Manned Moon vehicles and nanotechnologies (in papers of A.I.Kuzin M.V.Khrunichev Research and One of the most vital medium-term
challenges faced today is the large-scale exploration of the planets of our
solar system, including manned flights to the Moon and Mars. Conceptual and technical
research is already under way to review and analyze possible scenarios for
executing planetary missions - chiefly to the Moon - including an exploratory
pre-design architecture and identification of parameters of space vehicles for
various programs of this type. Khrunichev State Research and
Production Space Center is among the organizations which
are worthy of being involved into these studies due to their wide experience
accumulated during development of the manned space systems Salut, Almaz, Mir and the International Space Station. This is the background to a series
of research papers that were presented by the Center's
leading researchers and engineers at the 32nd Korolev
Readings in January 2008. It is wholly natural that the
profile and parameters of spacecraft, used to execute a lunar program, will be
dictated by the architecture of mission itself, as well as the aggregate of
technical tasks set for manned missions to the Moon. Given the current level of
sophistication in space technologies, it is absolutely reasonable to envisage
not only missions to visit Earth's satellite, but also the phased development
of the satellite, with the aim of executing scientific, applied, and even
socio-economic projects. In
this light it now appears wholly realistic to propose a conceptual solution to
the above challenge - a lunar mission
supporting permanent human residence on the Moon; this concept would utilize a
permanent orbital system and a Moon-based station, as well as transport craft
linking them (Earth orbit and Lunar orbit), and launch-and-landing lunar craft. It is discusses the
possibility of constructing a launch vehicle (LV) with payload capacity of 25,
35, 45, 75 and 150 tons, as a component of lunar transportation system. The paper
reviews multiple-launch systems, in which the spacecraft and crew are launched
on a specialized launch vehicle, with lifting capacity of 18 or 28 tons. Calculations
show that deployment of a lunar orbital station (LOS) and a lunar base (LB)
would be possible, even using the lightest launch vehicles of considered range,
although this system configuration would be effective even if some stages of
the launch vehicle were used repeatedly. The criterion of feasibility for
the system is taken as the complete cost, including the sum of the cost of
development and manufacture of all system components, integrating the
probability of successful operation of the components, and execution of the
mission. Operating
costs include: fuel, servicing of Earth-based elements, including preparation
of launch vehicles and upper stage boosters for launch, and servicing of system
elements in orbit, and other costs. It has been demonstrated that the minimum cost of the system covers the
use of launch vehicles with recovery and re-use of heavy-class stages
(capacity: 45 tons). The use of extra high-capacity
vehicles (lifting capacity of 75-150 tons) raises somewhat the total cost of
the system, as the development cost is higher, although fewer system components
are required. Also it is discussed the technical profile of a lunar orbital station
and a lunar base. To place these components in the appropriate trajectory for a lunar
flight, this profile uses a launch vehicle of lifting capacity of 100 tons, and
a booster stage capable of carrying 37 tons of payload to the departure
trajectory. Such payload capacity could be
sufficient to assemble a single-unit lunar orbital station. The lunar orbital station will have
a crew of two for missions lasting 180 days, and four crew members for short
missions. The lunar orbital
station will have two axial and four radial connection nodes. The living quarters will
be partially protected from radiation by the fuel tanks. The crew's living
quarters will have additional radiation protection, and can serve as shelter
during solar flares. The
lunar orbital station will also feature a manipulator for handling cargo
delivered by transportation craft on unpressured
platforms. An external platform for
storing such cargos is also included as an option. It is discussed the plan for
a manned lunar expedition using the lunar orbital station. The equatorial region of the Moon
was preliminarily selected as location of initial lunar base. The base is to consist
of three modules, each weighing 9 tons: a service and airlock module, a
storage module, and a special-purpose module. The facility could be manned by a
crew of either two or four, while missions could last from two weeks to six
months. The service and airlock
module is fitted with an electrical system powered by solar panels, individual
living berths and an airlock chamber. The service/airlock and storage modules are
interconnected, while the special-purpose module connects to the first two
modules via an electric power cable. During development of the lunar
base assembly process, it was identified that the greatest difficulties would
be caused by the movement of modules from the landing stages to the lunar
surface, as well as by delivery to locations where they are to be installed and
connected to one another. The
system proposed involves modules that can be relocated to the base area by
