Space transportation node including tether system
OwnerThomas C. Taylor, Walter P. Kistler +1inventors
InventorsThomas C. Taylor, Walter P. Kistler, Robert A. Citron
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Abstract
A transportation node that orbits a celestial body includes a truss having two ends with least at one end of the truss having at least one coupling tether cable with a tether tip at individual ends. The truss, while orbiting the celestial body, rotates around its center of mass in a direction to control the tether tip in relation to a surface of the celestial body and to cancel a relative velocity between the tether tip and the surface for transferring a payload attached to the tether tip to and from the surface. A method of transferring payload to and from a celestial body includes reeling in/out from an orbiting transportation node a coupling tether cable with a tether tip configured to attach to the payload.
Claims22
A transportation node system that orbits a celestial body, the system comprising:
- a truss having two ends with at least one end of the truss having at least one tether cable with a tether tip, the truss, while orbiting the celestial body, rotating around its center of mass in a direction to control the tether tip in relation to a surface of the celestial body and to substantially cancel a relative velocity between the tether tip and the surface for transferring a payload attached to the tether tip to and/or from the surface.
A method of transferring a payload to and from a celestial body comprising:
- reeling in/out from an orbiting truss a tether cable with a tether tip configured to attach to the payload;
- and
- rotating the truss and the tether cable with the attached payload about a combined center of mass in a direction to control the tether tip in relation to a surface of the celestial body and to substantially cancel a relative velocity between the tether tip and the surface for transferring the payload attached to the tether tip to and/or from the surface.
A transportation node that orbits a celestial body, the system comprising:
- a truss having two ends with least at one end of the truss having at least one means for coupling to a payload;
- means, while orbiting the celestial body, for rotating about the truss center of mass in a direction to control the coupling means in relation to a surface of the celestial body and to substantially cancel a relative velocity between the coupling means and the surface for transferring a payload attached to the coupling means to and/or from the surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.