Moonplane—A Spacecraft for Regular Delivery of Astronauts onto the Moon

Abstract

A project of spacecraft “moonplane” for regular delivery of astronauts onto the Moon is considered. At the first stage of flight by using a carrier rocket, equipped with a chemical rocket engine, the astronauts are delivered on the international space station ISS. For flights from Earth orbit into Moon orbit, the design of a moonplane “MOND”, consisting of an interorbital module and a lunar module, has been developed. The interorbital module is an electric rocket, equipped with four superconductive magnetoplasma engine MARS. To power supply of the electromotors, a solar battery of gallium arsenide is used. The design of the lunar module with cabin astronauts, which is equipped with a chemical rocket engine for landing and take-off from the surface of the Moon, is developed. A method and a device for refuelling of the electrical rocket engines with nitrogen and for refuelling of the chemical rocket engines with oxygen and hydrogen, which are stored in cryogenic tanks of the moonplane in the liquid state is developed. The developed spacecraft is capable to regularly transport four astronauts off a moorage of ISS onto the surface of the Moon and back during 6 days. The total cost delivery of one astronaut is 4 million US dollars.