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Solar power for the lunar nightProviding power over the 354 hour lunar night provides a considerable challenge to solar power concepts for a moonbase. Concepts are reviewed for providing night power for a solar powered moonbase. The categories of solutions considered are electrical storage, physical storage, transmitted power, and innovative concepts. Electrical storage is the most well-developed option. Less developed electrical storage options are capacitors and superconducting inductors. Physical storage options include storage of potential energy and storage of energy in flywheels. Thermal storage has potentially high energy/weight, but problems of conduction and radiation losses during the night need to be addressed. Transmitted power considers use of microwave or laser beams to transmit power either from orbit or directly from the Earth. Finally, innovative concepts proposed include reflecting light from orbital mirrors, locating the moonbase at a lunar pole, converting reflected Earthlight, or moving the moonbase to follow the sun.
Document ID
19890017428
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Technical Memorandum (TM)
Authors
Landis, Geoffrey A. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1989
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Report/Patent Number
NASA-TM-102127
E-4913
NAS 1.15:102127
Meeting Information
Meeting: Biennial SSI/Princeton Conference on Space Manufacturing
Location: Princeton, NJ
Country: United States
Start Date: May 10, 1989
End Date: May 13, 1989
Sponsors: Space Studies Inst.
Accession Number
89N26799
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 595-41-11
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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