Chuck Taylor
Langley research center
Notes by Paul Fischer
Light bender
Power distribution possibility
They want water, how do they get the water?
Oxygen and hydrogen can be brought back up to the rim of the crater
Power at the rim of the crater with solar arrays there
But how to get the power to our assets 3-4 km away?
The system itself is designed to land, deploy and enter use autonomously
A small stowed volume…
The other feature of light bender includes new users and consumers
We are not tied to what other architects did on earth to provide power
More importantly we will draw cables from producers to consumers, eg. Deep craters may not allow the use of cables
Until we get to very long distances, RF/beam power transfer will be the power transfer use of choice
- Power distribution system
- Use optical elements to move light to power
So lets step back
Independent optic systems direct the beam towards anyone on the surface
Our original calculations were wrong because there was an error in the code first principles of optics determined that long-haul light distribution was not appropriate for light beam distribution, the periscope created an increased …
The first thing we had to address was the long-haul component
We had to collect two flat mirrors in tandem, which did not create the divergent issue, the combination of the light beam and the periscope allowed the dynamic nature to remain in the architecture
We estimate we could give 1kW of usable power to a consumer at a distance of over 5km
The goal is less than 250kg with a packaging bogey of 10 cubic meters
What makes us unique is the product packaging through a small commercial lander, therefore we will just languish along the status quo
The Stowed volume constraint is the problem, currently at 36 cubic meters
That can be cut in Half in phase ii, but getting under 10 cubic meters can be difficult
Use of the CLPS as a proxy for our design effort
And in a difficult place in order to get sunlight prior to a sustained presence I period in the full lunar exploration
Q: the mirrors fold, how can you make sure they are flat enough in a tight enough beam?
A: with the ultra flex, there are ribs that come up because all you lose is the cosign angle, you will notice we do that with the flat mirrors and positing on the flat level, on one grain with a parabolic mirror we quickly discovered the mirror would ….
For the flat mirrors probably looking at a mylar film rather than the system such as the ultra flex
Q: durability of the mirrors?
A: moonquakes would require more stability of the mast, and we are looking at the same quality of the mass and micrometeorites slowly degrading the quality of the mirrors… if advertised as a dynamic architecture, lunar dust might get involved, no attempt to get a signal, just an absolute photon count.
Q: How close to real-world testing of the concept?
A: small pieces of shape memory alloy if anyone is used to working with that, so usually it is only in very small pieces, where we can shape the material into a stowed configuration and have it opened back up to form the mirror, but each of these have problems with the packaging
Q: speaking of the packaging have you looked at origami and other types of folding techniques?
A: different techniques for flat mirrors and curved mirrors
Q: given the packaging and mass constraints other materials?
A: yes, consideration for mylar and down that line
Q: clear at all times for electrics and statics to clear dust?
A: one key thing to point out is that there is an assumption for a habitat area that would encapsulate a launch area etc… we are offering a remote area with a landing, a deployment and letting the dust settle, so not as much of a dust fuse
Q: uniqueness in the packaging of these mirrors instead of cables?
A: it is not an architecture that has been adopted to present. Very mass comepettivei if not downright winning in terms of cabling. How to realize the vision so to speak, innovation owed to Tesla, but still very unique
Q: applications of concept as it is being developed?
A: not only less light, but atmosphere on mars or earth would degrade the beam but maybe in Antartica.
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