A Lunar Miner Design: With Emphasis on the Volatile Storage System

摘要

This paper provides an overview of a lunar miner design to extract solar wind volatiles from the lunar surface at a rate of 69 kg/hr. An in-depth study to determine the optimal combination of compression, intercooling, and storage of the volatiles is described in detail. This optimization makes it possible to minimize the mass and get realistic values for the power and size required for this subsystem. Compared to previous miner designs, this design is less than half the size and nearly half the mass, but retains all the capabilities. The final miner mass is 9.5 tonnes, and is capable of fitting into a rocket payload compartment with an inner diameter of 5.4 meters and length of 13.5 meters.