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Author
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Topic: Moving the space station (ISS) to the moon?
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ASCAN1984
Member Posts: 1049
From: County Down, Nothern Ireland
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 06-13-2012 12:21 PM
   
I have heard that even if you wanted to, and even with boosters added, you cannot send the International Space Station to orbit the moon (for example as a lunar outpost). Why is this? |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 06-13-2012 12:36 PM
This is a summary from many sources.ISS systems are designed for the LEO radiation environment, and will fry if exposed to the Van Allen belts for too long. ISS structure is designed for fairly low loads and will not survive high thrust. So if you try to send ISS beyond LEO: If you use low enough thrust to spare the structure, the systems will fry. If you use high enough thrust to spare the systems, the structure will break. Solar array tracking, attitude control (GPS and horizon sensors) and thermal control are based on a LEO environment. Logistics for attitude control fuel would be made overly complicated. ISS is for a LEO environment, doesn't have the shielding, the communications or the structure of a lunar-craft. |
SkyMan1958
Member Posts: 867
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 06-14-2012 06:06 PM
Aside from the above, I heard tell that one of the trade-offs for working with the Russians on creating the ISS was that it's orbital inclination is 54 degrees (I'm not sure on the exact inclination, but I think that's right). Because of the inclination the ISS could NOT be used as a stepping stone for rockets boosting from there to the moon. It makes sense that if other specifically designed rockets could not fly from that orbital track to the moon, then the ISS itself could not do it. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 06-14-2012 06:39 PM
For the record, it's 51.6 degrees inclination. It's not that spacecraft cannot depart for the moon from the space station, they can; but rather that the inclination basically negates any fuel savings over launching from Earth. Not that the current inclination is not without its own benefits. At the higher inclination, the space station flies over more of the Earth's surface — about 75 percent, which covers about 95 percent of the inhabited lands — which is a plus for Earth science. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 06-14-2012 06:42 PM
Actually, the ISS can be used as a stepping stone. - For lunar missions, the Russians would have still have to launch from that inclination 51.6) even without the ISS.
- For the US and Europe, it is only 6-10% reduction in payload to orbit compared to due east launches (28.5 and 5 degrees)
- So there are benefits of using the ISS as a stepping stone:
- It exists
- It would make it easier for the Russians to participate.
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Headshot
Member Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 06-26-2012 09:50 AM
Slightly off topic, but just barely. I have heard of a proposal for the U.S. to disconnect its portion of the ISS, when the current agreement runs out with the Russians, JAXA, and ESA. It will then be sent to one of Earth's Lagrangian Points to study the effects of deep space on a known structure. It could still be visited by astronauts and would be kind of a test bed for construction materials and designs of manned Mars exploration vehicles.Has anyone else heard of this proposal? It seems more pratical to me and would certainly require less money and technology than sending the ISS to the Moon. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 06-26-2012 10:39 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Headshot:
Slightly off topic, but just barely. I have heard of a proposal for the U.S. to disconnect its portion of the ISS,
It is called the Exploration Platform and it doesn't use the USOS of the ISS. It uses left over pieces that are still on the ground. - shuttle external airlock
- MPLM
- STA Node (Node 4)
- and an international module
The USOS could not be used for the same role for the same reasons it can't be used at the moon. |
Max Q
Member Posts: 399
From: Whyalla South Australia
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 06-29-2012 07:25 AM
Now I'm not trying to start a fight here but did the Soviets have a bigger technical challenge getting to the moon in the 60's than the USA due to their position on the earth? |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 06-29-2012 07:41 AM
6% reduction in launch vehicle performance. |
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