| MARS-NOW Presentation |
May 2005 Launch under construction |
Sept 16, 2004 Launch |
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Micro-Space has a short, but growing list of committed customers for space adventures. Some of our offered space flight options have been reviewed in these pages.
If our philosophical ramblings have lead to doubt about Micro-Space intentions, I want to reiterate them here:
Micro-Space will be flying adventurers into near and interplanetary space at “affordable” prices. That certainly means LEO at a small fraction of the “pre inflation” Russian price, and deep space adventures at comparable ($10-$20 Million) prices.
These are “extreme adventure travel” opportunities – a category climbing Mount Everest fits into - not safe, and not easy. “Tourists” are not invited: adventurers are.
Our forum posts have recently focused on Lunar and Mars adventurers which start with commercial launch services. These will certainly be accomplished, with their ultralight systems making unexpectedly small – and low cost – launch vehicles adequate for even historic interplanetary missions.
On the other hand, the small number of launch companies – with or without SpaceX success – guarantees a near monopolistic business environment for the foreseeable future. It is unlikely that any launch provider will welcome innovative uses of their vehicle – such as ultralight manned flights - which compete with their more expensive human flight offerings. Therefore I reiterate Micro-Space’s intention to provide independent ultralight flights from Earth to LEO.
The clustered “Small Dumb Boosters” we use have low development and production costs, and can equally be bundled to lift moderate sized expeditions above LEO, or minimal mass human systems from Earth to orbit.
A list of historic “Mantras” – replayed reflexively by old space hands – need to be discarded to understand the options Micro-Space offers. One we energetically countered in this forum was the blind assertion that “the second stage of a launch vehicle always costs more than the first stage”. It is very valuable for new space engineers to understand that this counterintuitive proposition MIGHT be true in a specific case. But the Jupiter C and related Juno 1 (which launched the first American satellite) certainly flag the “Always” claim as the lie it is.
Very experienced aerospace engineers have claimed that “Big Dumb Boosters” – simple and low cost “Pressure Fed” liquid rocket systems – can be much more cost effective then the elegant machinery flown today. These radicals have been regularly shouted down and denied funding by the “experts”. The rationale has always been that this tempting assertion is “unproven”. It takes a while to learn that the second stages of the very successful “Delta II”, as well as that of the Falcon 1, use only pressure fed motors and achieve the large majority of orbital velocity. All controlled lunar and interplanetary rockets – like the Apollo LEM - use such simple pressure fed motors because of their high reliability and low development cost.
Micro-Space could well be the first company to use such well proven, reliable and low cost propulsion to lift humans into orbit.
Many discussions in this forum emphasize the “complexity” of combining or clustering rocket motors and propulsion modules. It is certainly true that this is not trivial, and real engineering effort is involved, but the extensive offerings and frequent flights of launch vehicles augmented by customized clusters of “strap-on” boosters mark this too as false.
A fixation on “Reusable” launch vehicles as “the only way to reduce costs” is also common. Similar arguments can and have been made about “upgradeable” computers or cell phones, but we have moved into an era where the most affordable “high technology” products are disposable! Cell phones, game machines and computers now pile up in landfills. Those who have lived for more than a few decades also know that automobiles and airplanes are “used up” and are disposable.
It has long been true on frontiers that transportation costs so far exceed production costs that “recycling” is impractical. On the order of a million people traveled the Oregon and California Trails without using vehicles capable of multiple round trips. (That had to wait for 1869 and the transcontinental railroad.) But the pioneers did optimize their vehicles and their loads.
Optimized “disposable” launch vehicles – like ours - will dominate cost effective space flight for many years to come and will be used by those who don’t want to wait.
Seize the Dream ™
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Micro-Space has filed a "Letter of Intent" application for participation in the "Google Lunar X Prize". This challenging effort, to land an operational "Rover" on the surface of the Moon, will be a stretch and must involve funding from sponsors or investors. On the other hand, it plays into Micro-Space strengths, including our unusually light weight "Lunar Lander" systems and the storable fuels they use.
Our "Human Lunar Lander", with its split tank grouping, makes it easy to load a "Rover" unit, and we intend to display this as a full scale system at the 2007 "X PRIZE Cup" event. We also have in operation, and will display, an innovative Lunar Rover for this use.
