The Lunar Space Elevator

Jerome Pearson, Eugene Levin,

John Oldson, and Harry Wykes
NIAC Phase I Fellows Meeting
Atlanta, GA, 16 Mar 2005
The Earth Space Elevator
An L2 Lunar Space Elevator
Types of Lunar Space Elevators
NIAC Study Phase I Goals
Develop LSE System Architecture
Coordinate with NASA Moon-Mars
Initiative
Conceptual Design of all Components
Substantiate Revolutionary Impacts
System Architecture
A Revolutionary Cis-Lunar Transportation
System
Low-Cost Transportation of Lunar Materials and
Propellants to Earth orbits
Low-Cost Supply of Lunar Bases from LEO
Support for Moon and Mars Missions
Concept of Operations
The Lunar Space Elevator is an Earth-
Moon-L1 Highway
LSE Can Carry Traffic Throughout Cis-
Lunar Space, with Nodes in Earth Orbit, L1,
Lunar Orbit, and the Lunar Surface
Robotic Vehicles Provide Redundancy,
Reliability, and Low Cost Transportation
Moon
Transportation Architecture
L1
Earth
Payloads
Payloads
Ballast
LSE to Earth Orbit Launches
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Release height on L1 elevator, km
E
a
r
t
h
o
r
b
i
t
r
a
d
i
u
s
,
k
m
Perigee
Synchronous orbit
Apogee
LSE Cis-Lunar Transportation
Moon to Earth Orbit:
Lunar Materials
Propellant to LEO
SSPS to GEO
Earth Orbit to Moon:
Ribbon to L1
Supplies to Lunar Bases
System Components
LSE Ribbon
Robotic Climbers
Catenary to Pole
Surface Robots
Mining Bases
Lunar SE Materials
255 3.6 1440 Kevlar 49
570 9.5 1700 M5 Expected
342 5.7 1700 M5**
316 3.0 970 Spectra 2000
379 5.8 1560 Zylon PBO
361 6.4 1810 T1000G
2200 50 2266 SWCN*
Break Height
/g
e
, km
Stress Limit
, GPa
Density
, kg/m
3
Material
* Single-wall carbon nanotubes (lab measured) Honeywell extended chain polyethylene fiber
Toray carbon fiber ** Magellan honeycomb-like 3-D polymer
Aramid, Ltd. Polybenzoxazole fiber DuPont aramid fiber
Meteoroid-Safe Ribbons
2.4 2.5 2.7 3 4 Safety Factor
6 5 4 3 2 Strands
Mean Time Between
Meteor Cuts:
T, yrs = 6 h
2.6
/L
h = width, mm
L = length, km
LSE Ribbon and CW Mass
1.E+04
1.E+05
1.E+06
1.E+07
60 120 180 240 300
Height, thousands of km
M
a
s
s
,
k
g
ribbon
counterweight
Total Mass
Spinning Tethers for Lunar Sling
Launch (and Catch)
L1
4
4
h, km
3 100 2.4 2.38 236 Escape
3 100 2.4 1.68 118 Low Orbit
Tons/day P, kW a
tip
, gs V
tip,
km/s r, km Type
Robotic Climber Design
500-kg Climbers
100 Climbers on
Ribbon
10-20 m/s Speed
340,000 kg/yr
Robotic Climber Design
Articulated Solar Panels
10 kW at Surface, 100 W at 0.26 L1
Big, Soft Drive Wheels
Ribbon Tracking Control
Full and Empty c.g. Control
Climber Components
Concept of Climber and LSE
Unloaded Climber
c.g.
Polar Ice from Clementine Data
Curved LSE to Approach Poles
Maximum Latitude
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Eta =vt2/v02
L
a
t
i
t
u
d
e
,
D
e
g
r
e
e
s
Curved LSE
0
1
2
0 1 2 3 4
x/rm
z
/
r
m
x/r
m
z
/
r
m
= v
t
2
/v
o
2
Polar Express Catenary
200 km crater, 4 km deep
Regolith Encapsulation
Truncated Octohedron
Blocks
Unfilled
Filled
Lunarcrete Blocks
Blocks Cast with
Tension Wires
Tensegrity Towers
0.36 lb/foot
on moon
Stations on the Polar Express
Equatorial:
Regolith mining
Factories
Habitats
Catenary stops on the 2700-
km long Polar Express:
Mineral deposits
Water ice mining
Propellants
Two Man Catenary Crew Cab
Habitat Constructed with
Regolith Blocks
Preliminary LSE Cost Analysis
LSE Construction: ~$10 B
(Assumes $5 M per Ton Launched to LEO)
Ion Propelled Payloads: 10-15%of mass, 6
mos. from LEO to Moon or Moon to LEO
Vision and Significance
Revolutionize Cis-Lunar Space
Drastically Reduce Cost of Propellants
and Supplies in Earth Orbit
Provide Low Cost Support of Lunar
Bases
Directly Support Moon-Mars Initiative
Potential Lunar Schedule
2008-15: Robotic Missions
2015-20: Manned Missions
2020-25: LSE Construction
2025-35: Lunar Space Elevators Revolutionize
Cis-Lunar Transportation
Phase II
Objectives
Complete LSE architecture
for future NASA missions
Create LSE roadmap with
all enabling technologies
Evaluate benefits and cost
vs. performance
Conclusions
Lunar space elevators and slings are new,
revolutionary ideas with broad applications
The LSE is achievable, and provides
a new architecture for lunar development
The lunar space elevator creates a new
paradigm for lunar space transportation