Crane to unload cargo from the lunar module

Crane to unload cargo from the lunar module
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NASU is plagued by a problem.

How to deliver a crane to the moon that should unload cargo from the cargo space of the lunar modules that would supply future lunar colonies?

Existing cranes are heavy and have a lot of parts. They even announced a competition for American citizens to solve this problem.

And the problem can be solved very easily. The simpler the solution the better.

On the moon, gravity is 6 times weaker than on earth. Thanks to this, a crane that would lift a load from the module and lower it to the moon's ground can be much weaker than on earth. Such a crane could be made inflatable, instead of connecting parts.

A hose made of solid impermeable textile inflated to a pressure of 2-3 bar could serve as a solid crane arm(5).

Such a crane should be placed on the lunar module (1), on the crane stand (3). Inside the lunar module (1) there would be a cargo(2) to be unload on the lunar surface.

On the crane stand (3) there is a rotating plate (4) to which a balloon is firmly attached which serves as a crane arm (5). When blown out, this crane (5) takes up a very small volume, which can be seen in Fig. 1, and when inflated to a pressure of 2-3 bar, the balloon turns into a curved crane (5), which can be seen in Fig. 2 and FIG. 3.

At the top of the crane arm (5) there is an electric crane (6).

When the cargo (2) is to be taken from the lunar module (1), the crane arm(5) is first inflated with air. This places the electric crane (6) above the cargo (2). Then the electric crane unwinds the crane cable (7) which is attached to the cargo (2). After that, the electric crane (6) winds the crane cable (7), which raises the load to a height above the lunar module (1). Then the crane arm (5) is rotated 180 degrees, which places the cargo (2) outside the space of the lunar module (1). By turning the crane arm(5), the rotating plate (4) is rotated, which is connected to the crane stand (3) by bearings. This rotation of the crane arm(5) is performed remotely by an electric motor (8) which is located on the crane arme (3) and which rotates the rotating plate (4). By rotating this rotating arm (4) the crane crane (5) is also rotated this rotating plate (4).

In the same way, large lunar robots could be made on which joints with bearings and electric motors could be made of solid metal, while “body”, “arms” and “legs” could be made of long narrow air-inflated balloons.

 

Other of my technical analyzes and innovations can be found in this book.