Final Project

David H.

Legislator:  Fred Brown, Representative

(Click on the image above to enlarge.)

To Infinity and Beyond

 One of the problems facing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration today is the need for new technology to reach new—and old—frontiers.  The last time that humanity ventured past the orbit of Earth was in 1972, twenty-nine years ago, when Apollo 17 landed on the Moon.  As we enter a new millennium, we once again strive to reach new frontiers—that of our neighboring planet Mars.  To achieve that goal, however, we must revisit the past, by once again journeying to the Moon.  We must do this in order to use the Moon as a test bed for new systems that we shall use on Mars and to use as a base of operations to launch us to Mars and beyond.  Unfortunately, federal and public support is not as strong as it should be, so that NASA must conserve every cost that exists.  I have a proposal for a design that should help to save total costs.  Using a modified Apollo spacecraft, NASA can transport more material and people to the Moon and back safely and cheaply.

My design for a new lunar spacecraft to be called the Selene-1 is one that combines old and new technology.  The Apollo service (1) and command (2) modules shall make up the propulsive and piloting sections of the craft.  The service module will also provide the life support for the Selene-1.  It is longer than the original Apollo module to provide for the extra rocket fuel needed to propel the more massive spacecraft to the Moon and back.  The command module is also larger, to provide for a large cockpit seating in case of an emergency and the command/service modules have to detach from the rest of the spacecraft.  Both modules can be adapted from the Apollo spacecraft.

The next part of the Selene-1 is the transfer and docking node (3).  The current parallel to this in the space program today is the Unity Node of the International Space Station, with two hatches on either end, and six hatches around the body of the cylinder.  While my design has only four hatches around the body, that can be changed for the missions.  The hatch opposite to the connection to the command module will be for docking with the ISS and for any EVA missions in flight to and from the Moon.  The hatches along the body of the cylinder connect to anything that the mission requires—transportation of passengers, of cargo, and of lunar modules.  Again, with minor modifications, the Unity Node can be modified for the Selene-1.

There are three possible additional modules to connect to the transfer node.  One possible is a cargo module (4), which will look very similar to the lunar module of the Apollo program, except that the descent stage is four times as large as the original to provide for cargo space, which shall be in the enlarged equivalent of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP).  The ascent stage (which includes the crew cabin) will be the same size and shall guide the lunar cargo module down, and launch from the lunar surface.  Additional modifications will have to be made to transfer cargo FROM the moon as well, as the descent stage (or part of it) will also have to be launched into orbit.

The passenger module (5) for the Selene-1 will be the inflatable TransHab of today’s ISS modular components.  The TransHab was scheduled to be placed on the ISS, but it is the actual pilot system for crew quarters for a Mars-bound spaceship.  It has four levels of the craft, and in addition to the crew itself, it shall be able to house an additional four persons.

The last element of the Selene-1 is an Apollo-style lunar module, able to land five people on the surface of the moon.  The ascent stage shall have to be expanded to handle the additional three people, but it can be altered.

To construct this lunar vehicle, all that is needed are several trips by the space shuttle to transport the modules to the International Space Station.  It shall be constructed in Earth’s orbit, instead of completed on Earth and launched from Kennedy Space Center (which would be all right except for the Selene-1’s size and ungainliness in fitting into a Saturn rocket (haha)).

The benefit of constructing the Selene-1 is its use of tried and true Apollo components, with the additional of new ISS components, to decrease the cost of creating a new lunar transport shuttle.  The modular aspect of the Selene-1 shows its versatility in lunar missions, and will be greatly beneficial in constructing a lunar base, thereby directly aiding in the highly anticipated journey to Mars.

Last Updated:  09/10/01