Lunar Mission Medley |
Lunar Mission Medley |
Sep 16 2009, 10:40 PM
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 15-September 09 Member No.: 4941 |
Hi, this is Morris Jones, a long-time lurker but new poster.
I thought it would be worth exploring a few lunar missions that don't seem to be discussed much at the moment. The exact fate of some of these missions is open to question. Let's see if we can work out what's going on. International Lunar Network: This was announced with fanfare a few years ago. Little more has been generally discussed. The whole thing seems to be going through committee meetings, with a lot of details unresolved. LADEE: Is this still on target? There were suggestions two years ago that cost overruns in the Mars Science Laboratory could gobble funds from this and other missions. This was later dismissed. Then MSL grew more hungry, and the subject was open to discussion again. GRAIL: Not much more talk, but apparently still actively in development. Luna-Glob: The recent delay in Phobos-Grunt could influence its own launch timetable. American Student Moon Orbiter: The silence is deafening. Reports on the status of any of these missions would be appreciated. Cheers, Morris |
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Jul 7 2010, 04:55 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 293 Joined: 29-August 06 From: Columbia, MD Member No.: 1083 |
Just heard a talk by Brian Morse, APL Program Manager for ILN/Robotic Lunar Lander. Basically the news is this...ILN is awaiting the decision and prioritization of the ongoing Decadal Survey. APL and MSFC are continuing technology development through the robotic lunar lander program. The recent announcement of the (still unfunded) Exploration Precursor Robotic Program could also see a lunar network or ISRU-type lander flying in the next 5 years.
The tall tent pole from a technology standpoint is getting the lander to keep operating and manage it's internal temperature during a 28 day long day/night cycle. So, the answer is some giant/heavy/expensive batteries or ASRGs. The weight of the batteries dictates larger/more expensive launch vehicles. Similarly, launching with ASRGs limits the launch vehicle to an Atlas 5 (the only nuclear-rated launch vehicle). That increases the cost of the mission. The Atlas 5 would actually have the capacity to launch 4 (!) ILN nodes at once. Falcon 9's would launch 2 of the battery powered nodes at once. |
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