A Utility Infrastructure Concept at the Lunar South Pole

Richard May

Extending the range, duration, capabilities and reliability of exploration.

Two Gold-Coated Aluminum Mirrors

Large 1.5M diameter mirrors allow for thermal management.

17 M

Multi-Directional High Gain Antenna

8M

Radar Beacon

Legs retracted until extraction from delivery vehicle.

DaVinci All-Electric Scissor Lift

Up to 8 KW Wireless Power Transmission Laser at 1064nm Wavelength

Roll Out Solar Array (ROSA) 40 M2 at 8.1KW per side

Lower Thermally Controlled Battery Bank and Electronics Compartment

Lower MultiDirectional Task Light

360° Rotation Control

Conductive Transfer Plate

Mirror Detail

Deploys via fairing separation. The advent of Starship Cargo class rockets will allow for assets with an unprecedented mass and volume.

Two opposing mirrors provide redundancy and reduction in operational rotation during normal function. Assembly enclosed while not in use to protect against radiation, micrometeorites and ejecta.

Radiators Deployable Access Ladder

Conduit

Upper MultiDirectional Area Light

Laser Detail

Dust Mitigation Cover

Conceptual Node Design 10.5 M

Propellant tanks and engine can descend to act as anchors.

Additional equipment can descend such as robotic interfacing elements such as preloaded gear or conductive charging plates.

Robotic mission can swap battery packs or load science package.

Integrated Ladder

Rovers can use area around and beneath lander as a stagging area and safe haven for future asset retrieval utilizing shelter and power transfer from node.

Robotic Mission Integration

lift allows access to upper deck and laser assembly.

Lower Winch

Crewed Mission Maintenance

Three lift configuration allows one lift to descend for servicing while maintaining partial service. Various spares, tools and access equipment are provided to enable servicing such as integrated and deployable ladders, safety rails for fall protection and winches for lifting equipment.

Design Requirements 14.7 M

26 M

3.8 M

Challenges

13.4 M 2.1 M

5M

Deployed Elevation

Mitigation Strategy

•Utilizes Precision Landing System demonstrated on CLPS Nova-C which will allow for landing target accuracy of within 100 meters.

•Six legs with leveling ability.

Stability •Mass concentrated at base of lander.

•Tower extends once landed. Propellant tanks and engine can descend acting as an anchor.

•Three 40 Sq M ROSA (Roll Out Solar Array).

Power •Two to Four RTGs using radioisotope Americium 241.

•Utilize waste heat from RTGs. •Utilize waste heat from Wireless Power Transfer when active.

Night Strategy •Electric Heater.

•Kapton Insulated and pressurized electronics compartments heated to 54C. •Elevation from surface.

Dust Mitigation •Deployable dust skirt.

•Enclosable Assemblies.

•Redundant electronic systems.

Solar, Cosmic •Maintenance accessible via scissor lifts, deployable ladders, winches and safety rails.

Radiation •Protective covering, shielding and insulation.

Landing

2.5 M

Undeployed Elevation

Maintenance Logistics Descended

Ladder Accessible Compartment

6.3 M

Plan

Safety Rail

Winch

Battery Bank

Four meter tall by one meter diameter beam shaping optics assembly and laser integrated into lander base. Surrounded by primary radiators in shade of ROSA allows for colder baseline temperature.

Conduit lead to battery banks below each solar array. Scissor lift and lander structure can serve as supplemental radiators.

