planning

MINING Originally written: 8 August 2005. Previous | Overview | Next Mainly this will include electric-powered, remote-controlled diggers and conveyor trucks or belts. The first target for mining is to grade a level path for the maglev launcher track. This means that the mined material will not be specific; it will be generic Lunar soil,

ENERGY COLLECTION, GENERATION, STORAGE Originally written: 8 August 2005. Previous | Overview | Next Initial: Earth-built photovoltaic panels, batteries, fuel-cell/electrolysis pairs. Secondary: Luna-built photovoltaic arrays, parabolic solar ovens for manufacturing, possibly thermoelectric. Massive, solar-powered?compulsators; alternators capable of delivering massive pulses of electricity. PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAYS At present the most efficient photovoltaic cells are still p/n-doped monocrystalline

GRAVITY-HABITAT; the ‘GRAVITAT’ Originally written: 8 August 2005. Previous | Overview | Next Luna’s gravity is too low for humans to maintain long-term health. Therefore, like long-term residents of microgravity environments, lunar settlers will need to live in ‘gravitats’ where gravity is simulated by spin (centripetal acceleration). The good news is that the design requirements

Originally written: 3 August 2005. A. From 2006 to permanent, productive lunar base The good news from this spring was NASA’s decision to replace the space shuttle with separate, simple-configuration heavy-lift and crew-lift vehicles, Ares I and Ares V. This should lower both the cost and risk of getting from earth’s surface to low earth

Next Steps in Using Near-Earth Space and Luna First written: August 3, 2005 This is the fist in a set of conceptual essays to design a permanent, self-supporting, productive Lunar base. As I thought it through, I have been realizing that the whole zone from low-earth orbit (LEO) out past the moon is crucial to