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Low cost interplanetary missions
Submitted by Rahul Anand (Sc07062) Aerospace 3rd year
Ideology for low cost interplanetary mission
When we talk about low cost access to space we mean travelling to planets within the solar system and beyond. A lot of effort has been made worldwide to come up with a technology to meet the challenge. Lots of resource has gone into pursuits new innovative ideas. The question here is weather we are proceeding in the right direction or not. In spite thinking of advanced methods that violates the laws of physics or require exploring a completely new arena of physics like time travel, distortion of space-time, wormhole or travelling at a speed greater than the speed of light we should focus more on the extension of the laws of physics to a new frontier. Extending the application of technology where it has not yet been taken can serve our purpose in a more realistic way. Finding an adequate method is very important than gazing into the methodologies with no credible evidence. It can taint the topic.
Thinking about the low cost access to space we should first look at the factors affecting the cost and the concurrent remedies.
1. Aim of the mission- Aim of a mission is something that can¶t be altered but for the sake of cost effectiveness it can be decided base on the needs of the current society. 2. Size of the vehicle( material, dimension and design)- this is base on the mission requirements so again we can¶t do much about it but there is always a scope for optimization. 3. Fuel (sources of energy) - Using cheap and efficient fuel is one way to curtail the cost like using semi cryogenic instead of cryogenic. We can use other advance methods of propulsion or have some mechanism for onboard energy generation which is discussed in later section. 4. Factor of safety- In the current design we have high factor of safety which makes the system much more reliable but at the same time adds a lot to the cost of mission so optimizing it to a minimum level can bring down the cost significantly.
5. Technology (cost and limitations) - Technology has a major role to play in the cost of launch. Using advanced propulsion methods can be of great help. Some of them are discussed in some detail in the subsequent section. 6. Duration of mission viz. duration of flight- By increasing the speed of flight we can reduce the launch cost but it will require advancement in propulsion techniques.
These are some of the basic factors that can be optimized for reducing the cost of a mission. We can apply some basic principles and some advanced methods to access the space in low cost. Some ideas are listed below.
1. Conservation of momentum and energy losses. 2. Use of energy available in space viz. onboard energy generation a. Solar radiation- The solar thermal propulsion is proposed to a competitive solution to primary electric and chemical propulsion in outer space. b. Plasma wind c. Planetary gravitation- maneuvering the trajectory of the spacecraft by making use of the gravitational pull of the planets. d. Meteorites- the spacecraft can exploit the resources available on the meteorites that fall in their path. 3. Use of advanced propulsion methods like plasma propulsion, nuclear propulsion, electromagnetic propulsion techniques, Photon pressure propulsion 4. Unmanned mission- We can go for unmanned mission rather than manned one because it adds a lot to the cost an requires much more complex technology. Robots and advanced mapping system can serve our most of the purposes. 5. Use of low cost cryogenic and semi cryogenic propulsion- cryogenic system are much reliable in upper stages and are cost effective too. Semi cryogenic liquid rocket engines use
kerosene as the fuel along with liquid oxygen as oxidizer. They have the advantage of being relatively low cost, creating low pollution, reusable and having high performance. Safety and cost factors associated with the storage and handling of kerosene also gives it an edge over liquid hydrogen.
6. Refilling of fuel available in space- When we talk about interplanetary mission we think about visiting planets in the solar system. There are ambient amount of hydrocarbon fuel available in small satellites of the planets which can be exploited as an energy resource for the vehicle. Escaping the gravity of those satellites will not going to be much difficult. 7. Rotating blade lifting mechanism (ref. appendix 1) 8. Air breathing engine- This is a technology which is very widely pursued across the globe. It can largely serve our purpose.
Conclusion
The rate at which resources on earth are depleting it would be difficult in future to venture for exploring outer space. Bringing energy sources from space requires us to put in huge amount of resource and effort. Considering the availability of resource on earth we have limited scope for the future which is narrowing further. This is the time to start a cumulative venture to explore outer space and hunt for resources available there.
Statement of Purpose
I want to listen to the experts about their ideas which can help me in refining my ideas about low cost access to space. I also want to discuss some of my ideas with the experts. I am currently working on semicrogenic system base on LOX and kerosene and it will be useful for me to interact with people of expertise in this field. A semicrogenic system can be highly cost effective in terms of reusability of the carrier.
