TRANS ASTRONAUTICA CORPORATION — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: H5

Description

The Sun Flower proposal is responsive to SubTopic H5.01 Materials, Materials Research, Structures, and Assembly: Lunar Surface Solar Array Structures, and addresses NASArsquo;s need for ldquo;structural and mechanical innovations for 10 kW relocatable solar arrays near the South Pole for powering in situ resource utilization (ISRU) equipment, lunar bases, dedicated power landers and rovers.rdquo; We propose an effort to define and mature the TRL of a lunar power capture and storage system, suitable for the support of landers and rovers in virtually any type of lunar terrain, including PSRs in polar latitudes. The Sun Flower system architecture provides high duty cycle solar power by using low mass deployable towers to elevate solar reflectors above topographic features.nbsp;The key objective of this focus area is to provide simultaneous power generation in PSRs. Each Sun Flower tower will support a reflector of a mass value optimized for the towerrsquo;s height, which redirects solar energy to the lunar surface to be collected. The Sun Flower system is flexibly designed, from a 10 meter tower prototype for testing in Earthrsquo;s gravity, to towers optimized for the lunar surface of heights ranging from 100 to 800 meters. The array will utilize UltraFlex technology for deployment.nbsp;Our goal as a Phase I effort is to identify the key systems and hardware required to demonstrate the Sun Flowerrsquo;s structural deployment. Our team proposes three primary technical objectives as proposed deliverables. First, a comprehensive design and analysis package will be delivered for a full-scale lunar power generating system. Second, a prototype build of a modular section of the towerrsquo;s design will be fabricated and assembled. Finally, we propose a functional test of the modular sectionrsquo;s deployment. Our goal for this demonstration as part of our Phase 1 effort is to construct a system capable of being tested in an Earth gravity environment to demonstrate the design conceptrsquo;s deployment and retractibility.