The Modular Common Spacecraft Bus (MCSB) is a fast-development, low-cost, general purpose spacecraft platform. Its modular design is intended to reduce the cost, complexity, and lead time on missions by providing a reliable, well-characterized system that can carry a variety of payloads. According to NASA, "the spacecraft is roughly one tenth the price of a conventional uncrewed mission and could be used to land on the Moon, orbit Earth, or rendezvous with near-Earth objects." [1] [2]
The MCSB supervisor, Alan Weston, obtained from NASA Ames Research Center $4 million in internal funding to get the project started. Using that money, the prototype was built in about 15 months during 2007–2008. The fast concept development time is due in part to the preliminary use of repurposed SCUBA air tanks and an engine that uses cold gas, in place of a conventional rocket engine. This allowed the team to perform indoor flight tests as fast as every 40 minutes in their laboratory, rather than waiting weeks or months for a time slot at an appropriate rocket testing facility. [3] After a flight demonstration to top NASA officials, the system was selected as the bus for the planned Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission to the Moon, and the project awarded $80 million for further development and construction. [1]
On October 7, 2014, the MCSB design received the Popular Mechanics 2014 Breakthrough Award for innovation in science and technology. [4]
The modular MCSB spacecraft bus structure has a versatile octagonal shape that can carry up to 50 kg (110 lb) of instruments so long as they can fit inside. [3] The bus is made of a lightweight carbon composite and has the ability to perform on various kinds of missions, including voyages to the Moon and Near-Earth objects, with different modules or applicable systems. This modular concept is an innovative way of transitioning away from custom designs and toward multi-use designs and assembly-line production, which could dramatically reduce the cost of spacecraft development. [2] It can be adapted as an orbiter or a lander. [1]
MCSB modules can carry solar cells on their eight side faces.[ citation needed ] On LADEE, electrical power was generated by a photovoltaic system composed of 30 panels of silicon solar cells producing 295 W at one AU. The solar panels were mounted on the satellite's exterior surfaces and the electrical energy was stored in one lithium-ion battery providing up to 24 A·hs at 28 V. [5]
LADEE's propulsion system consists of an orbit control system (OCS) and a reaction control system (RCS). The OCS provides velocity control along the +Z axis for large velocity adjustments. The RCS provides three-axis attitude control during burns of the OCS system, and also provides momentum dumps for the reaction wheels which are the primary attitude control system between OCS burns. [6]
For LADEE, the bus was equipped with a 455 N High Performance Apogee Thruster (HiPAT) main engine. The high efficiency 22 N attitude control thrusters are manufactured using high temperature materials and similar to the HiPAT. The main engine provides the majority of the thrust for spacecraft trajectory correction maneuvers. The control system thrusters are used for small maneuvers planned for the science phase of the mission. [5]
NASA Ames Research Center states that the design concept is best for a lunar orbiter, a lunar lander, spacecraft at Earth-Moon Lagrange points, missions to near Earth objects (NEO) or as a Mars orbiter. [7]
Phobos is the innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos. Both moons were discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall. Phobos is named after the Greek deity Phobos, a son of Ares (Mars) and twin brother of Deimos.
Deimos is the smaller and outermost of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Phobos. Deimos has a mean radius of 6.2 km (3.9 mi) and takes 30.3 hours to orbit Mars. Deimos is 23,460 km (14,580 mi) from Mars, much farther than Mars's other moon, Phobos. It is named after Deimos, the Ancient Greek god and personification of dread and terror, and who is also a son of Ares and Aphrodite and the twin brother of Phobos.
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The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was a NASA lunar exploration and technology demonstration mission. It was launched on a Minotaur V rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on September 7, 2013. During its seven-month mission, LADEE orbited around the Moon's equator, using its instruments to study the lunar exosphere and dust in the Moon's vicinity. Instruments included a dust detector, neutral mass spectrometer, and ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, as well as a technology demonstration consisting of a laser communications terminal. The mission ended on April 18, 2014, when the spacecraft's controllers intentionally crashed LADEE into the far side of the Moon, which, later, was determined to be near the eastern rim of Sundman V crater.
The Minotaur V is an American expendable launch system derived from the Minotaur IV, itself a derivative of the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It was developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, and made its maiden flight on 7 September 2013 carrying the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer spacecraft for NASA.
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Phobos And Deimos & Mars Environment (PADME) is a low-cost NASA Mars orbiter mission concept that would address longstanding unknowns about Mars' two moons Phobos and Deimos and their environment.
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