means of self-propelled chassis. Another option was also considered: using an automatic
or remotely-managed transporters crane to unload and relocate modules. This paper demonstrated the technical
feasibility of creating a single-unit lunar orbital station and a three-module
lunar base, using technologies developed at Khrunichev
State Research and Development and creation of the spacecraft
noted above demand the most modern technologies, which not only simplify the
construction of launch vehicles and manned-station modules, but also significantly
improve their technical and economic performance. Such technical innovations could include nanotechnology approaches,
offering ground-breaking developments in materials, protective coatings, and
micro-miniature devices and systems. In this area, Khrunichev
State Research and The raw material used to make nanomaterials is a complex chemical compound containing
atoms of specific elements in a chemically-bonded form. The source material is introduced into an industrial plant, where it is
reduced to the required elements in bare atomic form or in the form of a
low-temperature plasma. Inside the plant the physical conditions are created,
such that a three-dimensional nanostructure is formed either on the surface or
inside the substance to be alloyed, defining new physical properties of the
final product. This principle is the basis for production of
super-hard nanoceramics with high damping
capabilities, grown on a steel or metal/ceramic base for instrumentation and triboengineering purposes. A 3-D homological series of solid-state chemical compounds of SiC and SiO2 is formed on the surface of Chrome18Nickel10Тitanium steel, or hard alloy VK8 during steel tempering. This
process is performed on Russian-made UPNS-304M arc plasmatron
with liquid feeder, at atmospheric pressure, without the use of a vacuum
chamber. Silazane polymer
is used as the raw material for generating carbon and silicon nanoparticles. In a stream of
low-temperature (3000ºC) argon plasma, a stratified nanocrystal
structure is formed, with enhanced rigidity (Hv = 25 GPa) to a
depth of 3-7 чm, with the minimum quantity of admixtures. At a certain rate of movement of the plasma
"spot", the excess energy of ion stream dissipates on mass during picoseconds,
which ensures substrate temperature not exceeding 200ºC. In each closed cycle of implantation of silicon
and carbon during tempering, as a result of hemosorption
a thermal, stabilized diamond-like film with thickness of ~ 20 nm is formed,
with quantum properties and new chemical properties (molecules), possessing a
surface (solid body). Using the same physical principles, the
world's first industrial-scale ladle nano-alloying of
liquid steel was conducted using nitride-forming materials and nitrogen in the
atomic state. The nitrogen-containing substance - carbamide - is introduced into the steel-pouring ladle in a special manner, together
with the required proportions of ligatures. Upon contact with the
liquid metal, a large volume of atomic nitrogen is formed, which is a hundred
thousand times more active than the gaseous (molecular) form. The steel
is intensely saturated with nitrogen, with the formation of nitride and carbonitride phases. As the carbamide decomposes, a large volume of carbon oxide and
hydrogen is also generated, creating a restorative atmosphere, and reducing the
formation of oxides of the alloying elements, ensuring steel purity. The hot deformation of metal is performed
without reducing the temperature of the end of rolling, i.e. within the limits
of current technological procedures, but the physics of the process of plastic
deformation changes, and consists in the fact that nitride and carbonitride products (phases) at nano-
and micro-levels during recrystallization slow down
the movement of grain-boundary dislocations and reinforce the fine-grain steel obtained
structure. Thus, the fine-grain structure obtained during the crystallization
of liquid metal is subjected to secondary atomization by plastic deformation. The first industrial application of this
technology was performed at Nizhnetagil Metallurgy Plant. Over 20 melts
of low-carbon dead-melted steel of St3sp and 9Manganese2Silicon
types were performed in oxygen converters, with processing using atomic
nitrogen without alteration of any of the remaining technology parameters and
introduction of deoxidizing agents. Metallurgy and Material Sciences
Institute of Russian Test batches of metal for deep hot
forging and cold heading (deformation within the range of 75-90% stock upset)
were produced using the new technology at Oskolsk
Electrometallurgy Plant. As a result of the efforts to research and
develop industrial-scale nano-alloying of steel in
nitride phases, a realistic foundation has been created to reduce the metal
content of structural elements and machinery by 15-20%, while extending the
reliability and service life by 20-50% in the eastern and northern regions of
Russia; the specific expenditure of manganese and nickel was also reduced by
40-70%. Moreover, this technology is
universal in application, and can be deployed for the entire range of existing
metal products. New capital investment is not
required to integrate the technology, which does not adversely affect working
conditions or increase environmental pollution. |
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