A new approach for the erection of rigid large scale structures in space – MIC (Magnetically Inflated Cable) – is described. MIC structures are launched as a compact payload of superconducting cables and attached tethers. After reaching orbit, the superconducting cables are energized with electrical current. The magnetic force interactions between the cables causes them to expand outwards into the final large structure. Various structural shapes and applications are possible, including space solar satellites beaming electric power to the Earth, the Moon, and spacecraft using electric thrusters. Very light weight MIC disc structures can also be used for shielding the Earth from sunlight by positioning them at the Lagrange 1 point. The MIC structure can be a simple flat disc with a superconducting outer ring that supports a tether network holding a solar cell array, or it can form a curved mirror surface that concentrates light and focuses it on a smaller region – for example (1) a high flux solar array that generates electric power, (2) a high temperature receiver that heats H 2 propellant for high Isp propulsion, and (3) a giant primary reflector for a telescope for astronomy and Earth surveillance. Linear dipole and quadrupole MIC structures are also possible. The linear quadrupole structure can be used for magnetic shielding against cosmic radiation for astronauts, for example. MIC sunshields and solar sails would use a rotating superconducting cable loop with very thin, very lightweight radial fins to intercept sunlight. MIC would use lightweight YBCO superconducting HTS (High Temperature Superconductor) cables, that can operate close to liquid nitrogen temperatures at engineering current densities of ~10

The past two decades have brought a profound expansion of knowledge of near earth objects (NEO). If creatively exploited, NEOs can significantly increase human safety while reducing costs of exploration and development of the moon, Mars and the solar system. Synergistically, the ability to defend the Earth from devastating impacts will become very effective.A spherical volume having a radius equivalent to the moon's orbit, 400,000 km, is visited every day by approximately ten NEOs having diameters of similar to 10 meters, while 30 meter diameter encounters occur about once per month. Because these objects are usually very faint and only within detectable range for a few days, they require specialized equipment to discover them with high probability of detection and to enable accurate determination of orbital parameters. Survey systems are now being implemented that are cataloging many thousands of objects larger than 30 meters, but numerous advantages will result from extending the complete NEO census down to 10 meter diameters. The typical compositions of such NEOs will range from similar to 80% that are low density dust & rock "rubble piles" to perhaps 2% containing heavy metals properties well known from meteorite samples. It is quite possible that there will also be some fragments of short period comets that are rich in water ice and other volatile components.In this paper we will propose a set of new technologies and strategies for exploiting NEO resources that can yield important space development breakthroughs at much lower costs than existing concepts. Solar powered "Tugboats" deployed at the space station can rendezvous with carefully selected NEOs and steer them into captured orbits in the lunar L4 & L5 regions. Robotic equipment will then modify them for a plethora of benefits. Notably, the problem of radiation shielding against the Van Allen belts, solar flares and cosmic rays will be solved. Free transportation from low earth orbit to the moon and beyond will be feasible via shielded habitats in elliptical orbits. Large, comfortable habitats for long duration trips to Mars and beyond can be built. Propulsion for orbital transfer and maneuvering of heavy payloads can be accomplished by solar energized ejection of NEO materials. Industries can be developed based upon reconditioning materials for use in space and recovery of heavy metals for use on Earth.

