SPACE CONCEPTS

BRAINSTORMING

The space concepts page is a carry over from my original web pages, when I placed some of my mad and not so mad space ideas on a web page for some fellow space industry colleagues to look at.

Pluto Trans-Rapide Mission

A design for an ion-engined true microspacecraft to race the Pluto Express Spacecraft to the planet Pluto, inspired by the pioneering work of the father of UK ion propulsion, the late Dr David Fearn. NASA's Pluto Express subsequently got cancelled, then re-emerged to limp on in various forms. I still personally believe NASA should have gone with an ion engine powered spacecraft, at least a solar powered ion engine propulsion section for use in the inner solar system to get a Pluto spacecraft up to speed.

Soyuz 2000

A concept which examines re-engineering the Russian Soyuz spacecraft out of Carbon Fibre, developing a state of the art glass cockpit in the interior, and making extensive use of microsensors throughout the spacecraft. It would have offered a good Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV) for the International Space Station too.

Lunar Waverider Return Mission

This concept seemed initially, to be impossible to achieve, but through the use of drop tanks for propellant, the task suddenly became more viable.

The design examined the feasibility of building a small manned spaceplane and descent stage, which is delivered to orbit, from whence it flies to the Moon, descends from Lunar orbit to the Lunar surface, then returns to Lunar orbit and from there, back to the Earth's surface, using waveriding in the Earth's atmosphere for the atmospheric decceleration and re-entry.

Microspacecraft concepts

A great interest in microspacecraft for low cost exploration of the solar system with massive redundancy, led to a host of design concepts, and a number of hardware prototypes.

Numerous concepts have been developed, involving vehicles that fall into a small form factor category known as Picosats, and including spacecraft and miniature landers and roving surface vehicles. Propulsion systems investigated have included chemical propulsion, electric propulsion, solar sails, solar thermal propulsion and also propulsion using compact electromagnetic rail-guns for initial accelleration and then deploying solar sails.

Inflatable Lunar Base

A design which uses either the Lunar waverider, or small landers and microrovers to deliver the payload to the lunar surface, and then assemble an inflatable lunar base, using tele-operation to bury the base in lunar regolith using the microrovers.

Zero Point Energy Drive

An esoteric concept which examines the use of zero point energy for a propulsion system.

Quantum Tunnelling Drive

A concept in which a propulsion system based on quantum tunnelling is postulated.