Related papers: Scientific Return of a Lunar Elevator
Rotating space tethers have long been proposed as momentum-exchange devices capable of transporting payloads between orbital regimes without continuous propellant expenditure, offering a potential alternative to conventional propulsion for…
Perhaps the biggest hurdle to mankind's expansion throughout the Solar System is the prohibitive cost of escaping Earth's gravitational pull. In its many forms, the space-elevator provides a way to circumvent this cost, allowing payloads to…
The construction of a space elevator would be an inspiring feat of planetary engineering of immense cost and risk. But would the benefit outweigh the costs and risks? What, precisely, is the purpose for building such a structure? For…
Super-Earths are one of the most common types of extrasolar planets currently known. Hundreds of these planets have been discovered by the $Kepler$ spacecraft and other surveys, with masses up to 10 $M_\oplus$ and consequently higher…
NASA and ESA are preparing a series of human exploration missions using the four-person Orion crew vehicle, launched by NASA's Space Launch System, and a Lunar Orbiting Platform-Gateway (LOP-G) that enable long duration (>30 days)…
An exponential space elevator is a space elevator with a tether cross-section that varies exponentially with altitude. With such an elevator it is possible to reel in tether material at one end of the elevator while reeling out at the other…
Various proposed space elevators may bypass the financial and environmental limits on rocket technology, but all have their own problems. A Low-Earth-Orbit, LEO, rotovator-based space-elevator version called 'sling-on-a-ring' may overcome…
The lunar surface has historically been considered an optimal site for a broad range of astronomical telescopes. That assumption, which has come to be somewhat reflexive, is critically examined in this paper and found to be poorly…
Lunar retro-reflector arrays (LRAs) consisting of corner-cube reflectors (CCRs) placed on the nearside of the Moon during the Apollo era have demonstrated their longevity, cost-effectiveness, ease of deployment, and most importantly their…
A method and facilities for delivering payload and people into outer space are presented. This method uses, in general, engines located on a planetary surface. The installation consists of a space apparatus, power drive stations, which…
Landing robotic spacecrafts and humans on Mars has become one of the inevitable technological necessities for humans. Effectuating perfect Mars expedition requires landing of enormous cargoes, crewed modules, ascent vehicles, and scientific…
The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) propellantless propulsion device uses long, charged metallic tethers to tap momentum from the solar wind to produce spacecraft propulsion. If flying through planetary or moon eclipse, the long E-sail…
Under Space Tower the author understands structures having height from 100 km to the geosynchronous orbit and supported by surface of Earths. The classical Space Elevator is not included in space towers. That has three main identifiers…
Utilisation of the material and energy resources of the Solar System will be essential for the development of a sustainable space economy and associated infrastructure. Science will be a major beneficiary of a space economy, even if its…
A multi-purpose low-earth-orbit system of rings circling the earth - the "LEO ARCHIPELAGO" - is proposed as a means of solving or bypassing many major problems hindering man's quest to get into space. A fiber-optic ring about the earth…
The national space programs have an historic opportunity to help solve the global-scale economic and environmental problems of Earth while becoming more effective at science through the use of space resources. Space programs will be more…
In this paper it is presented the concept and design of a new type of spacecraft that could be used to make the first manned interstellar travel. Solar one would integrate three near-term technologies, namely: compact nuclear fusion…
This paper discusses the scientific objectives for the ESA Lunar Lander Mission, which emphasise human exploration preparatory science and introduces the model scientific payload considered as part of the on-going mission studies, in…
The prospect of mankind returning to the Moon has garnered a great amount of attention in recent years. Dozens of lunar missions are planned for the coming decade which will require the development of a sustainable communication…
The current preferred envisioned method for transmitting power to a space elevator climber is a laser/photovoltaic (PV) system. In this, a ground-based laser beam would transmit megawatts of optical power through the atmosphere to an…