The objective was to compare a nuclear reactor-driven Stirling engine lunar base power source to a laser-to-electric converter with orbiting laser power station, each providing 1 MW of electricity to the lunar base. The comparison was made on the basis of total mass required in low-Earth-orbit for each system. This total mass includes transportation mass required to place systems in low-lunar orbit or on the lunar surface. The nuclear reactor with Sterling engines is considered the reference mission for lunar base power and is described first. The details of the laser-to-electric converter and mass are discussed. The next two solar-driven high-power laser concepts, the diode array laser or the iodine laser system, are discussed with associated masses in low-lunar-orbit. Finally, the payoff for laser-power beaming is summarized.
Laser-Powered Lunar Base
1989
16 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Extraterrestrial Exploration , Miscellaneous Energy Conversion & Storage , Solar Energy , Nuclear Auxiliary Power Systems , Laser power beaming , Lunar bases , Nuclear reactors , Stirling engines , Electric generators , Laser applications , Solar cells , Diodes , Iodine lasers , Lunar orbits , Comparison
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