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  • A socio-economic evaluation of the lunar environment and resources, part 2: Energy for the selenosphere

    Paper ID

    1979-IAF-A-016

    author

    • Krafft A. Ehricke

    company

    Space Global Co.

    country

    U.S.A.

    year

    1979

    abstract

    In Part 1 (Ehricke, 1978), a selenosphere system strategy is outlined. Individual aspects of this strategy are treated in a sequence of papers. In one paper (Ehricke, 1979a), new concepts for low propellant access to and from the lunar surface are presented. Another paper (Ehricke, 1979b) deals with matching geolunar transportation systems. Transportation plays a crucial role in the development of a lunar industrial complex (L1C)> and it is one side of the energy management techniques that must accompany and drive selenospheric development. In fact, non-transportation energy management is linked rather closely with transportation related energy management. Transportation costs affect the breadth of choice and cost of propulsion systems. Moreover, as the technospheric and sociospheric components of the selenosphere grow (Fig.l), the energy demand will increase accordingly. Low energy ccst and low transportation cost are key to both technospheric growth and commensurate increase in energy supply. Both, in turn, are the prerequisites for sociospheric development (Ehricke, 1976, 1978a, 1979c).