Post by account_disabled on Feb 28, 2024 0:53:57 GMT -8
Sandia preparing the future lunar base.
To keep the lights on at NASA's Artemis human lunar outpost, Sandia National Laboratories is developing electrical microgrids to handle power distribution from the future lunar base 's mini nuclear reactors to various housing and support facilities.
NASA's ambition to establish a permanent human presence at the future lunar base as a rehearsal for an eventual manned mission to Mars poses tremendous engineering challenges that make the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) look like a barnburner. A future lunar base would not only be a thousand times farther from Earth than the space laboratory, but would require a completely new approach to solving problems.
One of the biggest challenges will be providing electrical power for the outpost. Because the future lunar base is expected to be inhabited for up to two months at a time, it will have to operate du C Level Executive List ring the -day lunar night. This means that solar panels are not a practical option, so a number of small nuclear reactors are being developed for use alongside or instead of the panels .
future lunar base
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Engineers to develop swarms of autonomous robots to extract lunar resources.
However, there's more to it than just generating volts. The future lunar base will need a mini grid to transmit power and ensure that the supply is regular and stable. As an added complication, the base will consist of two facilities. One will be the habitat and the second will be a mining and fuel processing complex that will be located several kilometers away.
The proposed microgrids, one at each facility and connected to each other, will be similar to those used to power the ISS, but will require some fundamental modifications. For example, it has yet to be decided whether the networks will run on direct current or alternating current which is then converted to DC in the habitat.
Other issues include developing systems and software to regulate electricity in the processing plant so that voltage levels are maintained even as demand changes over time scales ranging from milliseconds to entire seasons. To do this, Sandia has developed a control system design methodology and a scalable microgrid facility to study the lunar base's power requirements and specifications.
The idea is to produce a top-down design, where the control system is first developed along with the energy storage specifications, then components are developed to meet those specifications. Additionally, microgrids will need to be over-engineered for resilience, but flexible enough for one network to cooperate with another.
To keep the lights on at NASA's Artemis human lunar outpost, Sandia National Laboratories is developing electrical microgrids to handle power distribution from the future lunar base 's mini nuclear reactors to various housing and support facilities.
NASA's ambition to establish a permanent human presence at the future lunar base as a rehearsal for an eventual manned mission to Mars poses tremendous engineering challenges that make the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) look like a barnburner. A future lunar base would not only be a thousand times farther from Earth than the space laboratory, but would require a completely new approach to solving problems.
One of the biggest challenges will be providing electrical power for the outpost. Because the future lunar base is expected to be inhabited for up to two months at a time, it will have to operate du C Level Executive List ring the -day lunar night. This means that solar panels are not a practical option, so a number of small nuclear reactors are being developed for use alongside or instead of the panels .
future lunar base
You may be interested in:
Engineers to develop swarms of autonomous robots to extract lunar resources.
However, there's more to it than just generating volts. The future lunar base will need a mini grid to transmit power and ensure that the supply is regular and stable. As an added complication, the base will consist of two facilities. One will be the habitat and the second will be a mining and fuel processing complex that will be located several kilometers away.
The proposed microgrids, one at each facility and connected to each other, will be similar to those used to power the ISS, but will require some fundamental modifications. For example, it has yet to be decided whether the networks will run on direct current or alternating current which is then converted to DC in the habitat.
Other issues include developing systems and software to regulate electricity in the processing plant so that voltage levels are maintained even as demand changes over time scales ranging from milliseconds to entire seasons. To do this, Sandia has developed a control system design methodology and a scalable microgrid facility to study the lunar base's power requirements and specifications.
The idea is to produce a top-down design, where the control system is first developed along with the energy storage specifications, then components are developed to meet those specifications. Additionally, microgrids will need to be over-engineered for resilience, but flexible enough for one network to cooperate with another.