The station can be placed in a polar orbit with a height of 200 km above the surface of the Earth satellite
MOSCOW, November 10. /tass/. The power supply of the circumlunar station in the case of its location in a low circumlunar orbit can be provided with the help of solar collector satellites. This idea was presented at RSC Energia, follows from the theses for the XXII Scientific and Technical Conference of Scientists and Specialists dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, the 75th anniversary of the rocket and space industry and the founding of the corporation.
As stated in the theses, the lunar station can be placed in a polar orbit with a height of 200 km above the surface of the Earth's natural satellite. Its main drawback is the regular departure of the station into the shade.
"It is proposed to put the solar collector satellite (SSC) into the halo orbit of the L1 point (Lagrange point), whose solar panels will be oriented constantly to the Sun, collecting light and accumulating it, and in the case of the passage of the lunar station through the shadow and the power supply needs of the OLPP (the lunar visited platform) can receive energy from these SSCs," the theses say.
It is clarified that at another Lagrange point (L2), the same device is placed that will power the station on the dark side of the Moon.
"Mirrors form a paraboloid that collects sunlight onto a receiver located in focus. In it, the coolant boils, the gas turns the turbine, which generates electricity. The panel next to it is a heat sink. The solar collector heats up, and then transfers thermal energy to a storage tank that accumulates sunlight," the theses say.
The accumulated energy will be transmitted by laser radiation at various frequencies.
Circumlunar station
The station in low lunar orbit will go into the shadow on each turn. The exception is three areas of full illumination lasting from 12 to 24 days during the year. Basically, the shadow areas range from 1.5 minutes to 2 hours (the average time is 40 minutes).
Earlier, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with TASS that the state corporation is ready to participate in the international project of the Lunar Orbital Gateway station only on equal terms with NASA. At the same time, the head of Roscosmos estimates the independent creation of a station in the orbit of the Moon in conditions of restrictions on the financing of space programs as a rather complex program.
In October 2020, Rogozin, speaking at the 71st International Astronautical Congress, said that Russia would not take a large-scale part in the American project to create a Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway station. At the same time, he noted that the Russian Federation is interested in the fact that American colleagues have created a lock compartment for docking a promising manned ship "Eagle" to the station.
