS fuel tank derived living areas: 118 tonnes of water shielding for each habitat module, 236 tonnes of shielding in total. 

A reusable Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV-400) for transporting crewed artificial gravity habitats to the orbits of Mars, Venus, or to the NEO asteroids. While some of the ullage gases are utilized for attitude control, most of the ullage gases are reliquified by photovoltaic powered cryocoolers to prevent fuel loss, a technology already developed by NASA.

Conjunction Class Missions would only require one reusable OTV-400  storing close to 400 tonnes of LOX/LH2 propellant. The higher delta-v Opposition Class Missions will require two reusable OTV-400 boosters. Entering orbit around Mars and reentering cis-lunar space will also require the IAGH  to dump the water shielding from its habitat modules in order to substantially reduce the Odyssey's mass just before the final trajectory burns to enter Mars orbit or to enter cis-lunar space.

Coupled with a large water storage tank and a photovoltaic powered electrolysis plant  and cryocoolers, the OTV-400 would function as a water storage and hydrogen and oxygen producing propeelant depot (WPD-OTV-400). Still equipped with its own rocket engines, it could self deploy itself practically anywhere within the inner part of the solar system  while still being able to manufacture LOX and LH2 anywhere where there is a source of water.

The WPD-OTV-400 water and propellant depot would have the ability to transport itself to Mars orbit from the Earth-Moon Lagrange points after producing enough fuel for its on flight and filling up with enough stored water originating from the Moon. However,  once water is being manufactured on Deimos and Phobos, using the same technologies employed on the lunar surface, propellant from the lunar surface will no longer be required to replenish water and propellant supplies in orbit around Mars. 

Reusable Odyssey I interplanetary space craft with a crew of 12 at EML4 in a trajectory burn configuration for a Conjunction Class mission to High Mars Orbit  in the year 2033. 

After its initial trajectory burns on its way to Mars, the  OTV-400 boosters and the ETLV-2 vehicles (Extraterrestrial Landing Vehicles) would separate from the IAGH  and re-dock at its central axis.The Odyssey would, therefore, be reconfigured  to produce artificial gravity for its 12 person crew for their multi-month journey to Mars.   Liquid carbon dioxide rockets housed in each habitat module, would be used to rotate or to stop the rotation of the Odyssey. Cables will extend from the IAGH core more than 100 meters from the central axis of the vehicle. A series of light weight cylindrical metal or ceramic shells woulds also expand outwards creating rotational arms that would act as levers to increase, decrease, or stop the rotation of the Odyssey. 

Reusable Odyssey II interplanetary space craft with a crew of 12 at EML4 in a trajectory burn configuration for a 1000 day Opposition Class mission to High Mars Orbit (60 day stay) to explore the martian moons Deimos and Phobos while also deploying  satellite constellations at Sun-Mars L1 and Sun-Mars L2 to provide global communications for future human missions to the surface of Mars.

After several months of travel through interplanetary space,  the Odyssey would reconfigure itself again to prepare for an Orbital Insertion trajectory burn and the water shielding within IAGH modules would be dumped into space.  But after a day or two in Mars orbit, the Odyssey will once again reconfigure itself to produce artificial gravity for its crew. The  water shielding for the habitats could be fully  restored within a few hours or a few days from a pre-deployed  WPD-OTV-400 already in high Mars orbit. Returning to Earth will also require the Odyssey to be refueled by the orbiting water and propellant depot in Mars orbit.

Once in high Mars orbit, each fully fueled  crewed ETLV-2 vehicle would have enough fuel to travel to one of the Martian moons for a few days of exploration and sample retrieval  and back to the Odyssey. And if they wanted to travel to the martian moons a second time then they could refuel at the orbiting Mars depot (WPD-OTV-5).

A slowly rotating Odyssey II in an interplanetary configuration to provide a simulated gravity of  0.5 g  for six crew members in each of the  IAGH habitat modules. 

Since the Odyssey is intended for reuse (ten times with its RL-10 engines) for future interplanetary missions, a trajectory burn will be required to return to the Earth-Moon Lagrange points after the trajectory burn for Trans-Earth Injection from Mars orbit. Again, this will require the Odyssey to completely dump its water shielding before the burn. Once the crew is back within cis-lunar space, they will only be a few hours away from protective shelters on the lunar surface or just a few days away from the Earth's surface.

After the 12 person crew completes their 60 day mission in High Mars Orbit, the Odyssey II converts from it's artificial gravity configuration to a trajectory burn configuration for its Trans-Earth Injection burn to begin its journey back to cis-lunar space.

