OrbHab Paper
The Kalpana One Orbital Space Settlement Revised (2009)
ID: 166 Flag Paper
Title: The Kalpana One Orbital Space Settlement Revised
Authors: Al Globus, Nitin Arora, Ankur Bajoria, Joe Strout
Journal Name: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Year of Publication: 2009
Page Number: n/a
Category: technosphere
Availability: pdf
Detail Page: /papers/166
Web Link: http://alglobus.net/NASAwork/papers/2007KalpanaOne.pdf
BoK Link: [[paper:166]]
Abstract
We present a revision of the Kalpana One orbital settlement design.1,2 The new design fixes a rotational stability problem, which shrinks the settlement so the new population target is 3,000 residents. Kalpana One is intended to improve on the space settlement designs of the mid-1970s: the Bernal Sphere, Stanford Torus, and O’Neill cylinders, as well as on Lewis One, designed at NASA Ames Research Center in the early 1990s. These systems are intended to provide permanent homes for communities of thousands of people. The Kalpana One structure is a cylinder with a radius of 250m and a length of 325m. Cylinders minimize shielding mass per unit of 1g living area compared with other feasible shapes. Radiation shielding dominates the mass of most space settlement designs. The radius is the minimum necessary to provide 1g at the hull when rotating at no more than 2rpm. The length is the longest possible while ensuring rotational stability. Kalpana One’s axis of rotation is aligned with the solar system’s north-south axis to provide continuous natural light through transparent end caps. Wobble control is provided by weights attached to cables on motorized winches under computer control. Exterior maintenance is by teleoperated, semi-autonomous robots. Up to ten tons of lunar/NEO regolith radiation shielding per square meter is placed inside the hull requiring greater hull strength relative to older designs but eliminating a major failure mode. Emergency power is provided by body-mounted solar cells, but primary power comes from solar power satellites beaming energy to a body-mounted rectenna. Thermal rejection is provided by a thermal array disk. The 1g living area in the hull is supplemented by internal cylinders at lower g-levels for industry, storage, agriculture, retirement communities and recreation. Although the design is not orbit-specific and is intended to be replicated many times, and expanded, the first Kalpana One orbital settlement may be built in and equitorial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of approximately 600 km or so; high enough to avoid rapid entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and minimize reboost requirements, but low enough for the van Allen Belts to provide radiation protection to reduce shielding mass. Since providing sufficient materials is one of, if not the, most difficult part of building the first orbital space settlement, it is hoped that the Kalpana One design and initial location will brings settlement of the cosmos a bit closer to reality.
Title: The Kalpana One Orbital Space Settlement Revised
Authors: Al Globus, Nitin Arora, Ankur Bajoria, Joe Strout
Journal Name: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Year of Publication: 2009
Page Number: n/a
Category: technosphere
Availability: pdf
Detail Page: /papers/166
Web Link: http://alglobus.net/NASAwork/papers/2007KalpanaOne.pdf
BoK Link: [[paper:166]]
Abstract
We present a revision of the Kalpana One orbital settlement design.1,2 The new design fixes a rotational stability problem, which shrinks the settlement so the new population target is 3,000 residents. Kalpana One is intended to improve on the space settlement designs of the mid-1970s: the Bernal Sphere, Stanford Torus, and O’Neill cylinders, as well as on Lewis One, designed at NASA Ames Research Center in the early 1990s. These systems are intended to provide permanent homes for communities of thousands of people. The Kalpana One structure is a cylinder with a radius of 250m and a length of 325m. Cylinders minimize shielding mass per unit of 1g living area compared with other feasible shapes. Radiation shielding dominates the mass of most space settlement designs. The radius is the minimum necessary to provide 1g at the hull when rotating at no more than 2rpm. The length is the longest possible while ensuring rotational stability. Kalpana One’s axis of rotation is aligned with the solar system’s north-south axis to provide continuous natural light through transparent end caps. Wobble control is provided by weights attached to cables on motorized winches under computer control. Exterior maintenance is by teleoperated, semi-autonomous robots. Up to ten tons of lunar/NEO regolith radiation shielding per square meter is placed inside the hull requiring greater hull strength relative to older designs but eliminating a major failure mode. Emergency power is provided by body-mounted solar cells, but primary power comes from solar power satellites beaming energy to a body-mounted rectenna. Thermal rejection is provided by a thermal array disk. The 1g living area in the hull is supplemented by internal cylinders at lower g-levels for industry, storage, agriculture, retirement communities and recreation. Although the design is not orbit-specific and is intended to be replicated many times, and expanded, the first Kalpana One orbital settlement may be built in and equitorial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of approximately 600 km or so; high enough to avoid rapid entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and minimize reboost requirements, but low enough for the van Allen Belts to provide radiation protection to reduce shielding mass. Since providing sufficient materials is one of, if not the, most difficult part of building the first orbital space settlement, it is hoped that the Kalpana One design and initial location will brings settlement of the cosmos a bit closer to reality.