We envision using the Google Lunar X PRIZE, with its high publicity and sponsorship value, plus $30 Million cash prizes, as a mechanism to attract funding both for the competition efforts and simultaneous validation of Micro-Space systems for affordable human adventures in space.
Micro-Space continues to be a participant in the "Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Competition". Although we have made considerable progress with our Lander’s subsystems, we have not been able to focus as intensely as we had hoped on this project and we will not receive a FAA Launch License in 2007.
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We have made excellent progress with our Interplanetary Life Support Systems as well as the related literature research. We have located Canadian Air Force and other study reports which guarantee that "pressure suits" for space and planetary EVA based on extreme altitude aircraft work can be far lighter and safer than the NASA EVA standard (functionally derived from 1890 "Diving Dress").
We have both laboratory and backpack "Mars Expedition Respirators" in operation. These include a high level of redundancy which eliminates the "single point fatal failure modes" so common in NASA systems. Conservative and cautious policies have made the dangerous NASA systems usable, but make EVA work slow and difficult (including painful hands and bleeding fingers with the NASA EVA gloves). Serious exploration will take better equipment.
The extreme altitude work referenced above makes it clear that when positive pressure respirator modes and chest banding are designed into EVA system (as is done in Micro-Space designs), even pressure suit RIPS and CUTS are eliminated as serious hazards. With a proper respirator, any human (just like a high altitude pilot) can tolerate exposure to Mars' atmosphere or even space itself without injury.
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The LINKS tab will lead you to forums with extensive discussion of this work, and answer specific questions. The radical cost savings (reducing orbital adventure costs to $1 Million near term and even Mars expeditions to $100 Million cost) are discussed in great detail.
No obstacle (other than short term funding) has arisen to block our vision of affordable human adventures near the Earth, on the Moon or on Mars. While these expeditions will still be expensive, the costs will fall into the range of funding for an ocean racing sailboat or an auto racing team.
The "Road to Space" is open. Once adventurers recognize that even an expedition to Mars is no more impossible today than were the privately funded expeditions to the North and South Poles a hundred years ago, they will gear up and go!
Micro-Space was not able to complete the FAA flight permit process in time for the 2006 X-Prize Cup event, nor were we able to get FAA permission to conduct a tethered flight demonstration at this event. The FAA permission would probably not be needed for tethered operation if this were not an FAA licensed “Air Show” event. The large public attendance mandated a careful FAA review of the tether design (and possibly system test procedures) to assure that the vehicle could not break free and crash into the crowd. To expect this to be accomplished in a few days was an impossible dream! We displayed our Lunar Lander vehicle, recovered flight test vehicles and an outline of our spaceflight concepts at the Las Cruces event.
Photos of the X-Prize Cup event, including Micro-Space presentations, were captured for this news site: PHOTOS See photos 10-12 of 22.
We faced conflicting emotions during Armadillo’s attempts, since with their mastery of stabilized hovering flight they deserved a prize. On the other hand, controlled landing was a key part of the NASA Challenge and the entire prize total remains on the table. Armadillo’s lead (having flown this type vehicle at the X-Prize Cup a year earlier) evaporated when their FAA flight permit arrived only the day before the event, allowing only their first - flawed - practice flight. The competition flights, and marginal landings, were their first with manual control as a backup, unpracticed procedure.
Micro-Space remains a serious contender for these prizes. As a competitor who has already achieved both the required thrust from the motors used, and stabilized flight using gimbaled motors in a similar system, we are well positioned to be a winner. Our FAA permit application may now be judged “Substantially Complete”, which starts the clock on the maximum 120 day review process (the FAA acted much faster on the Armadillo permit). We already have three production vehicles which are being readied for tethered flight tests. These – or very similar units – are also designed to handle a double set of fuel tanks with little increase in empty weight. This step should bring the 180 second duration of level two competition within reach.
Our “Ultralight” spaceflight concepts were well received at the show, particularly by the adventurous types (divers and mountaineers) for whom they are intended. Our startling contention that the vehicle we displayed was a FULL SCALE system for MANNED lunar access is of course not an engineering surprise. It is well known that a vehicle holding 300 pounds of high performance rocket fuel (as this one can) can transport more than 300 pounds of mass to the lunar surface or back to orbit. The fact that this can be done with a vehicle empty weight of less than 50 pounds is perhaps unexpected. But the biggest surprise for many is that there are individuals who would consider – actually welcome - ascent from the Moon clad in a pressure suit and riding little more than a bicycle frame! Those who are willing will shatter all timelines and price estimates for personal access to the Moon!