 Because the major Odyssey components are reusable, the recurring cost for the interplanetary vehicle should be substantially lower that other interplanetary vehicle concepts that utilized expendable interplanetary boosters. The Odyssey's RL-10 or RL-10-like rocket engines could also be periodically replaced after perhaps ten round trips between cis-lunar space and Mars orbit which could further reduce their recurring cost.

The human safety advantages of using  lunar water resources for an SLS derived reusable artificial gravity producing  interplanetary spacecraft   deployed at one of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points should also be substantial:


1. The significantly reduced delta-v requirements at an Earth-Moon Lagrange point for fueling and mass shielding a crewed interplanetary vehicle should alleviate any pressure to significantly reduce the appropriate mass shielding of habitat modules against the dangers of cosmic radiation and major solar events. 50 cm of water shielding should also eliminate the possibility of space career ending radiation exposure during a single interplanetary mission for the most vulnerable occupants to radiation.

2. The rotating interplanetary artificial gravity habitats (IAGH) could significantly or totally eliminate long periods of exposure to the  deleterious physical effects of a microgravity environment

3. Having twin AGH habitats allows astronauts the enhanced safety of being able to seek refuge in the opposite habitat in case there is a serious life safety malfunction at the other habitat.

4. The more comfortable accommodations of the spacious SLS derived artificial gravity habitats could significantly reduce the psychological stress experienced by the drew  during several months or years of interplanetary travel.

5. The dangers and the complexity of direct, high-energy aerobraking into the atmospheres of Mars or during a return to directly to Earth would be avoided by limiting the Odyssey's flight path to travel only between the Earth-Moon Lagrange points and High Mars Orbit.

6. With at least one partially fueled  ETLV-2 (Extraterrestrial Landing Vehicle) connected to the Odyssey, any major malfunction of the OTV-400 during an orbital capture trajectory could allow astronauts to safely enter Mars orbit or cis-lunar space via the ETLV-2 vehicle or vehicles.  Even though this would mean the loss of the Odyssey spacecraft, the crew could still safely enter Mars orbit or cis-lunar space via the ETLV-2. However, Entering Mars orbit aboard an ETLV-2, without the Odyssey IAGH would require that an appropriately mass shielded space station already be pre-deployed in Mars orbit.



References and Links


Considerations for Designing a Human Mission to the Martian Moons (NASA)

A Study of CPS Stages for Missions beyond LEO (Space Works)

Mission and Implementation of an Affordable Lunar Return (Spudis & Lavoie) 

 Using the resources of the Moon to create a permanent, cislunar space faring system (Spudis & Lavoie)

Evolving to a Depot-Based Space Transportation Architecture (ULA)

 SLS Fuel Tank Derived Artificial Gravity Habitats, Interplanetary Vehicles, & Fuel Depots

 Utilizing the SLS to Build a Cis-Lunar Highway

Cosmic Radiation and the New Frontier

An SLS Launched Cargo and Crew Lunar Transportation System Utilizing an ETLV Architecture

SLS launched ETLV-2 at EML1 liquid hydrogen and oxygen  fuel depot (ETLV derived) while the MPCV waits to dock with the now fully fueled lunar landing vehicle

by Marcel F. Williams

Before the end of the decade, the heavy lift capability that America once had during the Apollo  era-- will return in the form of the SLS.  Some, however, have argued that because of the former Space Shuttle's ability to deploy a 94 tonne aerospace plane plus up to 25 tonnes of useful cargo to LEO that , technically,  the Shuttle was also a  heavy lift vehicle. But even the earliest versions of the Space Launch System will be  far more capable than the Space Shuttle in their ability to lift huge payloads into orbit. Unmanned versions of the  SLS should be capable of deploying at least  70 tonnes of payload to LEO.  And with an SLS derived upperstage, as much as 105 tonnes of cargo could be lifted to orbit. Even when deploying the 22 tonne MPCV (Multipurpose Crew Vehicle), the SLS should still be capable of simultaneously  lifting an additional 45 to 80 tonnes of cargo to orbital space.

SLS crew launch and cargo launch vehicles; with an upper stage, the SLS would be capable of deploying nearly 39 tonnes of payload to Trans-Lunar Injection

Still there are those who argue that the SLS could  be deficient in its ability to deploy large crew landers and heavy cargo to the lunar surface-- relative to the now cancelled Ares V configurations. However, any deficiency in the lifting capability of the SLS could be easily compensated for by  deploying-- fuel depots-- at the Earth-Moon Lagrange Points, or in low Lunar orbit, or both. This might suggest to some NASA critics that the space agency would have to spend substantially more of its limited funds in order to finance still another expensive component for  its beyond LEO architecture-- in addition to funding the development of  lunar crew and cargo vehicles. 

