Modular Common Spacecraft Bus
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The Modular Common Spacecraft Bus (MCSB) is a fast-development, low-cost, general purpose spacecraft platform. Its modular design is intended to reduce the cost, complexity, and lead time on missions by providing a reliable, well-characterized system that can carry a variety of payloads. According to
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
, "the spacecraft is roughly one tenth the price of a conventional uncrewed mission and could be used to land on the Moon, orbit Earth, or rendezvous with
near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
s."


History

The MCSB supervisor, Alan Weston, obtained from
NASA Ames Research Center The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laborat ...
$4 million in internal funding to get the project started. Using that money, the prototype was built in about 15 months during 2007–2008. The fast concept development time is due in part to the preliminary use of repurposed SCUBA air tanks and an engine that uses cold gas, in place of a conventional rocket engine. This allowed the team to perform indoor flight tests as fast as every 40 minutes in their laboratory, rather than waiting weeks or months for a time slot at an appropriate rocket testing facility. After a flight demonstration to top NASA officials, the system was selected as the bus for the planned
Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE; ) was a NASA lunar exploration and technology demonstration mission. It was launched on a Minotaur V rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on September 7, 2013. During its sev ...
(LADEE) mission to the Moon, and the project awarded $80 million for further development and construction. On October 7, 2014, the MCSB design received the Popular Mechanics 2014 Breakthrough Award for innovation in science and technology.


General description

The modular MCSB spacecraft bus structure has a versatile octagonal shape that can carry up to of instruments so long as they can fit inside. The bus is made of a lightweight
carbon composite Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
and has the ability to perform on various kinds of missions, including voyages to the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
and
Near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
s, with different modules or applicable systems. This modular concept is an innovative way of transitioning away from custom designs and toward multi-use designs and assembly-line production, which could dramatically reduce the cost of spacecraft development. It can be adapted as an orbiter or a lander.


Power

MCSB modules can carry solar cells on their eight side faces. On
LADEE The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE; ) was a NASA lunar exploration and technology demonstration mission. It was launched on a Minotaur V rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on September 7, 2013. During its se ...
, electrical power was generated by a
photovoltaic system A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and co ...
composed of 30 panels of silicon solar cells producing 295 W at one AU. The solar panels were mounted on the satellite's exterior surfaces and the electrical energy was stored in one
lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...
providing up to 24
A·h An ampere hour or amp hour (symbol: A⋅h or A h; often simplified as Ah) is a Unit of measurement, unit of electric charge, having Dimensional analysis, dimensions of electric current multiplied by time, equal to the charge transferred by a ...
s at 28 V.


Propulsion system

LADEE's propulsion system consists of an orbit control system (OCS) and a reaction control system (RCS). The OCS provides velocity control along the +
Z axis Z (or z) is the 26th and last letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual names in English are ''zed'' () and ''zee'' (), with an occasi ...
for large velocity adjustments. The RCS provides three-axis
attitude control Attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of an aerospace vehicle with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, etc. Controlling vehicle ...
during burns of the OCS system, and also provides momentum dumps for the
reaction wheel A reaction wheel (RW) is used primarily by spacecraft for three-axis attitude control, and does not require rockets or external applicators of torque. They provide a high pointing accuracy, and are particularly useful when the spacecraft must be ...
s which are the primary attitude control system between OCS burns. For LADEE, the bus was equipped with a 455 N High Performance Apogee Thruster (HiPAT) main engine. The high efficiency 22 N attitude control thrusters are manufactured using high temperature materials and similar to the HiPAT. The main engine provides the majority of the thrust for spacecraft trajectory correction maneuvers. The control system thrusters are used for small maneuvers planned for the science phase of the mission.


Missions

NASA Ames Research Center states that the design concept is best for a lunar orbiter, a lunar lander, spacecraft at Earth-Moon Lagrange points, missions to
near Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
s (NEO) or as a Mars orbiter. *The system was first flown as the bus for the
Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE; ) was a NASA lunar exploration and technology demonstration mission. It was launched on a Minotaur V rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on September 7, 2013. During its sev ...
(LADEE) mission, a successful lunar orbiter launched in September 2013. *
Moon Express Moon Express (MoonEx; vehicle model prefix: MX) is an American privately held early-stage company formed in 2010 by a group of Silicon Valley and space entrepreneurs. It had the goal of winning the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize, and of ultimatel ...
, a commercial lunar company that participated in the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, plans on using the MCSB in its MX-1 lander. The first mission, called the ''Lunar Scout'', is planned for July 2020. Moon Express received US$10 million from NASA for sharing results developing their lunar lander using MCSB technology."The New Moon: Water, Exploration, and Future Habitation". By Arlin Crotts. Cambridge University Press, Sep 22, 2014. page 147. *Proposed bus for the 2020 Phobos And Deimos & Mars Environment (PADME) orbiter mission to Mars' moons Phobos and
Deimos Deimos, a Greek word for ''dread'', may refer to: * Deimos (deity), one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology * Deimos (moon), the smaller and outermost of Mars' two natural satellites * Elecnor Deimos, a Spanish aerospace company * ...
.


See also

*
Comparison of satellite buses This page includes a list of satellite buses, of which multiple similar artificial satellites have been, or are being, built to the same model of structural frame, propulsion, spacecraft power and intra-spacecraft communication. Only commercially ...


References

{{Reflist, 30em


External links


Specifications of the Modular Common Spacecraft Bus
(PDF) NASA Satellite buses