A Systems Design for a Prototype Space Colony

9.34 Flight operations begin in program year 6, with the space shuttle serving as both transport and support base for the construction of the transfer vehicles. Each shuttle launches all of the prefabricated pieces necessary for either an LLV or 2 OTV's. The orbiter supplies both the living quarters and work platform for the final assembly and checkout of the vehicles. Figure 9.9 shows a conceptual arrangement of LLV components within an orbiter payload bay. This low earth orbit flight phase should be completed in one year. Beginning in program year 7, operations begin to take place on the lunar surface and at L-5. This activity can be divided into the set-up period, encompassing program years 7, 8, and 9, and colony construction, which takes 5 years and is completed by the end of program year 14. Following this, the colony is tested (90 days) and the agriculture and buildings are installed, with the colony operational at the end of program year 16. The rationale for this timetable can be found in Chapter VIII. In order to determine transportation needs and overall systems costs, mass flows must first be determined. During the set-up period at L-5, the mass to be transported, from Table 8.3, includes the construction shacks at 316 tons, living quarters at 134 tons, construction machinery at 7153 tons, powerplant at 603 tons,and site assembly equipment at 2740 tons. Added to these are the parts ~or two ILTV's at 160 tons each, or 320 tons, and the crew and the mass of their consumabi.es. The 50 man set-up crew, rotated every 90 days for the 3-year set-up period and at an individual crewman mass of 150 kilograms, allowing for equipment and belongings, comes to 90 tons. Consumables for 3 years, at 6.1 kilograms per person per day, have a mass of 334 tons. The total mass to be carried to L-5 during the set-up period is then 11690 tons, or 3867 tons of cargo and 200 people per year. Over the same period, the lunar base must be transported and set up. Using the requirements set up by the NASA-Marshall study previously cited, the lunar station mass is 2500 tons, and the mass of the electromagnetic launcher is 1500 tons. PowPr requirements were estimated to be 55 MW for the TLA, and 20 MW for all other energy demands, for a total of 75 MW. (The Marshall study found a

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