CLLARE Command Module

From CSTART Wiki

Command Module with orbital bus.

The Command Module on top of a Selene 3 booster.

The CLLARE Command Module (CM) is a simple but versatile space capsule designed to accommodate a single astronaut in a pressurised crew compartment. The CM is shaped like a truncated cone with a cylindrical nose, similar to the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft of the early US space program. The CM is designed to support EVA via an ingress-egress hatch and Earth atmosphere reentry via ablative heat shielding. It is perhaps most succinctly described as a "modernised, one-person Gemini".

[edit] Overview

The CM is designed to fill a range of mission roles. By itself as a standalone capsule, the CM will contain the equipment and supplies necessary to support the astronaut for suborbital or brief orbital missions (lasting up to roughly 24 hours). The attachment of various modules (such as the Orbital Support Module) to the rear of the CM, carrying extra supplies (oxygen, water, fuel cell fuel etc.), can extend this timeline to several days, facilitating prolonged orbital missions and also lunar missions. During these extended missions, EVA will be possible for an astronaut (tethered to the vehicle) via an ingress-egress hatch.

The CM will feature a self-contained reaction control system for attitude control, but will have no independent means of propulsion. Various sizes of Propulsion Module attached to the rear of the CM will offer the capability of large orbit-raising maneuvers, including trans lunar injection burns for lunar flyby and landing missions.

The CM will be able to act as a reentry vehicle by virtue of ablative heat shielding. Current considerations for landing are focused on a paraglider controlled landing, as was the original plan for Gemini.

CSTART hopes to be able to design the CM to be as reusable as possible. Heat shields will have to be replaced between uses but ideally the main structure and the internal equipment will be able to survive multiple reentries. This same approach is planned for NASA's new Orion spacecraft, showing that the basic idea is possible.

[edit] Specifications

The following figures are approximate guides that we hope to be able to meet:

Crew: 1
Mass: <= 1250 kg
Diameter: ~= 2.0 m
Length: <= 3.5 m

[edit] Structure

Main article: CLLARE Command Module structure

The proposed structure of the CM consists of a reusable, aluminium pressure vessel, containing the cabin and most electronic subsystems, which is mounted inside a truncated-cone shaped titanium frame. The ablative heat shield is attached to the frame as a "base cap", while the outside of the frame is covered in plates of a sandwich structure, providing an aerodynamic surface, thermal shielding and limited radiation shielding. The cylindrical nose of the CM attaches to the front of the titanium frame and contains the RCS, communication antennae, and parachute/paraglider stowage.