Cryogenic fuel depots

Perhaps the best future application for cryogenic LADs will be in cryogenic fuel depots. Large chemical or nuclear propulsion systems will likely be required to enable manned missions to destinations beyond LEO. For a Lunar or Martian surface return mission, the baseline method would be to launch from Earth carrying all the propellant required to reach the destination and return safely to Earth as depicted in Figure 1.4. This traditional method severely hinders the amount of payload that a single system can send into LEO or beyond. It also severely hinders the final achievable Earth departure velocity. 

FIGURE 1.5 Cryogenic Fuel Depot Concept. Bernard Kutter, United Launch Alliance... 

FIGURE 13.1 Model Predicted Liquid Hydrogen Bubble Point Pressure Over the Anticipated Operating Range of a Cryogenic Fuel Depot for (a) Five Finest Dutch Twill, (b) Coarse Dutch Twill and Plain Dutch, and (c) Twilled and Plain Square Mesh Screens. All curves assume GHe pressurant and Tgas=Tuquid-... 

The required minimum screen area performance parameter is now introduced, to determine which of the five finest Dutch Twill meshes is the most robust option for the cryogenic fuel depot. To illustrate the minimiun area, consider the situation... 

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