A Lunar Rover Powered by an Orbiting Laser Diode Array R. J. de YOUNG, M. D. WILLIAMS, G. H. WALKER, G. L. SCHUSTER & J. H. LEEf SUMMARY A conceptual design of a high-power, long-duration lunar rover powered by a laser beam is proposed. The laser transmitter in lunar orbit consists of an SP-100 nuclear reactor prime power source providing 100 kW of electricity to a laser diode array that emits 50 kW of laser radiation. The laser radiation is beamed to the lunar surface where it is received by a GaAlAs solid-state, laser-to-electric converter. This converter provides 22 kW of electrical power to the rover vehicle for science, locomotion, and crew needs. The mass of the laser transmitter is approximately 5000 kg, whereas the mass of the rover power supply is 520 kg. The rover power unit is significantly less massive than alternative rover power units. I. Introduction Interest in building a permanent lunar base has substantially increased. Such a base would be a test bed for future Mars missions, but would also be used for extensive science and exploration missions on the lunar surface. The lunar base would be a fixed, permanent structure with much surrounding infrastructure. However, this cannot satisfy the needs of geologists and other planetary scientists who would like to visit many distant lunar locations with minimum infrastructure and maximum mobility. Assaying lunar resources for potential commercialization would also require high mobility. Such needs have made the concept of the long-distance lunar rover attractive. Such a rover should support four crew members for several weeks to months, have good mobility for long-distance missions, and provide adequate power for performing detailed science analysis and crew support. The potential advantages of such a rover, from a geologist's point of view, are detailed in a proposed lunar science mission by Cintala, Spudis, and Hawke [1]. Their lunar expedition would traverse the Imbrium Basin and its environs for a total route distance of almost 4,000 km visiting 29 separate localities in an attempt to characterize the process involved in the formation and evolution of the lunar surface. This is a very long mission. A 4000-km trip is approximately 37 percent of the Moon's circumference of 10,933 km. This study put the emphasis on science, not the rover. Thus, no details on a rover to accomplish this mission or its power source were given. This paper will describe a conceptual design for a specific laser-power transmission system which would provide approximately 22 kW of electrical power to a lunar rover vehicle which could accomplish the mission described above. Three lunar-orbiting, laser diode array power stations, powered by a (SP-100) nuclear ' NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 23665-5225.
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