Despite decades of efforts to reduce rocket launch costs, improvements are marginal. Launch cost to LEO for cargo is similar to$10,000 per kg of payload, and to higher orbit and beyond much greater. Human access to the ISS costs $20 million for a single passenger. Unless launch costs are greatly reduced, large scale commercial use and human exploration of the solar system will not occur. A new approach for ultra low cost access to space - Maglev Launch - magnetically accelerates levitated spacecraft to orbital speeds, 8 km/sec or more, in evacuated tunnels on the surface, using Maglev technology like that operating in Japan for high speed passenger transport. The cost of electric energy to reach orbital speed is less than $1 per kilogram of payload. Two Maglev launch systems are described, the Gen-1System for unmanned cargo craft to orbit and Gen-2, for large-scale access of human to space. Magnetically levitated and propelled Gen-1 cargo craft accelerate in a 100 kilometer long evacuated tunnel, entering the atmosphere at the tunnel exit, which is located in high altitude terrain (similar to 5000 meters) through an electrically powered "MHD Window" that prevents outside air from flowing into the tunnel. The Gen-1 cargo craft then coasts upwards to space where a small rocket burn, similar to 0.5 km/sec establishes, the final orbit. The Gen-1 reference design launches a 40 ton, 2 meter diameter spacecraft with 35 tons of payload. At 12 launches per day, a single Gen-1 facility could launch 150,000 tons annually. Using present costs for tunneling, superconductors, cryogenic equipment, materials, etc., the projected construction cost for the Gen-1 facility is 20 billion dollars. Amortization cost, plus Spacecraft and O&M costs, total $43 per kg of payload. For polar orbit launches, sites exist in Alaska, Russia, and China. For equatorial orbit launches, sites exist in the Andes and Africa. With funding, the Gen-1 system could operate by 2020 AD. The Gen-2 system requires more advanced technology. Passenger spacecraft enter the atmosphere at 70,000 feet, where deceleration is acceptable. A levitated evacuated launch tube is used, with the levitation force generated by magnetic interaction between superconducting cables on the levitated launch tube and superconducting cables on the ground beneath. The Gen-2 system could launch 100's of thousands of passengers per year, and operate by 2030 AD. Maglev launch will enable large human scale exploration of space, thousands of gigawatts of space solar power satellites for beamed power to Earth, a robust defense against asteroids and comets, and many other applications not possible now.

Launching payloads into space using rockets costs ~$10,000 per kg, despite intense efforts to reduce it. Unless costs are greatly reduced, large scale exploration and commercial development of space will not occur. The recent cancellation of NASA’s Constellation program confirms this reality. Superconducting Maglev launch, a completely new approach for ultra low cost access to space, launches cargo spacecraft to orbital speeds in an evacuated tunnel on the surface of Earth. The Maglev technology is similar to that operating in Japan for high speed passenger transport. Maglev vehicles are magnetically levitated and propelled along a guideway and could reach speeds of 18,000 mph or more at an electric energy cost of less than $1 per kg of payload. Two Maglev launch systems are described. The near term Gen-1 system launches cargo, and the long term Gen-2 system launches humans and cargo. The levitated Gen-1 cargo craft are magnetically accelerated at 30 g in a 110 km long evacuated tunnel located on high altitude terrain. A mechanical shutter at the exit end of the tunnel opens during the ~30 seconds of the launch process, while the “MHD window” at the tunnel exit keeps the air inflow to the evacuated tunnel to a small trickle. The exiting Gen-1 cargo craft then ascends through the remaining atmosphere to space. A small rocket burn, �V ~0.5 km/sec, establishes its orbit. The Gen-1 reference design launches a 40 ton, 2 meter diameter cargo craft with 35 tons of payload. At 12 launches per day, a single Gen-1 facility could launch 150,000 tons of cargo annually. Based on present costs for superconductor, tunneling, cryogenic equipment and materials, the projected construction cost for the Gen-1 facility is ~20 billion dollars. Amortization cost, plus cargo craft and O&M costs, total 43 dollars per kg of payload launched. No technology breakthroughs are required. The Gen-1 excavation volume is only 1/8 th of that in the existing Chunnel. Atmospheric heating rates and deceleration forces on the ascending cargo craft are comparable to existing re-entry vehicles. Moreover, Gen-1 cargo craft can carry large amounts of fluids for transpiration cooling. Gen-1 cargo craft acceleration is powered by stored electrical energy in modular superconducting loops using commercially available materials and equipment. There is extensive technology on MHD generators for the “MHD window” system. Benefits of Maglev launch include space solar power satellites beaming electric power to Earth, more detailed environmental monitoring from satellites, improved world-wide communications, robust defense against asteroid and comet threats and a much enhanced capability to explore the Solar System. A Gen-1 facility could operate by 2020. The Gen-2 system for humans and cargo requires magnetically levitating a launch tube to a higher altitude to reduce atmospheric heating and deceleration forces on the launched spacecraft. It is technically much more challenging than the Gen-1 and could operate by 2030 to 2040.

