5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 1 The Moon: Front Line of Asteroid Defense Carlton L. Rhoades Rutgers Symposium on Lunar Settlements 3-8 June 2007New Brunswick, New Jersey

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 2 Objective To place a system on the Moon for a 24/7 full sky search for Earth orbit crossing asteroids. This is the first step to reduce or minimize the possibility of any harmful asteroid impact.

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 3 The System The System will consist of several appropriately sited installations to include: –Optical Interferometry Telescopes. –Communication and Control Facilities. –A solar power system. –A shielded and self sufficient living/work facility.

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 4 Know Before You Go Recover a Lunar Rover to evaluate regolith dust damage to moving parts and any other effects on metal or plastics. Identify the minimum number of suitable Moon surface locations that can view the total Moon sky. Evaluate methods to smooth and sinter the surface regolith to minimize exposure to dust in operational areas.

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 5 Minimize Regolith Dust Prepare a 100 meter x 200 meter pad: –Select an area with high iron content. –Remove all rocks larger than 2 centimeters to a depth of 15 cm. –Grade the area. –Prepare a 15 cm crust by: Sinter the area by microvave to that depth (multiple passes?), or Sinter and lay (2 offset layers) interlocking tiles.

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 6 Optical Interferometry Telescope Examples of this type telescope are: The Keck Observatories located on Mona Kea (4,145 M) in Hawaii. Each has a ten meter mirror and are separated by 85 meters. The Very Large Telescope is located on Cerro Paranal (2,635 M) in Chile. Each has a 8.2 M mirror. A set of four 1.8 M telescopes is dedicated to interferometric observations. The highest resolution is obtained with this type telescope. This will provide a better indication of asteroid size, shape, and rotation(?) from a faint image. W. M. Keck Observatory CREDIT NASA Very Large Telescope CREDIT EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY (ESO)

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 7 Full Sky Siteing Depress telescope to 0 o elevation and perform a 360 o scan. If no local horizon obstacle is found this is an optimum site. –Four sites – Moon boxed in tetrahedron with telescopes at the four tangent points. –Six sites – Moon boxed in cube with telescope at the six tangent points.

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 8 Communication & Control Facility Will be integral with living/work facility. Power & communication raceways may be under the sintered area, or the tiles, or overhead.

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 9 Solar Power System Solar cell farm. Carbon fiber flywheel nighttime backup. Power control and distribution center. Power lines to telescopes, communication equipment, and living/work facility. Waste heat radiators.

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 10 Living/Work Facility This modular facility will: –Be underground or shielded with regolith. –Contain electrical switching and communication equipment. –Contain spares and tools to perform repairs and install upgrades. –Contain facilities including exercise equipment adequate to support four persons for 30(?) days.

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 11 Conclusions The asteroid threat is near universally seen as real. It is impossible to quantify with the minimal data available. A case can be made that this (these) be the first permanent installation(s) on the Moon.

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 12

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 13 Meteor Crater II Note: This material may be dated. Do not use for aerial navigation. Credit NACO/FAA

5 June 2007Carlton L. Rhoades 14 Elements of the Target The Earth at Night (Credit NASA). A correlation exists between the light intensity and the concentration of population, infrastructure, and industry. However, note North Korea and South Korea