Project AIA Toehold Project (Space Station)

[wehaveaproblem]

Update: Again (unfortunately), the Toehold Project is taking a back seat to the Ascension Project. AIA have decided to bring forward the expansion project for Wideawake International, upping it's priority over the Toehold Space Station. Once this is done, full focus will return to the Toehold Prohect.


Watcha folks,

So after some time away I've finally started work on AIA's Toehold Project: the Toehold Space Station (name not confirmed).

It's basically a modular space station for intended use on the lunar plane as a half-way house for the moon. Nothing new there as an idea, but something I've been intending to do since I set up AIA. Since I escalated AIA from modern day to near future tech, the whole thing is designed around using the large cargo bay of the XR5, so that means large modules by-and-large. I'll track the dev of the whole station here, but will likely release the modules individually as they are finished.

Anyway, I'll add more details of the whole station plan soon, although you can read about the Toehold Project on my blog.

For now, I thought I would post up a few early dev shots of the first module, currently labeled "The Core".

It is designed as the heart of the station, and has the following features:-
-Docking for XR5 and DG class vessels
-Robotic arm for cargo and station expansion.
-Viewing window of docking/cargo area(module's cockpit)
-5 module docks for further modules
-2 solar arrays (animated truss and solar array gimble)
-It's 24m long and about 7m across, space enough for a good sized crew from day one of the station's life

Solar array truss in launch configuration.

Solar truss and array deployed

Rough concept shot of how the station will develop.
Theres a few more shots on my blog too.

As ever your thoughts, ideas and questions are greatly appreciated.

WHAP

---------- Post added at 12:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:13 AM ----------

While I'm at it actually, 2 more things.

I'm gonna do the whole station as SC3 vessels. If anyone felt the urge to convert them into .dll when I'm done, they would be more than welcome!

Also, regarding animations of solar arrays, I have a question. Is it standard practice to have the mesh compiled with them extended and reverse the animation, so that it's easier to do the scaling of the arrays themselves?

cheers.

 

[tl8]

I would recommend a smaller node, and a copula as at least. A dedicated airlock would be good too.

 

[wehaveaproblem]

cheers tl8,

What part do you refer to when you say node?

And yeah, I have plans for multiple crew viewing area on the next modules. I'm still deciding whether to fashion the existng window into a copola on this one though, as I like the idea of a big flat window, albeit a little more restrictive perhaps.

as for airlock yeah it's on the list. I plan to model hand rails over the outside of the whole thing. Can UMMU work with SC3 vessels?

 

[tl8]

cheers tl8,

What part do you refer to when you say node?

And yeah, I have plans for multiple crew viewing area on the next modules. I'm still deciding whether to fashion the existng window into a copola on this one though, as I like the idea of a big flat window, albeit a little more restrictive perhaps.

as for airlock yeah it's on the list. I plan to model hand rails over the outside of the whole thing. Can UMMU work with SC3 vessels?

a smaller 6 axis 'box' that has 6 docking ports on it.

With UMMUFA, SC3 can have UMMU.

The ability to make some custom skins for the other modules might a appeal to other members.

 

[wehaveaproblem]

a smaller 6 axis 'box' that has 6 docking ports on it.

With UMMUFA, SC3 can have UMMU.

The ability to make some custom skins for the other modules might a appeal to other members.

Ah gotcha. Well the design I have doesn't require such a node really. The idea here is to through massive modules up with the XR5. Although they will fit together in a planned way(they have a specific AIA purpose), the whole thing should be modular enough for people to bastardise. There will be more docking ports on further modules. The vessel docks on this module are just for loading/unloading really.

cheers for UMMU info, that's sweet.

And yeah, great idea on the custom skins. Like I said above people can attach whatever other modules they want anyway. But I'll def make some modules that can be custom skinned. Afterall, AIA is a commercial enterprise.

 

[doggie015]

dangit tl8, you beat me to the punch. UMMUFA can be found here: [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3509"]UMMUFA v.1.0[/ame]

 

[Zatnikitelman]

Looks good WHAP! I was thinking about something like this: center module with solar-trusses but near-tech. Looks like yours fits both eras though! The truss you have there looks particularly good!

 

[Hielor]

Watcha folks,

So after some time away I've finally started work on AIA's Toehold Project: the Toehold Space Station (name not confirmed).

It's basically a modular space station for intended use on the lunar plane as a half-way house for the moon. Nothing new there as an idea, but something I've been intending to do since I set up AIA. Since I escalated AIA from modern day to near future tech, the whole thing is designed around using the large cargo bay of the XR5, so that means large modules by-and-large. I'll track the dev of the whole station here, but will likely release the modules individually as they are finished.

Interesting, but, how do you plan to keep it in the plane of the moon?

 

[wehaveaproblem]

Cheers Zat.

Hielor, the basic idea is to have the station on the same inc as the moon, 5.06 or whatever it is at about 500km alt. This orbit passes directly over Wideawake twice in every 24 hours, so there are plenty of launch/land opportunities to the station/island, with night launches and landings available too.