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 Delta-V budgets & Destination Travel Times

LEO to TLI - 3.2 km/s dv

LEO to LLO (~2 days) - 4.5 km/s dv

LEO to LLO (~4 days) - 3.97 km/s dv

LEO to EML1 (~2 days) - 4.41 km/s dv

LEO to EML1 (~4 days) - 3.77 km/s dv

EML1 to or from LLO (~2 days) - 0.75 km/s dv

EML1 to or from  LLO (~3 days) - 0.64 km/s dv

LLO to or from the Lunar surface - 1.87 to 2.1 km/s dv

LEO: Low Earth Orbit; TLI: Trans-Lunar Injection; LLO: Low Lunar Orbit; 

EML1: Earth Moon Lagrange Point 1

(Credit John Connolly: NASA-JSC - 2012)

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However, if the next lunar landing vehicle developed for NASA is a-- single stage reusable spacecraft-- then a Lagrange point  fuel depot and a lunar surface fuel  depot  could both be derived from the reusable lunar lander.  Such a reusable single staged lunar vehicle-- would already be inherently designed to refuel and store cryogenic fuels with zero boil-off. So deriving the fuel depot directly from the tanks utilized for the lunar landing vehicle could significantly reduce development cost. Additionally,  the landing vehicle's reusability should also substantially  reduce its annual recurring cost for transporting humans to the lunar surface. 

In an earlier post, I described a reusable single staged lunar landing vehicle concept that  I called the ETLV-2 (Extraterrestrial Landing Vehicle 2). The vehicle would be designed to take  full advantage of a large  8.4 meter to 10 meter SLS payload fairing.  

The ETLV-2 would utilize four CECE engines but just two common bulkhead tanks; each tank would be capable of storing up to 14 tonnes of liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel. The tanks would utilize a ULA type of Integrated Vehicle Fluid (IVF) technology plus NASA's breakthrough  cryocooler technology to eliminate fuel boil-off and the waste of ullage gases. Such technologies could substantially reduce tank insulation and the overall weight of the space vehicle. 

Basic components of the ETLV-2 lunar landing vehicle

The four RL-10 derived CECE (Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine) engines should enhance vehicle safety with engine out capability and reusability with up to 50 restarts capability. 

Vehicle development cost are further reduced in this concept by deriving the crew habitat module and airlocks from the light weight cryotanks. The pressurized crew hab should be tall enough to accommodate a crew of at least seven individuals, pressure suits, and small cargo on three floor levels. Such a large crew capacity would  make the ETLV-2 potentially compatible with Commercial Crew launched vehicles since such privately operated vehicles should be capable of transporting as many as seven individuals  to Earth orbit per flight. The ETLV-2 would, of course,  also be capable accommodating the maximum crew of six aboard the MPCV.    

The twin airlocks of the ETLV-2 would be utilized for giving humans access to the lunar surface through one airlock  while the second airlock will allow small mobile robots and mobile vehicles access to the lunar surface on the opposite side of the vehicle.  As an unmanned vehicle, the ETLV-2 could potentially be utilized for robotic sample retrieval missions to the lunar surface and possibly to the surfaces of the moons of Mars. In both cases, the regolith samples retrieved from deployed mobile robots would be returned to the Earth-Moon Lagrange points where a MPCV would dock with the unmanned ETLV-2 to pick up the samples for their journey to the Earth.  

Fully fueled, the ETLV-2 should still weigh less than 38 tonnes and could, therefore, be deployed to TLI by the SLS upper stage. 

ETLV-2 lunar landing vehicle: front, corners, & top views

While the ETLV-2 lunar lander would use only two long fuel tanks for its crewed missions to the lunar surface, the EML1 fuel depot concept proposed here would utilize five of the  ETLV-2 tanks within a taller cruciform. The EML1 fuel depot could potentially store more than 60 tonnes of cryogenic fuels.  The L1 fuel depot envisioned here would also be capable of perpetually storing up to 100 tonnes of water and be capable of converting the water into liquid hydrogen and oxygen through solar powered electroysis and cryocooler technology. The space fuel depot would also be capable of self deploying itself practically anywhere within cis-lunar space and even into orbit around Mars and Venus.

A single SLS launch would initially be required to deploy the fuel depot  to EML1 with as much as 20 tonnes of cryogenic fuel. Since the ETLV-2 crew lander  would only require a few extra tonnes of additional fuel when it arrived at L1, 20 tonnes should be enough fuel for perhaps three round trips from L1 to the lunar surface-- if new mostly fueled ETLV-2 vehicle arrives at L1 each time from Earth.   However,  MPCV launches by the SLS to EML1 should be capable of carrying several tonnes of additional cargo. So several tonnes of water cargo could be stored aboard the SLS upper stage along with the MPCV. So any extraction of fuel from the EML1 depot for crewed ETLV-2 lunar missions could be replaced  by water deliveries tagging along with the MPCV flights. 
 An  ETLV derived cargo lander (C-ETLV-4) would be used to deliver up to ten tonnes of payload to the lunar surface. The C-ETLV-4 would be primarily used for deploying the heavy machinery, ground vehicles, and crew habitats necessary to establish a permanently peopled  water and fuel producing and exporting Lunar outpost-- similar to that envisioned by Dr. Spudis and Lovoie in their most recent papers. 

