Interplanetary Mission Support from Galactic Harbour Apex Anchor
- Paper number
IAC-19,D4,3,3,x49354
- Author
Dr. Peter Swan, United States, International Space Elevator Consortium
- Coauthor
Mr. Michael Fitzgerald, United States, Technology, Architectures, and Integration; LLC
- Coauthor
Prof. Matthew Peet, United States, Arizona State University
- Year
2019
- Abstract
As humanity expands off Earth, the need for support increases at a tremendous rate. The mass per day required to be delivered to the Moon, Mars and other destinations will stress out the current architecture unless something revolutionary is broken loose. A Space Elevator allows the growth of humans off- planet to accelerate with two major improvements - massive movement of mission support equipment and a tremendous opening up of launch windows and travel times. With Mars as the destination of the study, remarkable results show that the delivery time for supplies from the Earth can become very short. In addition, the concept of one launch window every two years is collapsed to multiple launches each week towards Mars. The essence of this change is the tripling of kinetic energy at the Earth's sphere of influence compared to rockets entering the Holman transfer ellipse. The resultant increase in energy is enabled by the release at 100,000 km altitude Apex Anchor rotating with the Earth. This potential energy and kinetic energy results in a hyperbolic orbit departing the Earth. The study was aimed at determining "time of flight" from Earth to Mars when departure angle and energy at the edge of the SOI reflected the strengths of having multiple space elevators around the Equator.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-19,D4,3,3,x49354.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.