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Altair Lunar Lander.


Sharkman Briton

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When it comes to space exploration then one of the more useful things to potentially use the moon for is as a resource base and part of in-orbit construction projects. And investment in lunar development now could in turn mean we get to rapidly expand space exploration over the next century by limiting what we need to lift from the surface.

Mine and refine materials on the moon, manufacture basic parts and machinable blanks, and then pack them into sled launched aero-break orbital pods to get stuff back into LEO for minimal fuel requirements. Capture them at an orbital dockyard for use in building the bulk of long range vessels and probes, and reserve surface lift mass for everything that can't be effectively sourced from mines on the moon. (Combined with advances in mining and manufacturing robotics, and we don't even need humans to set foot there again for the most part.)

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Altair Lunar Lander (LSAM)

Descent Module:

Gross Mass: 35100 Kg

Propellant Mass: 19266 Kg (3209 Kg LH2 - 16056 Kg LOX)

Total Delta - V: 3000 m/s (Piloted) - 3100 m/s (Cargo)

Engines: 4 x CECE (RL-10 derivative, throttling range 12% to 100%)

Notes: Descent module assumes 0% propellant boiloff for the Earth - Moon trip. A target mass of 42 to 43 metric tonnes at initial LEO is to be assumed.

Ascent Module:

Gross Mass: 10800 Kg

Propellant Mass: 5542 Kg (1977 Kg MMH - 3565 Kg NTO)

Total Delta - V: 1970 m/s (Sortie) - 1985 m/s (Outpost)

Engines: 1 x AJ10-118K (with modifications, see below)

Notes: The engine was selected for a target VAC ISP of 321 s. A maximum thrust value of 21 kN and a throttling range between 45% to 100% would probably be necessary.

Source:http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20100035768

Thanks for extracting the numbers and providing the source, I've added this to my list.

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