aerospaceresearch / wireflyer

Full electrical extendable sensor platform rotating with the wheel habitat provides a overlook point for a lidar based sensing of the hull.

WireFlyer

Video Transscript:

Hi this is the Wire-Flyer project.

A spacecraft like this will be used for manned missons to the planets. One of the biggest dangers are Micro-Meteoroids or Orbital Debris (MMOD) damaging the hull on a millimeter scale.

To detect these MMOD impacts a extendable sensor platform can be placed in a position outside of the wheel habitat, where it has an overview of the full spacecrafts hull. This position is fixed by a wire and the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the wheel. With this overlook point a lidar system is able to scan the entire hull for MMOD impacts on a millimeter level.

With this solution only electrical power is needed to change the attitude and thus the field of view of the lidar.

This system is very simple and can easily safe lifes.

Project Idea

Every long range flight in space will have a wheel habitat for artificial gravity with the intention to overcome the psychological challenges of the people. This wheel is constantly rotating around the axis, which is used for the most surface of the spacecraft and the moving direction.

My idea is now to mount one or more small platforms, equiped with a lidar system, to the outside of the wheel habitat. These platforms can be expandable and retractable with a wire to ensure e.g. safe control of the spacecraft while deaccelerating or turning and of course to make it reusable. With the rotation of the wheel the platforms are now in a overlook point on a far circle overseeing the entire hull from every angle.

A lidar system is the easiest and most accurate sensoring system for detection of very small inconsistency without an consistent light source. Another option is a image based system with a strong light source. The sensors have to be swiveling for full coverage in detection or even additionally for a observation point to sense, track and analyse the deep space while traveling.