A new approach for the erection of rigid large scale structures in space MIC (Magnetically Inflated Cable) is described. MIC structures are launched as a compact payload of superconducting cables and attached tethers. After reaching orbit, the superconducting cables are energized with electrical current. The magnet force interactions between the cables cause them to expand outwards into the final large structure. Various structural shapes and applications are described.The MIC structure can be a simple flat disc with a superconducting outer ring that supports a tether network holding a solar cell array, or it can form a curved mirror surface that concentrates light and focuses it on a smaller region for example, a high flux solar array that generates electric power, a high temperature receiver that heats H-2 propellant for high Isp propulsion, and a giant primary reflector for a telescope for astronomy and Earth surveillance. Linear dipole and quadrupole MIC structures are also possible. The linear quadrupole structure can be used for magnetic shielding against cosmic radiation for astronauts, for example.MIC could use lightweight YBCO superconducting HTS (High Temperature Superconductor) cables, that can operate with liquid N-2 coolant at engineering current densities of similar to 10(5) amp/cm(2). A 1 kilometer length of MIC cable would weigh only 3 metric tons, including superconductor, thermal insulations, coolant circuits, and refrigerator, and fit within a 3 cubic meter compact package for launch. Four potential MIC applications are described: Solar-thermal propulsion using H-2 propellant, space based solar power generation for beaming power to Earth, a large space telescope, and solar electric generation for a manned lunar base. The first 3 applications use large MIC solar concentrating mirrors, while the 4(th) application uses a surface based array of solar cells on a magnetically levitated MIC structure to follow the sun. MIC space based mirrors can be very large and light in weight. A 300 meter diameter MIC mirror in orbit for example, would weigh 20 metric tons and MIC structures can be easily developed and tested on Earth at small scale in existing evacuated chambers followed by larger scale tests in the atmosphere, using a vacuum tight enclosure on the small diameter superconducting cable to prevent air leakage into the evacuated thermal insulation around the superconducting cable.

Using Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP), the International Space Station (ISS) can be placed into a cyclic orbit between the Earth and the Moon for 2‐way transport of personnel and supplies to a permanent Moon Base. The ISS cycler orbit apogees 470,000 km from Earth, with a period of 13.66 days. Once a month, the ISS would pass close to the Moon, enabling 2‐way transport between it and the surface using a lunar shuttle craft. The lunar shuttle craft would land at a desired location on the surface during a flyby and return to the ISS during a later flyby. At Earth perigee 7 days later at 500 km altitude, there would be 2‐way transport between it and Earth's surface using an Earth shuttle craft. The docking Earth shuttle would remain attached to the ISS as it traveled towards the Moon, while personnel and supplies transferred to a lunar shuttle spacecraft that would detach and land at the lunar base when the ISS swung around the Moon. The reverse process would be carried out to return personnel and materials...

The multi-kilometer thick Polar Caps on Mars contain unique and important data about the multi-million year history of its climate, geology, meteorology, volcanology, cosmic ray and solar activity, and meteor impacts. They also may hold evidence of past life on Mars, including microbes, microfossils and biological chemicals. The objective of this paper is to describe a probe that can provide access to the data locked in the Polar Caps. The MICE (Mars Ice Cap Explorer) system would explore the Polar Cap interiors using mobile probes powered by compact, lightweight nuclear reactors. The probes would travel 100's of meters per day along melt channels in the ice sheets created by hot water jets from the 500 kW(th) nuclear reactors, ascending and descending, either vertically or at an angle to the vertical, reaching bedrock at kilometers beneath the surface. The powerful reactor will be necessary to provide sufficient hot water at high velocity to penetrate the extensive horizontal dust/sand layers that separate layers of ice in the Mars Ice Caps. MICE reactors can operate at 500 kW(th) for more than 4 years, and much longer in practice, since power level win be much lower when the probes are investigating locations in detail at low or zero speed. Multiple probes, e.g. six, would be deployed in an interactive network, continuously communicating by RF and acoustic signals with each other and with the surface lander spacecraft. In turn, the lander would continuously communicate in real time, subject to speed of light delays, with scientists on Earth to transmit data and receive instructions for the MICE probes. Samples collected by the probes could be brought to the lander, for return to the Earth at the end of the mission.

