Teste

HUMAN-AIDED CONSTRUCTION OF A LARGE LUNAR TELESCOPE

by Paul van Susante

A thesis submitted to the Faculty and the Board of Trustees of the Colorado School of Mines in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Engineering Systems)

Golden, Colorado Date ___________ Signed: ________________________ Paul van Susante Approved: ________________________ Dr. R.H. King Thesis Advisor

Golden, Colorado Date ____________ ________________________ Dr. D. Munoz Department Head Division of Engineering

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ABSTRACT

The Moon is an excellent platform for operations for astronomical purposes while at the same time it is possible to combine such scientific activities with exploration and resource utilization. The purpose of this NASA-sponsored study was to find out how a large infrared telescope can be built inside a permanently shadowed crater on the Moon using humans and robots, to define the required infrastructure. The results will give NASA a lunar reference to compare to a telescope mission to free-space. The alt-azimuth telescope design will consist of a 25 m diameter segmented primary mirror. The secondary mirror will be 50 meter above the primary and will be supported by three truss structures. It will use super-conducting magnetic bearings and a counterweight / instrument housing. The required infrastructure for constructing this telescope includes spaceand surface transportation. A (temporary) lunar base will need to be established and a smaller construction outpost will be required. The surface transportation will consists of robots and a ski-lift-type cable system. Communication links will be needed at Malapert Mountain and at the rim of Shackleton crater to guarantee continuous communications. Power for the telescope and the lunar base will be

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generated at the so-called Peak of Eternal Light and transported using the lift cables. To construct this telescope five different types of robots will be needed