Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
In 2017, the US government launched the Artemis program, the goal of which is to fly “the first woman and the next man” to the south pole of the Moon by 2024.
The Artemis program plans to usea new lunar orbital platform-gateway Lunar Gateway as a permanent space station, from where reusable modules will deliver astronauts to the Moon.
In order to create an ideal design, the authors of the work analyzed 39 options for the future system.
As a result, they opted for a reusable, single-stage liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen module.
However, using reusable modules is allchanges. Although one- and three-stage units still outperform two-stage units in weight, they allow for the reuse of most of their weight (approximately 70-100%, rather than 60% as in the case of two-stage modules), while providing savings in production and shipping costs. new vehicles to the orbital station, which leads to a reduction in the cost of the lunar program as a whole.
Kir Latyshev, student at Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
Read more:
Uranus has received the status of the strangest planet in the solar system. Why?
Physicists have created an analogue of a black hole and confirmed Hawking's theory. Where it leads?
Abortion and science: what will happen to the children who will give birth