Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Mortensen, Michael.
This study is part of a NASA/USRA Advanced Design Program project executed for the purpose of examining the requirements of a first manned Mars mission. The mission, classified as a split/sprint mission, has been designed for a crew of six with a total manned trip time of one year.
A preliminary design was developed for a Lunar Power System (LPS) composed of photovoltaic arrays and microwave reflectors fabricated from lunar materials. The LPS will collect solar energy on the surface of the Moon, transform it into microwave energy, and beam it back to Earth where it will be converted into usable energy. The Solar Energy Emplacement Developer (SEED) proposed will use a similar sort of solar energy collection and dispersement to power the systems that will construct the LPS.