C-ETLV-4 Cargo Lunar Lander: front, top, and interior position of fuel tanks

Since I envision NASA having at least two operational SLS launch pads by the early 2020s-- a two launch scenario-- would be utilized for early manned missions to the lunar surface. Such a launch infrastructure could also allow at least four heavy lift launches per year for both cargo and crew missions. 

NASA's first manned lunar mission utilizing the SLS  could send the ETLV-2 to TLI (Trans-Lunar Injection) where the remotely controlled unmanned crew lander will separate from the SLS upper stage and utilize some of its fuel to reach EML1. The ETLV-2 will then dock with the previously SLS deployed  EML1 fuel depot in order to add the additional required fuel for its round trip journey to the lunar surface and back to L1.

A second SLS launch, probably a few days later,  would send the MPCV plus a few tonnes of water  to EML1. The MPCV will dock with the fully fueled ETLV-2 and the crew (up to 6 people) will transfer to the lunar lander for their  journey to the Lunar surface and then, eventually, back to L1 after their lunar mission is over. The EML1 fuel depot will dock with the water tank, stored at the top of  the SLS upper stage, and pump the water into the fuel depot water compartment where it will eventually be converted into liquid hydrogen and oxygen.

On their return trip to EML1, the crew will transfer back to the MPCV for their return to Earth.  Under this scenario, the deployed ETLV-2 would remain at L1  until the EML1 fuel depot is finally being supplied with water from the lunar surface for the manufacture of extraterrestrial fuel. This will allow a small fleet of reusable lunar landers to be deployed at EML1 by the SLS over just a few years for future use for manned lunar missions. Once an ETLV-2 vehicle is reactivated, it will refuel at L1 and then travel-- unmanned back to the lunar surface--  to ensure that the reusable vehicle is fully functional for human use again.  The ETLV-2's CECE engines could be utilized for at least ten round trips before they would be required to be replaced-- or the landing vehicle retired.

I should note that the two launch scenario can also be utilized-- even if their is only one launch pad for the SLS (delaying the next launch from the pad for a few months)-- since the ETLV-2 would be equiped with cryocoolers capable of re-liquifying ullage gasses from is fuel tanks, providing zero boil-off of fuel for several months or even several years. However, limiting the SLS  to just two launches per year would substantially slow down  progress towards establishing  manned outpost on the lunar surface and eventually on the surface of Mars. But there's really no logical reason to limit heavy lift launches to just two a year since NASA was able to launch as many as-- four heavy lift vehicles per year-- during the Apollo era and as many as nine Space Shuttle missions per year during the peak of the Shuttle era! 

Once the fleet of ETLV-2 landing vehicles are utilizing lunar fuel resources for their operation and lunar water is being exported to the EML1 fuel depot from ETLV derived lunar tankers, NASA should then be able to incorporate the use of Commercial Crew vehicles as a cheaper component for sending astronauts to the Lunar surface. Reusable, ETLV-2 derived reusable Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTVs) equipped  with delta-v reducing aerobrakers should allow NASA to travel between LEO and EML1 a lot more cheaply. NASA astronauts and possibly even space tourist could then travel to the Moon by first taking  a Commercial Crew vehicle to LEO where they would dock with an ETLV-2 derived OTV that utilizes lunar fuel stored at EML1 and possibly also at LEO. Once at EML1, the ETLV-2 would take the passengers down to the lunar surface.

So under this proposed scenario, the SLS and the MPCV could be used to set up a reusable  transportation infrastructure that could eventually give passengers aboard private Commercial Crew launch vehicles affordable and convenient access to the surface of the Moon-- just a few years after the SLS/MPCV/ETLV program begins.  

Further details about the ETLV components that will give Commercial Crew passengers access to the lunar surface will be discussed  in more detail  in future post.

 Marcel F. Williams
© 2013 MuOmega Enterprises

Links and References

1. The SLS and the Case for a Reusable Lunar lander 

2.  Mission and Implementation of an Affordable Lunar Return (Spudis & Lavoie)

 3. Using the resources of the Moon to create a permanent, cislunar space faring system (Spudis & Lavoie)

4. Human Lunar Exploration Architectures
 
5. Conquering Cis-Lunar Space with Shuttle and ULA Derived Technologies

6. Review of Human Spaceflight Plans Committee