This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Investigation of Lunar Base Thermal Control System Options
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
Long duration human exploration missions to the Moon will require active thermal control systems which have not previously been used in space. The relatively short duration Apollo missions were able to use expendable resources (water boiler) to handle the moderate heat rejection requirement. Future NASA missions to the Moon will require higher heat loads to be rejected for long periods of time near the lunar equator. This will include heat rejection during lunar noon when direct radiation heat transfer to the surrounding environment is impossible because the radiator views the hot lunar surface.
The two technologies which are most promising for long term lunar base thermal control are heat pumps and radiator shades. Heat pumps enable heat rejection to space at the hottest part of the lunar day by raising the radiator temperature above the environment temperature. Conversely, radiator shades block some of the heat striking the radiator from the lunar surface, thus reducing the thermal environment temperature below the radiator temperature.
Recent trade-off studies at the Johnson Space Center have focused development efforts on the most promising heat pump and radiator shade technologies. Since these technologies are in the early stages of development and many parameters used in the study are not well defined, a parametric study was done to test the sensitivity to each assumption. The primary comparison factor in these studies was total system mass, with power requirements included in the form of a mass penalty for power.
Heat pump technologies considered were thermally driven heat pumps such as metal hydride, complex compound, absorption and zeolite. Also considered were electrically driven Stirling and vapor compression heat pumps. The electrically driven vapor compression cycle was the leading candidate due primarily to the low efficiencies of the thermally driven cycles and to the relatively “cheap” electrical power available during the lunar day when the heat pump is required.
Radiator shade concepts considered included step shaped, V-shaped and parabolic (or catenary) shades and ground covers. Of these, the parabolic (or catenary) shade appears to hold the most promise for moderate temperature heat rejection from a lunar base near the equator. The parabolic shade system may be optimized by reducing the shade size in relation to the radiator.
A further trade study compared the masses of heat pump and radiator shade systems. Although the radiator shade system was lighter in the base case considered, the masses of both systems were found to be very sensitive to several of the input parameters. A recommendation is made to continue development of both radiator shade and heat pump technologies.
Recommended Content
Authors
Citation
Ewert, M., "Investigation of Lunar Base Thermal Control System Options," SAE Technical Paper 932112, 1993, https://doi.org/10.4271/932112.Also In
References
- Ewert M.K. Petete P.A. Dzenitis J.M. “Active Thermal Control Systems for Lunar and Martian Exploration” Paper no. 901243 SAE 20th Intersociety Conference on Environmental Systems Williamsburg, Va. July 9-12, 1990
- Simonsen L. et. al. “Conceptual Design of a Lunar Base Thermal Control System” paper # LBS-88-225 Lunar Bases and Space Activities in the 21st Century Conference Houston, Texas April 5-7, 1988
- Swanson T. et. al. “Low-Temperature Thermal Control for a Lunar Base” SAE technical paper # 901242 20th Intersociety Conference on Environmental Systems Williamsburg, Va. July 1990
- Costello F. Swanson T. “Lunar Radiators with Specular Reflectors” ASME publication HTD 135 145 150 AIAA/ASME Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference Seattle, Wa. June, 1990
- Lord S.M. Venable W. “Lunar Waste Heat Radiator Design” Paper No. LBS-88-185 Lunar Bases and Space Activities in the 21st Century Symposium Houston, Texas April 5-7, 1988
- Initial Concept of Lunar Exploration Systems for Apollo III NASA CR-55763 The Boeing Company, Aero-Space Division Nov. 15 1963
- Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report NASA SP-330 9 22 1973
- Wark K. Thermodynamics fourth 1983 McGraw-Hill Book Co. 225
- Swanson T. et. al. “Heat Pump Based Thermal Management for a Lunar Base” Nuclear Technology for Space Exploration Conference August, 1992
- Green S. Models of Enemy Transport System Components for Space Applications Final Report, Southwest Research Institute, Grant No. NAG 9-393 from NASA JSC March 1 1991
- Kirol L. et. al. High Temperature Waste-Heat Driven Cooling Using Complex Compound Sorption Media Phase 1 Final Report, Rocky Research, Contract No. NAS 0-18456 from NASA JSC July 1991
- Lynch F. et. al. Metal Hydride Thermal Management Techniques for Future Spacecraft and Planetary Bases Phase 1 Final Report, Hydrogen Consultants Inc., Contract No. NAS 9-17740 from NASA JSC Aug. 1987
- Yerushalmi S. “Preliminary Comparison of Heat Pump” Cycles, LESC-30011 Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Co. March 1992
- Shelton S. et. al. “Solid/Vapor Adsorption Heat Pumps for Space Application” SAE technical paper # 881107 18th Intersociety Conference on Environmental Systems San Francisco, Ca. July 1988
- Dzenitis J. Petete P. “Long-Distance Transport of Thermal Energy” Crew and Thermal Systems Division NASA JSC white paper Dec. 1 1991
- Personal correspondence with Bob Cataldo, NASA Lewis Research Center August 28 1991
- Bjen D. D. Guentert D.C. “A Method for Reducing the Equivalent Sink Temperature of a Vertically Oriented Radiator on the Lunar Surface” NASA TMX-1729 Lewis Research Center
- Clark C. S. “Performance Evaluation of Horizontal Lunar Radiator with Solar Shading” Lockheed Engineering & Sciences LESC-28678 August 1990
- Swerdling B. Sullivan D. “Selection of Space Radiator Systems to meet Advanced Mission Requirements” AIAA paper no. 69-1070 AIAA 6th Annual Meeting and Technical Display Anaheim, Ca. October 20-24, 1969
- Ewert M. K. Clark C. S. “Analysis and Conceptual Design of a Lunar Radiator Parabolic Shade” Proceedings of the 26th Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference Boston, Mass. August 5-9, 1991
- Keller J. “Comparison Study of Several Lunar Radiator Shade Concepts Using the Thermal Synthesizer System (TSS)” Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Co.
- Keller J. “Full and Partial Parabolic Radiator Shade Modeling Using the Thermal Synthesizer System (TSS)” Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Co.
- Keller J. “A Comparison Study of Predicted Sink Temperatures for a Parabolic Lunar Radiator Shade Using the TSS and TRASYS Methods” Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Co. LESC - 30652 April 1993
- Foster Miller SIRF heat pump study phase 1 final report, contract NAS9-18819 May 1993
- Swan S. NASA JSC EC7 internal correspondence March 12 1993