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Enabling Long-Duration Lunar Equatorial Operations With Thermal Wadi InfrastructureLong duration missions on the Moon s equator must survive lunar nights. With 350 hr of cryogenic temperatures, lunar nights present a challenge to robotic survival. Insulation is imperfect, so it is not possible to passively contain enough heat to stay warm through the night. Components that enable mobility, environmental sensing and solar power generation must be exposed, and they leak heat. Small, lightweight rovers cannot store enough energy to warm components throughout the night without some external source of heat or power. Thermal wadis, however, can act as external heat sources to keep robots warm through the lunar night. Electrical power can also be provided to rovers during the night from batteries stored in the ground beside wadis. Buried batteries can be warmed by the wadi s heat. Results from analysis of the interaction between a rover and a wadi are presented. A detailed three-dimensional (3D) thermal model and an easily configurable two-dimensional (2D) thermal model are used for analysis.
Document ID
20110007929
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Technical Memorandum (TM)
Authors
Jones, Heather L. (Carnegie-Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Thornton, John P. (Carnegie-Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Balasubramaniam, Ramaswamy (National Center for Space Exploration Research on Fluids and Combustion Cleveland, OH, United States)
Gokoglu, Suleyman, A. (NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Sacksteder, Kurt R. (NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Whittaker, William L. (Carnegie-Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 2011
Subject Category
Space Processing
Report/Patent Number
AIAA Paper 2011-0703
NASA/TM-2011-216994
E-17633
Meeting Information
Meeting: 49th Aerospace Sciences Meeting
Location: Orlando, FL
Country: United States
Start Date: January 4, 2011
End Date: January 7, 2011
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 075585.01.06.01.03.03
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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