MIC (Magnetically Inflated Cables) is a new approach for robotically erecting very large, strong, rigid, and ultra-lightweight structures in space. MIC structures use a network of high current (SC) cables with attached high tensile strength Kevlar or Spectra tethers. MIC is launched as a compact package of coiled SC cables and tethers on a conventional launch vehicle. Once in space the SC cables are electrically energized. The resultant strong outwards magnetic forces expand them and the restraining tethers into a large structure, which can be 100's of meters in size. MIC structures can be configured for many different applications, including solar electric generation, solar thermal propulsion, energy storage, large space telescopes, magnetic shielding for astronauts, etc. The MIC technology components, including high temperature superconductors (HTS), thermal insulation, high strength tethers, and cryogenic refrigerators all exist commercially. Refrigeration requirements are very modest, on the order of 100 watts thermal per kilometer of MIC cable, with an input electric power to the refrigeration system of similar to 5 kW(e) per kin. baseline MIC designs are described for a manned lunar base, including: 1) a 1 MW(e) solar electric system, 2) a high Isp (similar to 900 seconds) solar thermal tug to transport 30 ton payloads between the Earth and the Moon, 3) a 2000 Megajoule electric energy storage system for peaking and emergency power, and 4) a large (similar to 1 km) space telescope.

A new concept for an interactive network of high-power, high-mobility cryoprobes to explore ice sheets on Mars and Europa is described. Each MICE (Mars Ice Cap Explorer) cryoprobe carries a very small, ultra-lightweight nuclear reactor that generates thermal power to melt descent/ascent channels, plus electric power for instruments and RF data transmission. The water cooled and moderated MICE reactor uses the same Zirconium/UO2 cermet fuel that presently operates in hundreds of reactors around the world with excellent reliability, zero release of fission products, and core lifetimes of many years. The initial water coolant/moderator for the reactor, power conversion and hot water jet systems would be obtained from melting local ice, using the power source on the lander spacecraft. Each MICE cryoprobe consists of a reactor unit and an instrument unit separated by a tether, with the intervening water providing a shielding factor of greater than 107 against neutrons and gamma radiation. Operating at 500 kW of thermal power, the MICE probe could descend 320 meters per day in a 60 cm melt channel. Reactor power would be adjustable so as to descend at a slower rate if desired. The MICE probe can descend or ascend vertically, or at an angle up to 45 degrees from vertical, depending on the flow pattern of its water jets and its buoyancy. MICE's mini steam turbine would generate 10 kW(e) for instrument control, and RF transmission of data between probes in a multi-probe network, and the surface lander. Compared to other untethered cryoprobe designs, the MICE design provides effectively unlimited power budgets, and thus greatly expands the range of instrumentation available for use. With high RF power and relatively low transmission frequency, e.g. 300 MHz, MICE probes would be able to transmit data at high rates over distances of several kilometers through the ice sheets. Using several mobile MICE probes in a multi-probe network, a lander could explore an ice sheet in detail over a wide area, e.g. on the order of 20 km in diameter, to a depth of 10 km or more. Deploying multiple MICE probes also offers a built-in mission redundancy. Each MICE probe would have a standard instrument package which would include a microfluidic (lab-on-a-chip) biosignature detection instrument, a suite of electrochemical sensors, an optical imager (including microscopic imagery), a seismometer, and an integrated RF communications / Ice Penetrating Radar instrument. In addition to the standard instrument package, a non-standard, unique instrument package would be carried by each MICE probe. Non-standard