Lunar Boom Town/Cargo Imports
< Lunar Boom TownSynopsis of Business Model
Use mass produced disposable one way rockets delivered as needed from highly automated factory with mostly carbon components in lunar stages to import cargo from Earth for Lunar customers. Soft land robotic cargo lander. Crash land the lunar insertion stage into receiving crater full of lunar dust. This becomes carbon-carbon ore for sale to carbon processors or perhaps direct to retail. Pretty easy to burn carbon to create salable carbon dioxide to greenhouse operators. Soft lander carries all of ful safety margin to surface. Fuel and spacecraft are recycled into the private and/or government GLOP (general left over processors) at best available prices. Cargo delivered to paying customers. A key driver of the business model will probably be standard industrial engineering in driving the costs down by reinvestment of gross cash flows into producing ever cheaper large volume of the disposable rockets. Key startup issue is how much capital to get started and sustain deliveries to market until net profitability is achieved. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> Perhaps we should consider an automated warehouse facility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWb5LlFE69Y
Background Reading Resources
w:Rocket History and theory of operation of rockets with links to further information.
Imagery of space debris impact, some actual, some simulated or imagined.commons:Space_debris
Possible Tasks/Exercises
Specify a cargo volume and then experiment with loading it with planned cargo (Bill of Laden or Cargo Manifest). Document your loading plan with analysis and reasoning regarding flight constraints and cargo restraints.
Game mission simulation
How many cargo runs should we purchase and how should the cargo container be loaded? Youtube presentation of expendable one cargo run rocket.
Select a fixed volume container such as a bunk bed bounded by walls, a car, a tent, or a garage. Specify a lunar mission for wish you wish to contract import transportation. For example: Setting up the first bungalow of a lunar cabin rental business. Use representative labeled objects such as boxes, pillows, actual objects, etc. to pack the simulated cargo container with everything required for the mission and its operators. Document your cargo manifest, analyze the mass distribution and repack for proper center of mass at center of container, develop first cut of required expendables to keep operators alive while they unpack the cargo container and implement mission, develop detailed step by step mission checklist. Publish resulting data products here for others to work with and improve.
When participants get bored with "paperwork" practice lunar landings.
Editor's Note; For Developers of Electronic Virtual Environment
Perhaps use www.flightgear.org or equivalent to load the spacecraft graphics and create a mission profile for a flight simulator.
lunar lander simulation If we could find an equivalent open source we may be able to add sprites created from our 3D Solid or Electronic models by creating a still (photograph) and then using GIMP to create the 2D or 3D sprite to put into the source code and recompile our own localized simulation. Some code tweaks might allow push button activation of segments of the mission profile for a professional concept presentation to potential customers.
Working model rocketry.
Estes solid fuel and/or nitrogen/co2 gas cartridge
- Create models of lander and lunar insertion vehicles.A_Hands-On_Introduction_to_Game_Design_and_Production_Processes
- Animation segments of launch, lunar insertion, crash delivery of insertion stage to ore crater, soft landing at designated cargo delivery site. Load the completed animations at youtube. Need to establish archive for source models and scene clip rendering files.
Above clips needed for concept marketing and sales pitch to customer venture teams.
- Once satisfactory animation models are completed, use the visual data to create metal foundry patterns for aluminum cast in green sand. Can either mail patterns to a buddy for casting or proceed to casting yourself.
- Prepare the micro foundry. Green sand pattern holder ... maybe just large enough metal bucket or paint can, do not use plastic.
- Build/acquire proper pour tools. A good stainless steel pan works well. I have tested on standard electric range, someone could find out whether a gas stove generates enough heat and temperature by analysis or actual testing. Be certain kitchen or melt area is well ventilated ... get some smoke off aluminum cans used recycled for stock, concentrated breathing is probably not healthy.
- Rehearse pour with buddy if two man job then melt and poor.
- Cut away extra and buff/grind/file all edges.
- Use drill to create hollows for Estes Rocket engines or cold gas cartridges in Lunar Insertion Stage (Apollo service module) and parachute for soft cargo lander.
Need design for stack assembly and stage separation at apogee.
Need to review safety practices and local legal launch requirements with local fire department. An aluminum shell pressurized via chemical explosives or compressed gases is an actual rocket engine and if defective becomes a very hazardous bomblet roughly compared to a hand grenade. Metal shrapnel is potentially lethal. No experimentation with these homemade items should be undertaken until a responsible adult has reviewed all safety requirements (too be developed) and complied with all applicable regulation.
Waste disposal - Green sand is a mixture of oil and sand which should be disposed of ....how? Perhaps a burn barrel or local landfill.
- Best - Store/mothball foundry until needed again.
- Acceptable - Public landfill equipped to incinerate or otherwise handle oil contaminated materials.
- Acceptable? - Burn to avoid groundwater contamination.
Preliminary Technical Specification and Pricing
Let's try some work orders for analysis purposes, cargos one way to moon. Customer must fit their cargo into a standard cube of ..... what volume? What is the mass distribution delivered to moon for recycling ... critical resources such as carbon, ch4, flight control computers, etc. Basically we need some top level trade off studies (trades, as sometime called in U.S. aerospace milspeak) a few data point (parameter set) estimates will do to start business cashflow calculations. Where are the sweet spots where we can make money? It will depend on markets and competitors and many other factors but we need to start getting feel for the problems somehow. What other businesses and technologies must exist for our plan to work and when are they available. Cannot afford to have a few billion in borrowed capital sitting around idle costing us 10 to 20 percent expense while we can only recover on average 12-15 percent in diversified stock portfolios or funds.
Mass (kg) Price(million dollars) Volume (cubic meters) Salvage Value(dollars projected from mass flow demands
10,000 100 3 cubic meters 20 million
Competitors
- LEO based plasma drive tugs which use LLOX (Lunar liquid oxygen) for slow cheap freight anywhere in cisLunar space. Russians have used plasma thrusters extensively in flight operations which potentially could use LLOX as main propellant.