Deployable

Shock Absorbing Legs with Leveling Capability

ceive WPT

Power Transfer Pathway

Lunar Delivery

Laser Beam Shaping Optics Assembly

s to re

Vertical Angle Control

Upper Pressurized Thermally Controlled Electronics Compartment

RF Antenna

ve

d Li

en op

ct i

Monochromatic Photovoltaic Cells tuned to Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) Laser

Pr ot e

Charon the Ferryman of Hades

A Utility Infrastructure Concept at the Lunar South Pole

Network Area Plan Malapert Massif

ert

rth o w Ha

Leibnitz Beta Plateau

p ala

ta e B

if ss

Ma

M

g

n cti

itz n ib Le teau Pla

ne n Co ge Rid

h

rt o w Ha

6

Haworth

5 0°

4 3 2

Haworth Crater

Shoemaker Crater

1

Faustini Crater

0

Section

-1 -2 South Pole

270°E

90°E

Near Side

Shoemaker Crater

-3 KM 0

50

Far Side Shackleton Crater

8 KM Radius

250

300

350

400

Section between Nodes Since there is only a thin exosphere the wavelengths used in radio waves and wireless power transmission are not limited due to absorption and scattering from atmospheric molecules. The line of sight distance is only limited by the curvature of the moon, the roughness of the terrain and the transmission equipment.

180°E 7,000 M

200

150

The section above is drawn between the four nodes of the initial network and shows there is no obstruction between each of the nodes.

Connecting Ridge

0M

100

Longitude

Maximum line of sight range of Node to 0 M elevation.

20 KM

The scale diagram below graphically demonstrates how line of sight is affected by the curvature of the moon. The longest internode distance is between Malapert Massif and Connecting Ridge. Because of the elevation of each of the locations the visible range rises above the horizon. As long as there are no obstructions of higher elevation between the nodes they will be able to connect with each other.

Line of Sight Diagram

The regions shaded above range from an elevation of 0 meters to 7,000 meters per the color gradient. The elevation of the areas in black descend to a depth of -5,000 meters. These lower areas have been omitted from the heat map to emphasize the high points where the nodes are located and their maximal range. Contours represent 500 meter increments.

1.95 KM

The nodes are deployed at four high points within the Artemis III candidate landing zones. The nodes provide secure and constant communications services including telemetry and surface navigation, generate solar power and secure future base locations. Additionally, generated power can be transferred via an 8KW laser. The Malapert Massif and Leibnitz Beta Plateau locations on the near side facilitate a direct line of sight link with Earth.

Connecting Ridge

Network Coverage

1,740 KM Moon’s Radius

Malapert Massif

Network Node Characteristics Location

85.9°S 2.15°E 86.36°S 336.76°E 89.45°S 222.8°E 85.4°S 31.7°E

Haworth Connecting Ridge

Leibnitz Beta Plateau

Leibnitz Beta Plateau

Haworth

Maximum Surface Range

Service Sun Earth Coverage Visibility Visibility

5145 M

120.6 KM

4,260 KM

54%

100%

2777 M

88.7 KM

2,935 KM

70%

63%

1950 M

74.5 KM

1,955 KM

86%

58%

6500 M

135.5 KM

3,855 KM

54%

100%

Lunar Elevation Coordinates

Malapert Massif

Malapert Massif

5.15 KM

137.5 KM

Total Network

9,770 KM

Node Services and Variants

Phase 1

1. Altimetry & Guidance for Landing 2. Earth and Surface Communication For rover missions already 3. Teleoperation, Data Transfer and Range Extension in progress or in 4. Beacon and Wayfinding for Surface Navigation late stage design. 5. End of Life Salvage Depot

Phase 2

Artemis III Candidate Landing Zone Connecting Ridge

0KM

Earth Visibility from Lunar Surface 99%

100%

40KM 20KM

100KM

The white gradient shows the area that are visible from Earth 99% to 100% of the time. The Malapert Massif and Leibnitz Beta Plateau locations maintain the constant connection with Earth and relay communications and power to the other two towers and the depicted coverage. In color, you can see the color coded coverage provided by each tower. Malapert in blue, Leibnitz Purple, Haworth orange and Connecting ridge in green. Eleven of the thirteen Artemis III Candidate Landing zones can be serviced by the network.

Haworth Crater

Malapert Massif

Leibnitz Beta Plateau

99%

100%

Leibnitz Beta Plateau

Haworth

Shoemaker Crater Faustini Crater Earth Visibility from Lunar Surface

11. Landing site, range and mission enabled by network, i.e. landing in the large PSR of Shoemaker Crater.

12. Node preloaded with mission specific equipment / experiments.

Phase 3 13. Rover and mission design planned for objectives utilizing tower to unload equipment, perform repair etcetera.