 

[Kaito]

I think what Hielor's saying is "How are you going to keep it from drifting out of the orbital plane of the moon", because of forces exerted on it by everything else

 

[wehaveaproblem]

Well this is where my knowledge falls down perhaps.

It seems that, in orbiter, the moon inc is always the same around earth. So if the station is on the same inc it will always be aligned. I've not noticed any drift in my time accel tests with the orbit...

 

[Fizyk]

AFAIK, it probably will always be aligned with nonspherical gravity sources turned off. But if someone turns this feature on, the orbital plane of the station will slowly drift and it won't be aligned anymore.

 

[T.Neo]

Wow! Nice work, WHAP. I'll be looking forward to this, I hope someone will take interest in coding a DLL for it.

HiPotOk1978 encountered severe problems attempting to keep his Earth Orbital Platform station aligned with the Moon's orbit- nodal regression causes the two to seperate and realign over time. Both launches from the station during alignments and off-plane transfers at other times are possible, with the former saving fuel.

 

[Arrowstar]

WHAP: If you have a DLL version of the core, or perhaps a propulsion module, you could write an autopilot or whatnot to keep it in the lunar orbital plane. The rest could be SC3 modules.

 

[wehaveaproblem]

Cheers for the thoughts chaps.

As for drifting in and out of plane. What's the timeframe of this? how long does it drift out for and by what amount of Rinc? I could live with limited TLI windows or offplane transfers tbh.

I guess this is where my lazy non-non spherical gravity sources use makes my orbital life much easier. I might just leave station keeping up to users.

oh and yeah I know essentially this is a very similar project to HiPot, and in fact I was going to make modules for his station, but I just couldn't help but do my own. Although I think my planned phase 3 is a little bit novel... if I ever get there.

 

[T.Neo]

As for drifting in and out of plane. What's the timeframe of this? how long does it drift out for and by what amount of Rinc? I could live with limited TLI windows or offplane transfers tbh.

It isn't the inclination that changes, AFAIK, but the LAN (longitude of ascending node). The rinc gets pretty high, too. I'd advise putting a DG at 500km and at the same inclination of the Moon, and seeing what happens. Otherwise, ask HiPot. He has learnt quite a bit about the stability of LEO orbits from constructing EOP.

oh and yeah I know essentially this is a very similar project to HiPot, and in fact I was going to make modules for his station, but I just couldn't help but do my own. Although I think my planned phase 3 is a little bit novel... if I ever get there.

What a pity.
EOP has grown into a healthy project with a DLL and other exciting features.
HiPot's station is only for refueling though, I suspect that your station will refurbish and repair spacecraft to a degree as well.

 

[wehaveaproblem]

It isn't the inclination that changes, AFAIK, but the LAN (longitude of ascending node). The rinc gets pretty high, too. I'd advise putting a DG at 500km and at the same inclination of the Moon, and seeing what happens. Otherwise, ask HiPot. He has learnt quite a bit about the stability of LEO orbits from constructing EOP.

Ok so with torque and non-spherical turned on, the results are in. It basically takes about 50 days it seems to do a complete curcuit of drift with this orbit. rinc from 0 to 46 degrees. There is about an 8 day window tho when the rinc is =<10degrees, 5-6 days =<5 degrees. so depending on how much fuel you want to burn, it's possible to have a good window about every 42 days. This perhaps isn't 100% ideal, although can fit in with my plans fine. Looks like there will be one very busy week every six weeks lol.

What a pity.
EOP has grown into a healthy project with a DLL and other exciting features.
HiPot's station is only for refueling though, I suspect that your station will refurbish and repair spacecraft to a degree as well.

Yeah, if I hadn't already planned to do this from ages ago I would have jumped in on EOP. As it stands I think I can just about justify how my station is different - if I get to phase 3 that is. Either way I'm hoping some people will still find use for even more modules... Orbinauts do love to fly stuff up and stick it together!

 

[clickypens]

What are the different phases you're planning?
You've mentioned "phase 3" twice now and have piqued my interest.

 

[Arkalius]

Yeah, the moon's nodes precess, making a complete loop every 18 years and change. The ecliptic inclination stays the same but this precession causes the moon's equatorial inclination to vary by about 10 degrees over the course of the 18 year cycle.

In astronomical terms, when the moon's equatorial inclination is greatest, it is called a major lunar standstill (a term which is related to "solstice" which means solar standstill). When the inclination is at its lowest, it's called a minor lunar standstill.

 

[Hielor]

Yeah, the moon's nodes precess, making a complete loop every 18 years and change. The ecliptic inclination stays the same but this precession causes the moon's equatorial inclination to vary by about 10 degrees over the course of the 18 year cycle.

In astronomical terms, when the moon's equatorial inclination is greatest, it is called a major lunar standstill (a term which is related to "solstice" which means solar standstill). When the inclination is at its lowest, it's called a minor lunar standstill.

The issue here is that the station will be precessing much more rapidly than the moon.