Early lunar resource utilization - A key to human exploration

Human lunar mission capabilities using SSTO, ISRU and LOX-augmented NTR technologies - A preliminary assessment

“…If SSTO launch costs of -40M$ can be truly realized , then 3 SSTO launches costing -120 M$ could support higher pe rformance lunar missions than the 2 launch scenario using the Space Shuttle and Titan IV vehicles costing -640 M$--a factor of 5 reduction in costs. With past studies 8 showing cost of payload to the lunar surface at -1 00 k$/kg (-8 times higher than the cost to LEO), it can be inferred that deli very costs to the lunar surface of -20 k$/kg may be possible us ing SSTO , ISRU and LANTR technologies. It can also be easi ly argued that quoted SSTO costs are on ly esti mates at t his time while the the cost for Shuttle and Titan IV reflect actual operational costs.…”

“…Because of the limited life support capabilities of the LERV, the crew is sustained for extended periods by a surface habitation facility delivered on earlier cargo missions, as are the LUNOX production equipment and surface exploration equipment. 8 Near the end of the surface stay, the crew uses the surface tanker to transport and refill the LERV's LOX tank with -8 t of LUNOX supplied by the production facility. Once reoxidized, the LERV, with crew and samples, ascends to a temporary lunar phasing orbit, then performs th e trans-Earth injection (TEl) burn for the trip back: Near Earth, the lander stage is jettisoned and the crew module reenters ballistically.…”

“…The LANTR LTV has an overall length -2m longe r than the configuration shown in Figure 5b but it is slightly lighter since the "doublewalled" internal LOX tank is replaced by a singlewalled version. The larger payload bay also makes it possible to deploy a larger, more capable LOXlLH2 LERV carrying a 6.3 t crew capsule (see Figu re 8) while staying within the 60 t IMLEO limit. On "1-way" cargo missions , the LOXlLH2 lander stage can deliver -9.2 t of surface payload which is sufficient to accommodat e all of t he envisioned surface elements 8 needed to support the piloted mission.…”

A Bootstrap Approach to an Affordable Exploration Program

“…Most of these concepts also assume that very costly humans missions would deploy the lunar propellant infrastructure which diminishes the benefits of the a lunar propellant. 4 What is needed is a propellant infrastructure that precedes human missions. The Bootstrap Approach, described in this paper, attempts to create the infrastructure from scratch using the least amount of hardware from Earth.…”

Human exploration and settlement of the moon using lunox-augmented NTR propulsion

“…The increased payload delivered on each expendable N1R flight is also leveraged to land surface systems dedicated to lunar resource utilization. Our intent here is to use LUNOX to "reoxidize" LL Vs and LTVs at the earliest possible opportunity (ExPO 1992, Joosten andGuerra 1993) and to then transition to a reusable LTS architecture to minimize recurring costs to the point where commercialization and human settlement of the Moon can become practical.…”