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Mass Drivers III: Engineering This paper is the last of a series of three by the Mass-Driver Group of the 1977 Ames Summer Study. It develops the engineering principles required to implement the basic mass-driver design defined in paper I and as presented previously in the literature. Optimum component mass trade-offs are derived from a set of four input parameters, and the program used to design a lunar launcher. The mass optimization procedure is then incorporated into a more comprehensive mission optimization program called OPT-4, which evaluates an optimized mass-driver reaction engine and its performance in a range of specified missions. Finally, this paper discusses, to the extent that time permitted, certain peripheral problems: heating effects in buckets due to magnetic field ripple; an approximate derivation of guide force profiles; the mechanics of inserting and releasing payloads; the reaction mass orbits; and a proposed research and development plan for implementing mass drivers. This paper also considers further optimization that depends on advances in component technology beyond the present state. It is concluded that significant advantage can be gained in the case of small reaction engines with high emission velocity by developing lightweight packaging technology for silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCR's).
Document ID
19790024061
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Contribution to a larger work
Authors
William H. Arnold
(Hampshire College Amherst Center, Massachusetts, United States)
Stuart Bowen
(Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Steve Cohen
(Lewis Research Center)
David Kaplan
(University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States)
Kevin Fine
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Margaret Kolm
(Haverford College Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States)
Henry Kolm
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Jonathan Newman
(Amherst College Amherst Center, Massachusetts, United States)
Gerard K. O'Neill
(Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey, United States)
William R. Snow
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Date Acquired
August 9, 2013
Publication Date
September 23, 1977
Publication Information
Publication: Space Resources and Space Settlements
Publisher: Ames Research Center
Volume: NASA-SP-428
Issue Publication Date: January 1, 1979
Subject Category
Mechanical Engineering
Meeting Information
Meeting: Ames Summer Study
Location: Moffett Field, CA
Country: US
Start Date: September 23, 1977
Sponsors: Ames Research Center
Accession Number
79N32232
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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