Colony Activities
Trash produced by general colony activities will include cloth, plastic, ceramics, glass, aluminum, steel and various metals (Dalton, et.al. 1972), plus a number of potential hazardous materials. Chemicals generated by processing equipment, experiments and life support systems will require a method of collection, handling and disposal. The more unstable of these items will need special storage to avoid exposure to the extremes of the lunar surface.
Colony activities will also be responsible for the most serious problem confronting the trash management coordinator: disposal of exhausted nuclear power sources. The SP-100 reactor currently under study by NASA, and the prime choice for a non-solar power source, has an expected lifetime of approximately seven years (Buden, et.al.). Currently favored by designers is the use of regolith to provide necessary shielding whether by placement in a nearby crater (French, 1985), or by the construction of a shadow shield (Bloomfield, 1988). The radioactive power source as well as the environment within a five kilometer radius will become off-limits for many years into the future. Only two alternatives exist for handling these spent reators: refurbishment or disposal by direct burial. With colony expansion, it is conceivable to have the unacceptable situation where tens of these units are scattered across the lunar surface, creating 'dead-zones' around the colony.
With lifetimes of seven years, it may appear a little early to concern initial explorers with the disposal of these power sources. However, the chance of an early shutdown due to general failure or impact damage is a possibility that must be planned for. It would be prudent to install even a minimal infrastructure at the power site to handle eventual disposal operations, prior to the area becoming radioactive.
Surface Equipment
Though lacking an atmosphere to support the weathering conditions imposed on terrestrial equipment, the extremes of the lunar environment will prove demanding on surface equipment in other ways. Thermal cycling, the ever-present dust that plagued the Apollo astronauts, and a high radiation flux will limit the useable lifetimes of components in these machines. Even sheltered and partially sheltered equipment will produce a variety of damaged parts, filters, supply containers, etc., at a given rate based on expected lifetimes. Excluding nuclear power sources, the operations and maintenance of a 12-member colony will produce 3,628 Kg. of trash per year.
Transportation Activities
Cislunar transportation between low Earth orbit (LEO) and the Moon will involve a variety of expendable and partially expendable vehicles at various stages in the development of the colony. Until mining facilities are operational and liquid oxygen (LOX) is available on the Moon, the predominant vehicle for transporting base elements will be the expendable lander.
Initial cislunar transportation will involve little more than placing hardware on the lunar surface to construct the base, which will leave only a 4900 Kg. lander behind each time as trash. Manned landing and departures will add increased equipment and supplies at the landing sites. At four resupply missions a year using expendable descent stages, 9,070 Kg. of additional trash will be generated, 85% of which is lander weight.
Surface transportation activities encompass the movement of personnel and cargo from the landing sites to the colony, or to remote scientific locations beyond the colony perimeter. In general, these activities will utilize first generation designs for transport and construction equipment, with the true tests done in-situ. At present, the maintenance and replacement schedules for these machines are too difficult to predict. One certanty, however, is the threat faced from radiation (Adams, et.al. 1985), damage can vary from simple componenet replacement to worst case scenarios of catastrophic failure of the machine. It is estimated that surface activities will produce 3,174 Kg. of trash per year prior to mining activities.
Page 1 2 3 4 5