12/01/04 - After a much longer than intended break from Orbiter, I'm back in business. Here is a render of the Delta II launch vehicle that will be a part of the Mars Direct Project for Orbiter. Hopefully, we'll have the project wrapped up in time for xmas.

7/17/04 - I have put the TTM24 project on hold until the next release of Orbiter is out. In the meantime, I have joined the Mars Direct Project for Orbiter. This is a group project put together by smoothvirus. The general idea is to focus on bringing Dr. Zubrin's Mars Direct plan into Orbiter first, and then branch out to other Mars plans. Everyone is welcome to join this group! Here are some renderings (1024 X 768) of my nearly complete Mars Habitat Module:

Click on thumbnails for larger picture

"The Feasibility of 24 Hour Commuter Flights to the Moon Using NTR Propulsion with LUNOX Afterburners."

Earth Orbit Space Station (EOSS)

Lunar Orbit Propellant Depot (LOPD)

   TTM24 News

• Quicksave Fix. This fixes a problem with the Lunar Lander exhibiting odd behavior after a quicksave scenario is loaded.
• Beta Release 4 is now available! This release includes a panel and several fixes.
• Review. Harmsway has added a review of TTM24 on his website.
• Online Gallery. MrBatman has created a very nice gallery of TTM24 screen shots. The screen shots are also available as Windows wallpaper.
• Tutorial. Harmsway has added a tutorial to his website about how to setup a 24-hour transfer flight to the Moon
• Professional Praise. MrBatman e-mailed Pat Rawlings (see Overview below) about TTM24 and received a nice response:
  
  "This is really cool! It is great to see my designs turned into interactive elements that people can actually experience. There really is a tremendous amount of thought here. [The] gallery is impressive as well. Thanks!" - Pat Rawlings, Art Director, SAIC

"He had made, utterly without incident and in little more than one day, the incredible journey of which men had dreamed for two thousand years. After a normal, routine flight, he had landed on the Moon."

Overview

TTM24 is an add-on developed for Orbiter. Orbiter is an amazing free 3D Space Simulator written by Dr. Martin Schweiger.

Dr. Stanley K. Borowski

Pat Rawlings

This add-on is based on Dr. Stanley K. Borowski's paper titled "2001: A Space Odyssey Revisited" (.pdf) and my interpretation of paintings by NASA artist Pat Rawlings. Additional information may be found at Marcus Lindroos' excellent homepage.

Dr. Borowski proposes that the development of two key technologies -- liquid oxygen (LOX)-augmented nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) propulsion and lunar oxygen mining -- could form the basis of a lunar transportation system capable of providing weekly 24-hour flights to the Moon.

A typical "commuter" trip to the Moon would begin with passengers boarding a "NASP-type" SSTO vehicle for a flight to the Earth Orbit Space Station (EOSS). There they would board the Passenger Transport Module (PTM).

The PTM is a self-contained vessel with its own life support and propulsion systems. The PTM would depart the EOSS and dock with an awaiting Lunar Transfer Vehicle (LTV) orbiting a safe distance away. The LTV has powerful and reusable LANTR engines.

After a 24-hour transfer to low lunar orbit (LLO), the LTV will rendezvous with the lunar propellant depot for refueling. The PTM detaches from the LTV and docks with a waiting Lunar Landing Vehicle (LLV).

The LLV descends and lands at the LUNOX base. After touchdown, the LLV lowers the PTM to a flatbed rover which will transport the PTM to the lunar base airlock for passenger unloading.

Passenger Transport Module (PTM)

Crew: 2
Pax: 18
Length: 8 meters
Diameter: 4.6 meters
Weight: 15 tons

The PTM is a self-contained vessel with its own life support, I&C and auxiliary propulsion systems. The PTM is permanently based in space and features large observation windows and is the "brains" of the commuter shuttle.

Lunar Landing Vehicle (LLV)

Propulsion: Chemical
Propellants: liquid oxygen (mined from lunar soil) and liquid hydrogen (Earth-supplied by LTV cargo missions)

The LLV is permanently based on the Moon and is used to transport liquid oxygen mined from lunar soil to the orbiting propellant depot. The LLV is also used to deliver passengers and cargo to/from the depot station and the lunar base. Payloads are mounted horizontally "Sikorski-style" for easy loading/unloading.

Lunar Transfer Vehicle (LTV)

Length: 25 meters
Diameter: 7.6 meters
Weight (dry): 21.3 tons
Propulsion: LOX-Augmented Nuclear Thermal Rocket (LANTR)
Propellants: 46 tons of liquid hydrogen in a 7.6-meter-diameter, 15-meter-long tank and 112 tons of liquid oxygen in a 4.6-meter-diameter, 7.5-meter-long tank.

The LTV is fully reusable and is used to transport passengers and cargo to the Moon and back. The LTV provides "big engine" performance from small and affordable LOX-augmented NTR engines. The LTV carries enough liquid hydrogen for a round trip to the Moon but only enough liquid oxygen for a one-way trip. The LTV is "reoxidized" at the lunar propellant depot prior to Earth return. The LTV carries sufficient nuclear fuel for 44 missions.

Flatbed Rover

The 6-wheeled flatbed rover is used to transport the PTM from it's landing site to the base airlock for passenger offloading.

LUNOX Base

The nuclear-powered commercial LUNOX base is located on the southeastern edge of Mare Serenitatis (21 deg. N., 29 deg. E.) where there is an abundance of iron-rich volcanic glass deposits similar to the "orange soil" discovered by the Apollo 17 mission in the nearby Taurus-Littrow Valley.

The volcanic glass deposits is capable of a lunar oxygen (LUNOX) yield of one ton per 25 tons of feedstock -- 13 times better than the yield from typical lunar dirt. The lunar base produces 11,000 tons of LUNOX per year.