Jules Verne 007
A proposal for a low-cost Moon landing
Proposal for low cost Moon landing (assuming a commercial flight around the Moon)
San Diego, CA
March 2019
Premise: soon we will have tourist space flights, including ones orbiting the Moon. Any Moon landing is expensive due to the inherent complexities of having another space craft dedicated for landing and sustaining the astronauts life for days (the concept employed by the Apollo missions). There is a way to have a much lower cost Moon landing, for short duration trips (hours, not days).
Idea: use the concepts and technology already developed for jet packs. Due to the lunar gravity being a sixth of Earth’s gravity, a jet pack like device will allow a short duration trip to the Moon’s surface, originating from a Moon orbiting commercial flight.
Going on a slight tangent, is funny (for me) how I thought this is a truly original idea. NASA has explored jet pack technologies for the Moon before I was born, and this article and embedded video makes a very nice trip down a great memory lane: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/vintagespace/2017/09/28/we-almost-had-jet-packs-on-the-moon/#.XIaYUnbYrnE
However, what NASA and Bell, etc. were working on in the late sixties was a Lunar based flight solution. What I’m proposing now is using the jetpack to leave the orbiting Moon spacecraft, land on the Moon, and then return in the span of a few hours.
As a side note, this article assumes the commercial Moon orbiting spacecraft is a done deal, and at this time is not. Hence Messrs Bezos and Musk should move their respective behinds a bit faster:-).
So, my assumptions are:
- You can fit the jet pack, additional fuel and oxygen tanks in a commercial space capsule (like the Dragon or the Starliner), and then assemble the whole contraption while in Moon’s orbit, using a tethered EVA process
- You can get enough fuel and oxygen to make it from the Lunar orbit to the Moon surface and back (with a couple of hours in between) without overpowering the landing device (e.g. astronaut’s legs)
- You can devise the navigation and control system for a jetpack based system (including the de-orbiting, landing, re-orbiting)
- You can make all of the above at such a low cost compared with designing a specialized spacecraft (such as the Eagle LM) that makes the whole thing a bit less of a Moon shot (pun intended)
- All of the above can be done using technology already available, at a very low cost (relatively speaking). The original LM program in today’s dollars is over $20B, and a jetpack solution can be designed and had in the low millions. All this design and development can be crowdsourced, with only the manufacturing and final testing done by a corporation
Special thanks for the 1965 Thunderball James Bond movie that inspired this idea. And to Jules Verne!
A few technical notes, completely off the cuff (no real math involved):
- Design restriction: total weight should not be over 2000 lbs (equivalent of 300 lbs on the Earth’s surface)
- A scuba dive tank lasts for an hour. I postulate a couple of special tanks will last for 5-6 hours in space. Weight ~ 100 lbs
- Astronaut weight including the space suit, but not the oxygen tanks. Weight ~ 300 lbs Note: clearly, no matter how much I’d like to be in that suit, my weight may be a problem. Surmountable:-).
- Jetpack (w/o fuel) weight ~ 200 lbs
- Fuel weight ~ 1400 lbs (2000 – 600)
Note on the jetpack. Jetpack as in rocket powered jetpack (as opposed to jets that require an atmosphere). May need additional guidance thrusters added to the frame.
Note on the type of trip around the Moon. If Apollo-like, low orbiting, all things are as discussed above.
If as originally envisioned by SpaceX – one pass along the Moon, other considerations are required:
- Relative speed may be prohibitive due to the deceleration needed to land on the Moon
- This will be a one way trip to the Moon’s surface, with no return to Earth possible, which has ethical implications (perhaps a terminally ill person would do it)
Final note: the low cost moon landing contraption shall be called “Jules Verne 007.”