The reality is that anything more multiplies trip cost tenfold while providing protection against no known hazard!
Oct. 16, 2006 News Update
Micro-Space is an active participant in the X-Prize Cup Lunar Lander challenge. Our efforts preparing vehicles for this week’s events have limited us to little news or Web Site updates this summer, but the vehicles are ready for Level 1 competition. Like others, we do not now have an FAA flight permit, and may be restricted to a static display this year. As it is impossible for all the prizes to be won this year, Micro-Space plans to prepare to fly in the level 2 (180 second) competition next year. Our present vehicle links four of our 4” diameter “Propulsion Modules”, modified with pivoting nozzles, into a lander, with spring loaded legs. By adding four additional fuel tanks, and providing better accommodation in the legs, we can reach the longer duration for next year’s competition with a very similar, lightweight vehicle.
Aug 27, 2005 **** MARS-NOW **** An Affordable Proposal
Micro-Space hardware for Mars Missions was demonstrated at the “New Mexico Science Fiction Conference” (aka “Bubonicon”), Aug. 27, 2005. A presentation by Richard P. Speck, head of Micro-Space, laid out the parameters for a lightweight and low cost manned trip to Mars. This talk was well attended and well received. It was noted that size matters, and that two petit women could travel for the same cost as one average man. Procedures which optimize the use of “gravity well synergism”, will allow the Falcon 5 (with 6020 Kg payload in LEO) to deliver 1800 Kg to the surface of Mars. The estimated cost for this mission is well below the $100 Million dollars used as a working budget figure. Estimated costs and system masses are decreasing, as solutions are found to the remaining problems. Historically, costs increase late in such projects, but with this mission requiring only a single, $16 Million launch vehicle, the working budget has substantial slack.
In any case, this mission could be funded as a “Big Budget”, “Docutainment” movie (plus three years of reality programs), as a commercial “Mars Sample Return” venture, with collected materials presold or auctioned, or as a personal adventure. The small quantity of hardware which still needs to be developed makes embarkation for this 970 day, round trip mission in 2009 a real possibility provided that serious work begins soon.
The proposed mission lands only a fraction of the payload on Mars, using orbital rendezvous to minimize mission mass. At present, two stage orbital rendezvous is under consideration. This preserves near Mars escape energy in the Earth return vehicle, while parking fuel for high orbit transfer in low Mars orbit. The ascent stage used by the astronaut after walking on Mars would be a lightweight version of those used by Apollo on the Moon.
Known health risks, including radiation, are serious but comparable to those faced by inveterate high altitude mountaineers, or those “who choose to enjoy smoking”. Unknown risks, of course, place this in the same category as historic pioneering and polar exploration.
The demonstrated hardware included a fuel cell, capable of producing the 640 grams per day of Oxygen needed on average by the astronaut (or petit pair). Such fuel cells, when used in appropriate systems, work perfectly in zero “g”. The equations for efficient life support recycling were presented. A zero “g” centrifugal evaporator was run. This completes water recycling, by separating even biological waste water from its dissolved solids. The distilled water which results is “as pure as rain” since the identical cycle occurs continuously on the Earth. Handling only a drop every second or two, this “zero g” distillation system would eliminate several kilograms per day of supplies, leaving only 500 gram per day of food required.
A commercial “Reverse Osmosis” filter unit was shown which would provide virtually unlimited wash water. It was demonstrated with the small, long life pumps which will permit operation in a concentrator mode. A sample of the composite material Micro-Space uses for fuel tanks was also shown. A larger diameter version will yield a 2 meter diameter, 3 meter long habitat weighing only 20 kilograms. This structure could have an overpressure safety margin of ten.
The centrifugal evaporator is being run continuously and has accumulated hundreds of hours. Multiyear operating life is expected to be demonstrated. With only 3.5 kilogram total mass for the demonstrated collection of hardware, redundant spare hardware is very practical.
The presentation slides can be accessed through www.micro-space.com (select news) or directly through www.Mars-Now.com .