For missions fully integrated 14. Use of laser as main power source and supplementary heat source in low light access areas and PSRs. A lower constant power supplement or intermediate higher with services. battery recharging could be provided for. Mission assets can trade large solar arrays for monochromatic laser receiver allowing mass to be reallocated to more robust elements, additional shielding and insulation and tools or experiments.

15. Mission or location of interest specific nodes can be commissioned and added to Phase 4 network.

Mission Tailored 16. Primary Receiver and Power Bank Nodes can land in low light areas or permanent Nodes* and base locations. Solar farms can be hooked up to nodes to increase amount of transmitComplimentary table power.

Infrastructure 17. Emergency or Standby Nodes can remain in a lunar orbit or docked with gateway.

Network with Abundant Earthshine

Haworth

Connecting Ridge

6. Use of node for supplemental power and heat via laser.

7. Use of node for supplemental power via conductive plates.

8. Full integration of route planning with tower range.

9. Minor self repairs using tower as leverage and on board equipment.

10. Safe Haven with coordinated and compatible interface.

*Nodes can vary in height, volume and mass depending on delivery vehicle. Reference design utilizes Starship Cargo.

Network PSR Coverage

Malapert Massif

For missions in early phase planning with time for minor adaptations.

Shackleton Crater 0KM

Earth Visibility from Lunar Surface

40KM

20KM

Connecting Ridge

100KM

Above, the network coverage is shown in yellow. The permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) are in blue. The overlay shows that many PSRs, notably Shoemaker Crater, are serviced by the network. This enables PSR rovers to maintain connection with Earth as well as receive additional power which will be needed given the lack of sunlight and extremely cold temperatures. Additionally, complimentary infrastructure such as battery banks or relays can extend coverage and power available in these regions.

50%

100%

0KM

40KM

20KM

100KM

The overlay above shows the network in white and the 50% to 100% earthshine as a color gradient. This shows how the network can extend the range of planed missions with no other infrastructure. Upcoming missions such as VIPER plan to navigate between sunlit spots in view of Earth as no relay infrastructure will be available at the mission start. As these two variables are not synchronous a local network as shown would greatly reduce the risk and complexity of missions by simplifying route planning and reducing hibernation down time.

These coverage maps were generated using the Digital Elevation Map (DEM) created from measurements taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument. A scale DEM was exported from the online LROC Quickmap Tool provided by NASA/ GSFC/Arizona State University. A script was then written in the parametric CAD tool grasshopper to calculate the line of sight from the nodes. This script accounted for the elevation of each node and targeted coverage point, the horizonal drop off from the Moon’s radius, and any would be visual obstruction such as mountains and crater rims. The script randomly generated 50,000 points across the DEM and tested each point’s visibility from each node. The script culled any point that could not be seen by each tower and replaced obscured points with a point where the obstruction occurred. This resulted in a robust coverage analysis. Other tower concepts typically stop the coverage analysis with a diameter of possible coverage from a location using the elevation of a node to a given datum. Critically, given the dynamic nature of the topography of this region, this analysis considers the terrain blockage as well as the unique elevation of each of the 50,000 targets.

The accuracy of this analysis is limited by the quality of the published DEM and the computing power, i.e. the number of simulated points.

Furthermore, the node locations were chosen for several criteria including Earthshine, coverage of Artemis III candidate landing zones, solar access and proximity to Peaks of Eternal Light, the area of coverage provided and to provide coverage into PSRs. The location of the nodes would be closely coordinated with client’s missions, goals and objectives. While the Malapert Massif and Leibnitz Beta Plateau locations are critical for relay purposes to Earth and the Haworth and Connecting Ridge have advantageous solar characteristics, node locations can be calibrated to cover different areas such as specific PSRs. Finally, the script can be rerun given different locations and can easily be reversed to generate areas that a node could be placed to provide coverage to a specific area.