Submitted by Rahul Anand (Sc07062) Aerospace 3rd year
Ideology for low cost interplanetary mission
When we talk about low cost access to space we mean travelling to planets within the solar system and beyond. A lot of effort has been made worldwide to come up with a technology to meet the challenge. Lots of resource has gone into pursuits new innovative ideas. The question here is weather we are proceeding in the right direction or not. In spite thinking of advanced methods that violates the laws of physics or require exploring a completely new arena of physics like time travel, distortion of space-time, wormhole or travelling at a speed greater than the speed of light we should focus more on the extension of the laws of physics to a new frontier. Extending the application of technology where it has not yet been taken can serve our purpose in a more realistic way. Finding an adequate method is very important than gazing into the methodologies with no credible evidence. It can taint the topic.
Thinking about the low cost access to space we should first look at the factors affecting the cost and the concurrent remedies.
1. Aim of the mission- Aim of a mission is something that can¶t be altered but for the sake of cost effectiveness it can be decided base on the needs of the current society. 2. Size of the vehicle( material, dimension and design)- this is base on the mission requirements so again we can¶t do much about it but there is always a scope for optimization. 3. Fuel (sources of energy) - Using cheap and efficient fuel is one way to curtail the cost like using semi cryogenic instead of cryogenic. We can use other advance methods of propulsion or have some mechanism for onboard energy generation which is discussed in later section. 4. Factor of safety- In the current design we have high factor of safety which makes the system much more reliable but at the same time adds a lot to the cost of mission so optimizing it to a minimum level can bring down the cost significantly.
5. Technology (cost and limitations) - Technology has a major role to play in the cost of launch. Using advanced propulsion methods can be of great help. Some of them are discussed in some detail in the subsequent section. 6. Duration of mission viz. duration of flight- By increasing the speed of flight we can reduce the launch cost but it will require advancement in propulsion techniques.
These are some of the basic factors that can be optimized for reducing the cost of a mission. We can apply some basic principles and some advanced methods to access the space in low cost. Some ideas are listed below.
1. Conservation of momentum and energy losses. 2. Use of energy available in space viz. onboard energy generation a. Solar radiation- The solar thermal propulsion is proposed to a competitive solution to primary electric and chemical propulsion in outer space. b. Plasma wind c. Planetary gravitation- maneuvering the trajectory of the spacecraft by making use of the gravitational pull of the planets. d. Meteorites- the spacecraft can exploit the resources available on the meteorites that fall in their path. 3. Use of advanced propulsion methods like plasma propulsion, nuclear propulsion, electromagnetic propulsion techniques, Photon pressure propulsion 4. Unmanned mission- We can go for unmanned mission rather than manned one because it adds a lot to the cost an requires much more complex technology. Robots and advanced mapping system can serve our most of the purposes. 5. Use of low cost cryogenic and semi cryogenic propulsion- cryogenic system are much reliable in upper stages and are cost effective too. Semi cryogenic liquid rocket engines use
kerosene as the fuel along with liquid oxygen as oxidizer. They have the advantage of being relatively low cost, creating low pollution, reusable and having high performance. Safety and cost factors associated with the storage and handling of kerosene also gives it an edge over liquid hydrogen.
6. Refilling of fuel available in space- When we talk about interplanetary mission we think about visiting planets in the solar system. There are ambient amount of hydrocarbon fuel available in small satellites of the planets which can be exploited as an energy resource for the vehicle. Escaping the gravity of those satellites will not going to be much difficult. 7. Rotating blade lifting mechanism (ref. appendix 1) 8. Air breathing engine- This is a technology which is very widely pursued across the globe. It can largely serve our purpose.
Conclusion
The rate at which resources on earth are depleting it would be difficult in future to venture for exploring outer space. Bringing energy sources from space requires us to put in huge amount of resource and effort. Considering the availability of resource on earth we have limited scope for the future which is narrowing further. This is the time to start a cumulative venture to explore outer space and hunt for resources available there.
Statement of Purpose
I want to listen to the experts about their ideas which can help me in refining my ideas about low cost access to space. I also want to discuss some of my ideas with the experts. I am currently working on semicrogenic system base on LOX and kerosene and it will be useful for me to interact with people of expertise in this field. A semicrogenic system can be highly cost effective in terms of reusability of the carrier.
